13 Weeks

I know. I'm ridiculous. But we've never had a little puppy before, and before you know it, Gretel will be full-grown. Brian took her to Harrington Beach State Park to go swimming yesterday. She had a great time feasting on all the alewives that are currently washed ashore (it happens every year on Lake Michigan). Gross. She also had an encounter with a fawn and her mom. They crossed by just yards in front of them. She was fine with the fawn, but the doe freaked her out. She's pretty cute.

Downer Classic

Saturday was spent at one of my favorite events all summer -- the Downer Classic bike races. We brought Gretel, who was a total sport -- and even got to play with an all black 10-week old German Shorthaired Pointer. They were too cute. We also met up with a bunch of our friends. Since this is the boys third year attending this event, we didn't see much of them. They were too busy wandering the streets, and eating free snow cones. Such a great day.

#tbt

I believe it was the summer before we got married -- 1999 -- Brian went on a fly-in fishing trip to Canada with my dad, grandfather, his dad, brother-in-law Tim and a couple friends. Not my cup of tea, but they sure had a great time, and I'm so happy they got to take this trip. The photo above is Brian and his dad, Pat, who was completely in his element there. H loves fishing too, and Brian and I talk all the time how much H and Pat would have loved spending time fishing together.

12 Weeks

Brian and H took Gretel to the hunt club today for the first time. She had fun frolicking on the fields with pigeons, crashing a graduation party, and even went swimming in the fishing pond with three fox red Labrador Retrievers. She had an absolute blast.

World Cup

World Cup fever is here. We've all been watching as many games as possible, and today was USA vs. Portugal. After C's final baseball game of the season, we drove down for the Nomad block party to watch the game. It was crazy packed, but so much fun. The USA was up until the final minutes when Portugal tied the game. Excitement!

13th Annual Player

Yesterday was the 13th Annual Player Invitational. My skills on the course are less than impressive -- but that doesn't keep us from having a great time golfing with Bill & Lora. In fact, this is the 4th year now that we've done it and if anything, it's such a great excuse to get to see each other.

#tbt

Here's H as a wee little baby -- only days old. What a sweetheart. He always has been such a fun, easy-going guy. And I love that even at 12 years old, he still has those little bags under his eyes.

Puddles

It has been raining something fierce the last couple days. If I've had 4 hours of sleep each night, I'd be lucky. And I usually can sleep through anything. This morning the skies were pitch black, and the rains were so bad our entire front yard was flooded. Once the boys could go out and play again, they did. I noticed a pair of shoes and socks in the yard, turned the corner, and saw them running through the puddles. Next thing you know, shirts were off and mud wrestling was taking place. They were a mess. Gretel tends to stick her entire face up to her ears in the puddles. Even Storm plopped himself in them. Needless to say, every single one of them had showers and baths this afternoon. What a fun mess.

Art by H :: Paper Mache

H came home with all of his artwork last week, and this one is for sure my favorite. Can you figure out what it is? A Burger King! Funny.

Eleven Weeks

This little girl is either on or off -- there's really no in between. Thank goodness she's super cute.

Father's Day

Dear Brian -

I know we didn't have grand plans today, but I still hope it was special because you sure do deserve it. I was supposed to wake up early, take care of the puppy, and make you breakfast. You ended up letting me sleep in instead. You do things like that all the time. H and I did make breakfast a little bit later. Chorizo breakfast burritos and fruit salad to be exact. In the afternoon, we watched H's final soccer game of the season. They tied it 2-2 in the final minutes. It was exciting. In the evening, we went over to my parents house for dinner with Christie, Tim, J & M. We are all so lucky to have such great goofy guys in our lives.

Happy Father's Day! To the best dad (and husband) ever.

Love, Me

Summer Farm Party

One of my favorite things about last summer attending our friend's -- Maria & Robbie's -- Summer Farm Party. Needless to say, we couldn't wait for this year's to happen. The minute you exit your car, it's absolutely magical. They live in an old farmhouse on a beautiful property -- complete with sheep and chickens. It's stunning. Yesterday's party fell on Flag Day. If you or your parents were born in another country, it was requested you bring a flag from that county. Some of the countries represented were Italy, Australia, and of course, New Zealand, which is where Maria is from. The boys had a blast running around the property, playing badminton and the custom brick oven pizzas that we had for dinner. It was a perfect evening.

P.S. One of the guys Brian works with brought his Drone. He ended taking some pretty cool shots of the party. Just check out this location!

Gretel in My Flocks

Here she is! She'll be 11 weeks old on Sunday and is growing like crazy. The accidents in the house have slowed down. She goes in the crate well. Brian's still up super early letting her out, and she is very strong willed. I call her the beast. Her favorite place to hang out is in my flocks. Just like C, I guess. We started puppy class this week and guess who was the scaredy-cat of the group. True story! It took her most of the play time to get out from behind the chairs.

Last Day of School

It kind of snuck up on me this year, but today is the last day of school! Unbelievable. Both H & C had great school years, which makes me a very happy person. I asked C what he thought about it being the last day of school, and he gave me the thumbs down sign. He really likes seeing his friends every day. H was pretty excited this morning, but when I asked him if he was glad it was summer, he said "kind of." I know we'll have a great summer, but I'm so happy for both of them that they enjoyed 3rd and 6th grades so much. (Here they are on the first day of school this year.)

#tbt

On our honeymoon -- September 1999 -- British Virgin Islands. We spent a week on Peter Island, and took a few trips to other islands such as Virgin Gorda, which where I think this photo is taken. Absolute heaven. Cannot believe how fast the years have gone by. This seems like yesterday.

The Big League

You may recall that on Mother's Day, C's baseball team was supposed to play at Helfaer Field but got rained out. Such a bummer. Fortunately they were able to reschedule and play last night. Helfaer is the little field right outside Miller Park, and just a really fun place to get to play on. The coaches gave each of the players nicknames that were broadcast as the lineup was announced. C is "Spicoli." Too funny. The Marlins ended up getting creamed by a team they have beat every time this season so far. Didn't matter though -- they had a blast. C caught two amazing (I mean, really, really amazing!) outs, scored the one run, and even pitched one and a half innings. He had a great game. Nina & Papa came, and Brian and H were able to catch the last couple innings due to H's soccer tryouts. It was a super fun evening at the ballpark.

Graduation Party

The first of our nephews and nieces graduated from high school over the weekend. I can't believe it. To celebrate, Jacob wanted to have dinner with his family at Cafe Benelux. He picked out fabulous menu options, and we had a completely great time. We even got to meet his girlfriend and my niece's boyfriend. We are so proud of our graduate, and excited for all the great things to come. He's one terrific young man.