When Lucy gets into something, she really gets into something.

I’m not sure what got her on her Hamilton kick a couple years ago, but it’s been a long-lasting one. I honestly don’t think there’s been a day that’s gone by where she doesn’t have that soundtrack blasting in her room or in the kitchen. She knows all the words and takes it very seriously.

Seriously enough to want to do impromptu research on things like how old Philip Hamilton was when he died and details about the Schuyler sisters (she was worried about what happened to Peggy) and to transform herself into Eliza Hamilton for Halloween. And serious enough about wanting to see that play that she has been saving up her money for a while so she could pay for half of her ticket.

She has also been asking me to look up where the traveling performances were. She wanted to make plans.

So, low and behold, a couple months ago we looked up those traveling performances and what do you know…Hamilton was coming to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Why does that matter you may ask? Well, Milwaukee happens to be three hours away from where we go for Lucy’s doctor appointments. We usually fly into Minnesota and drive almost three hours from that direction, so we figured why not just drive three hours from another town and see that play??

So we did. Because really, there should be some perks to those trips (aside from seeing awesome doctors and special one-on-one dates with your mom and dad…cozy lovey stuff like that that she doesn’t quite get…yet). Wait, I did see her writing in her journal the other day about how much she likes Wisconsin. Ok but that’s a serious digression and beside the point. The point was that when Dave and I figured all this out Dave looked up the Hamilton tickets and happened to find some pretty great ones and we looked at each other and said, “let’s do this.” And then we looked at each other again and decided we better take Claire too. We have flight companion passes and we are suckers to get our girls to ourselves.

So we got to work studying all things Hamilton. We had a bunch of great books to study (I think actually suggested by blog readers when Claire and I were studying Hamilton when we did our home-schooling-English stint a couple years ago):

And we counted down the days.

We were all pretty over-the-moon excited I have to say.

Another perk to Milwaukee is that Dave’s brother and his wife live there. And although it was such a quick trip, we got to hang with them a little and have a little tour of the awesome area where they live:

…and go to one of their favorite breakfast spots:

Love Bob and Virginia so much, they are the best conversationalists and one-on-one time with them is the best. Lucy became a big fan too, and sometimes that’s not an easy feat with that girl. Bob & Gin did well getting her in “their corner” because they’re dang good at stuff like that.

And Eggs Benedict and chocolate chip pancakes? Yow.

One more perk…leaves. Sure, most were fallen and on the ground, but those things do something to my soul I tell you!

And then the time had come. We were going to see Hamilton.

Better get a little closer-up to this thumbs-up girl:

Yep, she was excited.

Ok Claire was too šŸ˜‰

Lucy got a little worried going in that she might not be able to see very well, but Dave got the perfect seats and I think she saw fine enough to love it.

That play is so good. I was a little surprised that Claire may have come out of there with more stars in her eyes than Lucy (apparently Lucy had been hoping for a little talking along with the singing. Not sure what she was thinking after seeing Wicked with no talking.) But we all came out of that theater glowing with gratitude that we got to be there.

Together.

Dave and I had seen it before but it awed me just as much the second time around. How in the world Lin-Manuel Miranda came up with all that magic wrapped up in history I cannot comprehend. How does the human mind conceive something like that? Dave and Claire were laughing at me that I was in tears a few times. People are amazingly creative and talented. And I love that something like that can take you deep into the history of our country.

Soaked up Milwaukee a little en route back to the airport:

(I love all those old cool buildings.)

Then Dave and Lu headed on the long drive to get ready for the doctor appointments, and Claire and I headed home.

It was a fun day with our girls even with a good little fight between me and Dave in the morning taken into consideration. Ha!

I tried to finish this book before we left:

But only got five of the 36 hours down. Yikes! But it is so interesting! So many fascinating details that I think we take for granted when we think about early America. I read another book recently (that I’ll talk about soon) that gave me so much added insight about how tough those early days were. So grateful for all those people who worked so hard to figure it all out. And that we got to go on that “field trip” to think more about it all.

Ok, the end. Happy Wednesday!

11 Comments

  1. Milwaukee is my favorite! I went to school on the east side and walked down Downer Ave. every morning to get to campus. Hope you enjoyed a wonderful city.

  2. What a surprise to see a photo of downtown Milwaukee – and we are taking our girls to see Hamilton right there this weekend. We are all so excited about that too. I live in Milwaukee and discovered your blog via other friends’ blogs a few years ago. Thanks for all that you share and suggest – so much is helpful and I love reading about your travels.

  3. What a great trip for you & your girls. We did a road trip from Cincinnati to Chicago so our Hamilton fan could see the show. She & I loved it. We hadn’t prepared my husband enough for it though and wished we had made him listen to the soundtrack and learn the songs! Oops!

  4. My daughter and I saw it about two years ago for her high school graduation present – and I cried off and on throughout the whole performance. So glad I’m not the only one. I have only seen a few shows (wicked (twice), phantom) but by far this is my favorite. I would see it again in a minute! I would also say that learning LMM’s story of writing this has been so meaningful for my daughter – to see that doing something this amazing can take years – that he was substitute teaching and had musical group on the side – I think it can be hard for kids to realize that special things take an enormous amount of perseverance and patience and hard work – and then a little something extra.

  5. There’s a really great children’s book called, “From a Small Seed: The Story of Eliza Hamilton.” I highly recommend it!

  6. How awesome! I would also recommend the book “My Dear Hamiltonā€ all about Eliza Hamilton. The authors do an amazing job and it really made me love her (and my heart broke for her, too) thinking of the sacrifices of all the founding women who shaped this country. Audiobook is the way to go on this one bc it’s also long. But I found myself stopping it to write quotes/gems. One of my favorite reads this year for sure!

  7. Love seeing Milwaukee on your blog! So fun to see you were in my city. Glad you loved Hamilton. Weā€™re headed there next week!

  8. Another person here to say so happy you had fun in the city of Milwaukee! (closest big city to where I live) I agree with your feelings about Hamilton! So fascinating how people use their creativity!

  9. I am curious so please forgive me. Lucy paid for half her ticket as she very much wanted to go. Claire got to come along because… well, because family opportunity I guess. But did she also pay for her ticket or was it a ā€œfree rideā€ for her? This cam to mind after reading an agony aunt question re treating sibling differently when it cam to financial and experiential gifts. In the letter writers case the some got short shrift while others seemed to cash in.

  10. Another Wisconsin girl here to say how much I loved this shout out to our great state! Lucy and Dave even drove through my city (Oshkosh) on their way to the Dr. And my family and I just spent the weekend in Milwaukee. I was dreaming of seeing Hamilton one day.

  11. May I ask the brand of black shoes/boots youā€™re wearing in these photos. Love them! Curious how tall you are…you always look so put together. You should start a fashion blog, too!! From, A tall gal in Nebraska. šŸ™‚

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