Lake Country Family Fun: Making You The Hero
When Melissa Peterson, a native of Maryland, along with her husband Pehr and children, Odyn 6, Gunnar 5, Soren (aka Batman) 3, and Signe (Sigi) 1, moved from North Carolina to Lake Country in 2006, Melissa had yet to find friends to call for play dates and did not know what the area all had in store for her family to discover.
Melissa describes herself at that time as a “stay-at-home Mom with a toddler, desperate to get out and explore the area.” She found herself going through 20 websites just to find all the week’s events. “I found we were lacking a comprehensive site to find all the wonderful events that happen in the Lake Country area,” explains Melissa.
Melissa’s legwork resulted in the creation of Lake Country Family Fun (LCFF) in 2011, an extensive website resource, saving other parents the time and effort of scrolling through mulitple websites to plan their weeks.
On LakeCountryFamilyFun.com one will find a detailed day by day calendar listing every kid-friendly activity imaginable in the area. Listings range from story times,to farmers markets and live music series spanning from Milwaukee to Watertown and Ashippun to Mukwonago.
Melissa posts about other topics on the site as well- Hidden Gems in Lake Country and Lake Country’s Guide to Where Kids Eat Cheap or Free, to name a few. Additionally, Melissa provides a weekend guide for both Waukesha and Milwaukee Counties. The site even includes recipes, deals and reviews!
Last October, LCFF took itself to the next level- organizing a Halloween costume swap in Oconomowoc. Continuing to create events, rather than simple promote them, LCFF created Hartland Kids Day, an event Melissa describes as a real turning point for LCFF. “I had an idea for an event, took it through the boards in the Village of Hartland and received approval for a first-year event in Hartland that drew around 1,500 parents and children, despite less than optimal weather.”
LCFF teamed up with Jen Shoemake, co-owner of Hartland Center of Alternative Medicine, to make Melissa’s dream a reality. “I could not have done the event without Jen!” says Melissa. The event included local businesses that were all family-and-child oriented, an obstacle course and rock wall, face painting, the Racing Sausages, bounce houses, demonstrations on good food choices and even a martial arts demonstration.
LCFF looks forward to becoming the main resource for families in all of Waukesha County. “I would love to create more family-centered events,” reports Melissa, “in the areas where those needs aren’t being met a the current time. I want people to get out and enjoy the communities and their kids and to make memories for their children!”
