It’s Labor-Day Weekend, which signifies the unofficial end of summer, and means cookouts in countless backyards across America. Because of the long holiday weekend, the weekend festival lineup is light around the Metro Milwaukee Area. But if you’ve you got Celtic pride and a love for ancient Scottish sports, music, dancing and food, you’re in luck! Check out the Wisconsin Highland Games, taking place this weekend in Waukesha:

Friday – Sunday

The Wisconsin Highland Games (Waukesha Expo Grounds)

The Wisconsin Highland Games is a weekend of Celtic fun for the entire family, featuring plenty of exciting activities spanning the whole weekend. Take in Scottish & Irish Heavy Athletics, Champion Supreme Pipes & Drums competitions, Highland Dancing competitions, Live traditional and contemporary Celtic music, Rugby tournaments, Scottish, Irish & American foods, St. Andrew’s Pub Tent, Longbow tournaments and free instruction, Battle axe & knife throwing and more! The Games also features a cultural Area, where festival goers can experience Celtic arts, crafts, history, and lore.

Tickets are $8 at the gate, $5 in advance and kids 12 and under are free. The festival runs 5pm-10pm Friday, 9am-10pm Saturday and 9am-9pm Sunday. For more information, click here.

Did we miss a festival going on in your area? Let us know in the comments section!

You just moved into your dream home and have plenty on your mind, like where to place the couch and whether you should change the paint color in the guest bathroom. But don’t let these tasks distract you from making your household prepared for an emergency.

You want your home and those within it to be protected from day one. Taking care of disaster preparedness early means you can focus your time and energy on all of your other move-in tasks with peace of mind.

Consider these recommendations:
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From our south-of-the-border neighbors to the Far East, this weekend’s festivals are all about celebrating culture with dancing, music, food and more! Check it all out here, in our Weekend Festival Guide:

Friday-Sunday

Mexican Fiesta (Henry Maier Festival Park, Milwaukee)

Spice up your life with authentic Mexican food, rousing mariachi bands, the foot-stomping rhythms and colorful swirl of traditional dancers, and the handmade treasures of the marketplace. You can do more than just be a spectator at the fiesta by participating in the handful of contests taking place, including dancing competitions, cultural costume contests and even a jalapeno-eating contests, truly not for the faint of heart.
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We all know there’s one day in the year where we’re all Irish, but this weekend you can celebrate being Irish (by blood or by spirit) four straight days! After you’ve shown some Celtic pride, mosey next door for a wine enthusiast’s dream festival, and if you’re looking for even more culture to pack into your weekend, there’s an art fest at the Domes that’s not to be missed. Check it all out in this weekend’s festival guide:

Thursday – Sunday

Irish Fest (Henry Maier Festival Park, Milwaukee)
The nation’s largest Irish festival celebrates its 30th birthday this year with more than 300 entertainers on 17 stages, children’s activities, Irish food and spirits, canines and more! Visit the Cultural Village and be transported to Ireland without even leaving the lakefront. Here, you’ll learn about Irish heritage, gander and shop Celtic wares and crafts and of course clap, stomp and sing along to hearty Irish music.
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Last month, we announced the debut of “The Real Estate Office,” a fun new exhibit at Milwaukee’s Betty Brinn Museum that gives children the chance to play within a pretend real estate office while learning the ins and outs of buying and selling homes and being a real estate agent. The exhibit has been extremely popular, and even grabbed the attention of REALTOR Magazine!

Recently, REALTOR Magazine visited the Betty Brinn Museum to observe and videotape children playing and pretending in The Real Estate Office. The magazine has posted the edited video on their online site, titled “The Future of Real Estate.” You can watch the video yourself below!

The Real Estate Office will be exhibited at the Betty Brinn Museum through October 3rd, and will return in 2011.

The 92^nd PGA Championship at the breathtaking Whistling Straits kicked off this morning in Kenosha. Whistling Straits has been called one of the best golf courses in the world, and this week it plays host to some of the best golfers in the world, including the infamous Tiger Woods.

While you may not have the skills to play alongside Tiger & Co. this weekend, you can take advantage the many nationally-ranked golf courses around the state of Wisconsin. Forget the notion that all the best golfing is in the south; to see the Dairyland’s most prestigious courses, click here. And if you want to dig in even deeper for a hole-by-hole approach, click here for Wisconsin’s “18 Dream Holes,” click here.

Every industry has its own set of vocabulary and real estate is no exception. Whether you’re buying or selling, it’s important to get up to speed with the terms and definitions that real estate professionals use.

Learning and speaking the language of home buying and selling will only help you have more confidence in the process. Your Realtor will assist you along the way, but it’s important to understand the basics. Here are some basic real estate terms that people are often confused about. Study up and you’ll be able to keep up with the conversation:
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For the next 11 days, the Wisconsin State Fair grounds will be filled with thousands of visitors set on seeing prize-winning agriculture, arts and crafts from around the state. They’ll brave thrilling rides, try their luck at carnival games, take in some great national and local musical acts and eat countless of items on sticks. Oh, and we can’t forget about those famous cream puffs…

The Wisconsin State Fair kicks off tomorrow, August 5^th and runs through August 15^th. The fair will draw nearly a million people, and offers plenty more entertainment than just hog shows and chocolate-covered bacon on a stick (though you can take in both while there). Check out our State Fair Guide for a few highlights you won’t want to miss in the next week and a half:
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Another diverse weekend when it comes to festivals in Southeast Wisconsin! Eat your way through Lake Country, laugh ‘til your stomach hurts in Milwaukee, check out the blue-ribbon fun in Racine County and celebrate African Heritage at the Summerfest Grounds. There’s plenty of action for everyone for the next few days! Check it all out in this weekend’s festival guide:

Wednesday – Sunday

Racine County Fair (19805 Durrand Ave, Union Grove)

The Racine County Fair promises “blue ribbon fun for everyone” through their countless varieties of entertainment, including tractor pulls, bingo, rides, games, motorcycle stunts, a circus and farm animal judging. Of course, they’ve also got plenty of tasty, traditional fair food to go around, too. There are contests galore, from hay-bale tossing to chocolate-dessert making. Don’t miss local favorite the BoDeans on stage Thursday night, and country music star Rodney Atkins on Saturday.
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It’s another scorcher here in Southeast Wisconsin. With high-temperature records being broken all across the country, the sound of having your own backyard retreat in the form of a glistening, cold pool should make anyone excited. But there are a few things to consider before you, ahem, “take the plunge”:
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