An Engagement...

Yesterday we went up to the Twin Cities after Michele got out of work. We had a cookout up at Minnetonka to celebrate Brian's engagement to Vanessa. The wedding will be next year, but we are already looking forward to the event. Hopefully the entire family can get together for the event.

Vanessa, Anne, and Tony...

Sonny and Barb...

Zdenko and Maria...

Brian refuses to smile for our photos...
...so in the tradition of doctored-up photos...

Diane played a game of Bocce with the kids...
...Sammy releases the white boccino...

Michele, Sammy, Logan wait as Ashlynn takes her turn to bowl...

Logan bowls...

Sammy converts Zdenko into a cowboy...

WildWestDays2008: DiSciascio's

Superlatives are insufficient. So we'll be simple about our assessment. DiSciascio's Restaurant is the best Italian restaurant west of the Appalachians that we've been to. It is that good. No exaggeration. And this comes from an Italian-American family that grew up on east coast Italian cuisine.

We first ate there back in 2005 and told Paul's sisters--who of course then wanted to try it out. Finally their time came when we went to the Viroqua Wild West Days this past weekend. DiSciascio's is in Coon Valley, WI -- a short hop from Viroqua.

DiSciascio's is an Italian-American cuisine restaurant. The owner, Louis DiSciascio grew up in Ocean City, NJ and married Martha who graduated at the top of her class at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America)...which is impressive (the world's premier culinary college). His wife (also owner of the restaurant) is originally from Zumbrota, MN, so somehow they ended up opening a restaurant in Coone Valley.

Again, the food is excellent. In fact, it is beyond excellent. Just ask Paul's sisters...and Sammy too.

note bene: The Veal Francaise...enough said.

In the middle of a sparsely populated area...
...is the best Italian restaurant in the Midwest...

Aunt Annie, Sammy, and his pasta...

Enjoying dinner...
Aunt Annie, Michele, Sammy, Paul, and Aunt Diane...

Louis DiSciascio shows Sammy his furry puppets...

Louis would ask the chicken, "Want to go to the kitchen?"
To which the chicken would just nod "no" with its head...

Sammy's ever-present two horses & two cowboys also enjoyed the food...
...so much so that they ended up in a "food coma"...

WildWestDays2008: Cows, Horses, and Carriages...

What would Viroqua's Wild West Days be without cows, horses, and carriages? Not to mention a rodeo for Aunt Annie to go to. Here are some photos of just that.

Sammy concentrating as he guides his burro through the fences...

A wild west wagon ride...

Sammy sits inside the wagon...

Sammy drives the horse team on this carriage...

Sammy takes his mother and a cowboy for a ride...

There were some rodeo events going on...

Where's his cowboy hat?

Aunt Diane & Annie at the rodeo...

Sammy watching cowboys roping calves...

Escaping Viroqua's hot western sun, Paul, Aunt Annie, Aunt Diane, and Sammy...

WildWestDays2008: Sammy the Bull tames a buffalo...

And that's no bull.

True story. There was a buffalo named Cody at the Viroqua Wild West Days. On Friday night a woman rode it in the parade...but still it was a wild and ferocious buffalo. Until he met Sammy.

Cody the buffalo...

A cowboy offered Cody some of his beer (really)...
...Cody was starting to look like he might stampede...
...until...

Sammy the Bull bravely stared down the belligerent buffalo...

To further tame Cody...
...Sammy reached down and touched his horns...
...an act of bravery accomplished by no other toddler at the Viroqua Wild West Days...

Like a safari hunter...
...Sammy posed over the vanquished...

WildWestDays2008: Five Dollar Fine

Sammy tends to have eclectic music tastes (everything from classical to Dean Martin to cowboy songs). At the Viroqua Wild West Days, he roped us into sitting down for a number of songs by Tex & Mary Shutz. He really seemed to enjoy their singing (as we did). Our favorite song sung by them is "Five-Dollar Fine for Whining."

Tex & Mary...
...can you imagine someday Paul & Michele...
...Michele playing the oboe and Paul (someday) the ukulele?

Sammy watching and listening intently...

Sammy applauds the performance...

Sammy keeps won't be a little boy for long...
...so we try to savor each day with him as much as we can...

WildWestDays2008: Subprime Sam -- or -- Sammynomics

Sammy showed how to avoid a banking breakdown by showing how it was done in the west while at the Viroqua Wild West Days. When a would be sub-prime borrower came in (played by Paul's sister Anne), Sammy refused to lend her the money...even when she pulled out her six-shooters.

Sammy refuses to lend money and/or be robbed...

He quickly ran over to the safe and slammed it shut...
...a bank can't lose money if it won't loan it...
...maybe Freddie Mac and Sallie Mae should take a play from that book...

A shareholder (played by Diane) feels that her money is safe in Sammy's bank...
...even if it doesn't gain any interest...

WildWestDays2008: Morning Events

After we woke up and showered and ate breakfast, we headed over to the Viroqua Wild West Days.

A stray varmint that we named Monroe came by asking for milk...

At breakfast, Sammy showed his outlaw look...

At the Wild West Days, the parking...
...a wagon pulled up and the driver offered Sammy a ride...

Sammy delighted the cowpokes on the wagon with his horse riding stories...

The Viroqua Wild West Days...

There was free entertainment such as this singing cowboy...

Sammy waits to have his shoes shined...

WildWestDays2008: Friday Night Parade

Friday night at Viroqua's Wild West Days there was a parade--full of horses which Sammy thoroughly enjoyed.

Sammy watching the parade...

A few dollars and horses short of the Wells Fargo Wagon...
...but spectacular anyway...

WildWestDays2008: Our Accommodations

We hastily made our reservations for Viroqua's Wild West Days at the last minute, so our options were limited. We rented a cabin one night then switched to motel rooms the next. We had a bit of trouble actually finding the cabin place when we got there. And when we did, we pulled up to the office which was wide open but no one was there. A sign told us to go inside an call the phone number and someone would eventually come and take care of us. We didn't get a good look at the outside of our cabin until the next morning. But it really wasn't so bad, and aside from the shower where you had to pull a string to get hot water, it actually was kind of fun...in a roughing-it sort of way.

The office...

The sign...
...yes, it is a life preserver...

Aunt Annie "roughing" it...

Cowboy Sam...

A feature of our cabin was that the stairway had a tree trunk in it...
...later we noticed it had a ceramic squirrel on the railing too...

Upon closer inspection...
...we noticed the tree trunk in the staircase...
...had been watching us...

Morning came...
...we found a heavy fog had enveloped our cabin...

In the fog, it did not look quite so bad...

Until we saw the upholstered chair on the porch...
...ewwwww....

The fog burned off...
...and we could see the natural splendor of the scenery...

That was about when we noticed...
...we could see twin Winnebago's....
...both sitting on cinder-blocks...