This is a sponsored series.
Welcome to our Families of Lake Country Family Fun series! We will be featuring families from the greater Waukesha County area who are fans of Lake Country Family Fun. We hope you enjoy getting to know your neighbors and other families in your community!
This series is sponsored by Uptown Art in Sussex.
Uptown Art in Sussex offers a social art experience. They combine the arts of painting as well as the art of music to create a unique experience for the amateur or skillful artist. Their studios provide hands-on art instruction, paint supplies, canvases, aprons, and everything you need to have a great time and create your masterpiece. They also offer classes for kids starting at age 5 and are a great place to book your child’s next birthday party. Check out their website for more details to plan your next creative social experience!
Our ninth family is the Kison family from East Troy.
A little bit about the Kison Family:
The Kison family, Andrew and Nicole, and their two sons, Finley (3) and Holden (1) live in East Troy. Andrew and Nicole have been married for 5 years this past June and have lived here for six years. They are both originally Wisconsonites, Nicole from Mayville and Andrew from Cedarburg. They met at a mutual friend’s housewarming party, and hit it off immediately! Andrew was an engineer, working in Walworth, while Nicole was employed by Three Pillars Senior Living Communities in Dousman, which is how they chose to live in East Troy. Andrew continues at his same job at MPC in Walworth, while Nicole now stays home to raise their two adorable sons and works as a representative for Wildtree.
Andrew and Nicole enjoy the East Troy and Mukwonago areas of Southeastern Wisconsin and all the fun family activities there are to do there. They frequent Kids in Motion and the Elegant Farmer. Some of their favorite local events are downtown Waukesha’s Friday Night Live in the summer, Mukwonago’s Maxwell Street Days, and the Haunted Halloween Park at Mukwonago’s Field Park in the fall.
The Kison family has a popup camper and loves to go camping. They go to Ottawa State Park often, because it is so close, but also travel around the state camping with friends and Nicole’s parents. Hiking is another summer family favorite activity of theirs, and there are many opportunities to hike in the area as well.
Andrew and Nicole make time for each other and head out on date nights regularly. They love trying new local restaurants. Their favorite eatery right now is David Allen Allen Saloon in Mukwonago. Nicole could not say enough positive comments about this restaurant, describing the funny story of the name of the restaurant and how the owners first met there, plus great food! They also enjoy heading down to nearby Lake Geneva.
When they are hosting out of town family and friends, they like to take them to Fork in the Road or David Allen Allen Saloon for dinner. If the guests are visiting during the day, Elegant Farmer is their go-to. East Troy also has a cute downtown area that is great for entertaining the Kison’s visitors. J. Laubers ice cream shop in East Troy is a favorite stop for a step back in time for delicious ice cream in the summer. Don’t miss it! Nicole especially favors Square Roots coffee shop in downtown East Troy. Playmore Park in East Troy is another great local attraction that they like to show off to their guests. It has a handicap accessible playground that provides fun for all to enjoy.
Nicole is lucky enough to get to go out and enjoy some ladies nights out with her friends. Her top picks are Board and Brush in Hartland and Pieper Porch Winery & Vineyard in Waukesha. Nicole also enjoys working out and loves how the Mukwonago YMCA offers onsite daycare for her boys, so she can still get regular workouts in and some time for herself.
What they love about Lake Country Family Fun:
Nicole has been following Lake Country Family Fun for two or three years. She likes that Lake Country Family Fun posts events for all of Waukesha County and not just one city. There is a “plethora” of information here to see what to do for the weekend on our calendar and weekend guide. Whenever they are wondering what to do, they give the calendar a look and make plans. She enjoys reading the Holiday guides every year to see what there all is to do at this time of the year.
A tradition of the Kison family is to go to the Elegant Farmer to pick apples every year. They invite both Andrew and Nicole’s families and make a day of it, eating lunch, apple picking, going on the hay ride, and enjoying time with lots of cousins. Nicole reported that it is always a fun day filled with great memories.
A fun fact about the Kison Family:
A fun fact about their family is that Nicole is not a movie buff at all, although Andrew is. So, when they have a movie night, he always gets to pick, because she will fall asleep anyway. It has made for a fun joke between them; Andrew gets to see his favorite movies, while Nicole gets her beauty sleep 🙂
Favorite Movie to watch together as a Family:
When Nicole isn’t falling asleep, their favorite movies to watch as a family are the Iron Giant and Garfield (live action).
Are you a fan of Lake Country Family Fun that would like to have your family featured in our series Families of Lake Country? Please send us an email at lakecountryfamilyfun (at) gmail (dot) com!
