Klassy Kamping 25

After we left Minneapolis, Brian and I met our Klassy Kamping friends at Governor Dodge State Park. The OG Krew has gotten quite a bit smaller, and the photo of me and the boys shows. But our group keeps on growing, and I love that. This year, our group took up seven sites. Some of them spend almost an entire week there. I love that too. Brian and I arrived late afternoon on Saturday. We set up our camp and made a quick dinner. When the kids were younger, we developed the most perfect meal plan with fan favorites. We stuck to that for years since they all looked forward to it. It was pretty delicious, to be honest. Nowadays, we just kind of fend for our own. That works out great for this phase of our lives. One of from our group, just loves cooking. As he said, it's what he does when he's camping. You should have seen his set up! Often, we found ourselves there since they had plenty to go around. So once again, we got spoiled with some pretty delicious meals. 

What's crazy, is we didn't even move our van once. Brian and I took a little walk around the campsite, then later to the beach on Sunday. We also hooked up the starlink and watched Cole's soccer game on Sunday. It was relaxing and chill, exactly what he and I both needed. The weather was also perfect the days we were there. It was pretty much the perfect weekend.

(Past Years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010 - 

NOTE: I missed 2024, so it's just a photo vs. a post. But still, there was a krew.)

Moments 09 25 :: Week 01

What a week! We did so much, and saw so many of our favorite people. First stop, dropping the dogs off at the kennel. They were so bummed. Van, at least, wanted to go on an adventure. He lives for that stuff. Gretel, on the other hand, hates the van.

Next, we drove to Minneapolis for the Auggie's first soccer game of the season. 

Cole had quite the cheering section. Leif + Mel were in town visiting Finn, who was making a video for the team of the first game. Finn's girlfriend also swung by to cheer them on. And Zoe came into town after her first week of school. 

#4 played a strong 90 minutes. The team beat St. Norbert 1-0 for a good start to the season. (They played two more games since - 9-0 and 7-0.). Cole's experience over the past three weeks is such a difference compared to his last two seasons. It's exactly what we had hoped for him out of a college coach and team. We couldn't be more excited for him. 

Proud parents.

Afterwards, we went out for a late night dinner to celebrate Cole's 21st birthday! Yes, his first game was the same day as his birthday. It wasn't a 21st blow out bash, but he did get to order his first legal drink (and was carded) and got to celebrate his first win of the season. 

We stopped by his place for a quick stop and some cake before saying our good-byes. Brian and I left the next morning to go camping. It was so great getting to spend this special day with this guy. Minneapolis is treating him well, that's for sure. 

After a couple days camping (there will be a post on that next), Brian and I stopped in Madison on the way back. It's such a fun city. 

Students had just moved back to campus and it was a gorgeous day, so it was bustling.

This was a treat! On Tuesday, Hudson's flight brought him to Milwaukee! Brian and I were so excited to get to watch him taxi the plane to meet us. 

We even got a tour of the inside. It's not big, but I definitely wouldn't complain getting to fly this way.

Family photo. Just so proud of this guy. It's been a great experience, but the schedule has been grueling. He's definitely counting down the days until he gets a commercial training slot. 

On Wednesday, Cole started classes. I asked how it went and he sent this. I guess this will have to do for a first day of school photo.

Meanwhile, Hudson had a free day in Milwaukee so we just kind of laid low and walked around the city. He hasn't been home since April, and it just felt so great having him around. On Thursday, he flew to Michigan and Minneapolis, but was back in Milwaukee by 1pm so he and I got walk Van then go out for dinner. Unfortunately, Brian is back up teaching again so had to miss that part of it. Friday morning, Brian dropped him off at the airport and he was on his way again. He's finishing out a 3-week stint and flew to Boston today. Miss him already. 

Moments 08 25 :: Week 05

Nina + Papa invited us out for a Fish Fry. We laugh so hard the entire time. Such a fun night. 

Cole sent us some photos from media day. Love it. He's ready for Year 3. 

Meanwhile, Hudson has been flying around California, the mountains and now the East Coast and Canada. We are all missing each other like crazy, and hope it works out that we get to see him soon. 

Bayside hired some goats to clear out some hard to access vegetation acres. Van and I took a walk to check them out. They are the cutest. 

On Sunday, we were invited to a fancy party in Lake Country for the Milwaukee Chamber Theater. The grounds were spectacular and the company was fun and interesting.

I borrowed this photo from Ali. There were also several short performances showcasing some of the past and upcoming events. 

On the way out, I had to stop at the horse stable. I was warned about these horses, but they were Shetland Ponies! I wanted one so bad when I was little. How cute are these?

On Monday, I was back at the Wisconsin Humane Society taking another dog out for a Field Trip. I was lucky enough to get to walk Xena. As you can see, she's a tripod. She's also deaf. And, she's a big girl so while she gets around well, it's not necessarily easy. She was so excited and wouldn't slow down at first. She did get tired though. If she needed rest, she would stop and sit or lay down and take a minute. There were moments walking back that I wondered if we were going to make it back to the car, but we eventually did. I've never walked a tri-pod before. Now I know. 

I drove her up to our house so she could meet Brian and get some water. The dogs stay crated in our house, and I think Xena was wondering why she wasn't being let inside. She would have loved to have snuggled up on a sofa, I think. Clearly this poor girl has been through a lot, but she's so trusting and such a sweetheart. We had a really great time. 

Moments 08 25 :: Week 04

Lots of food photos this week, but we had some great meals. On Saturday, we met Leif + Mel at The Wolf. It was our first time and it was fantastic. This photo is first course was shishito peppers and ceviche. Both delicious. So were the rest of dishes. We'll be back.

After dinner, we went to The Eagles Club for a concert. 

LCD Soundsystem! It's been about 18 years or do since Brian and I saw them last. It was a sold out show on a crazy hot night. Packed and sweaty. We missed seeing them walk on, and left before the final song, but they were great. 

The next day we met Leif + Mel again, but this time at Three Lions for the first Manchester United game of the season. Unfortunately, our team lost, but our English breakfast hit the spot. 

Otherwise, the week was pretty quite. Brian was in LA for a few days so I had a quiet house. If you know me, you know how much I crave that, especially since Brian has worked from home for over 5 years now. It's always good getting him back again though. We decided summer isn't over yet, so went to Poco Loca on birria taco night. It's my first time trying them, and they were absolutely delicious. 

Moments 08 25 :: Week 03

It felt like we were celebrating Cole all week. He requested shrimp for his send off meal, which we had several days early. The kid was busy this week! He visited his old college teammates, played golf with the grandparents, picked Zoe up after her big move-in to her new apartment in Chicago. 

He was able to join us for our annual German American Days with the family too. Prost!

The Live Glockenspiel is always a hit. 

See what I mean? Just look at this crowd. 

Some of us even jumped in the lake. 

And some of us didn't. I can never resist getting in that water. It's fantastic.

The German American Days gang. Missed our large group, but we had a wonderful time. It started raining in the afternoon, so our day was cut a little short. We all were very lucky though. It stormed so bad, that so many homes flooded. Probably half the people I know in the area, to be honest. We only had a little roof leak, which I'll deal with later. It was devastating seeing so much left on the curb from people's flooded basements. 

On Cole's last night, Zoe came over for dinner and we had his traditional birthday ice cream cake. Just a little early. We got to have so many meals with those two this summer. I'm going to miss them. 

Alas, Minneapolis waits. We loaded up the last of Cole's stuff, and headed to his new place. It's really great. He's a lucky kid. 

It's close to the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

As well as within walking distance to a bunch of great restaurants.

 

The day we arrived, he had a pick-up game. He loved getting a chance to meet some of the other players. The next day, Brian and I went to a parent social, so we got to meet some people too. 

This team seems really dialed in, and I'm so excited for Cole to get the development he's been craving as both a person and a player. 

We are excited for him to be an Auggie.

Cheers to a successful move-in!

Friday morning, it was time to say good-bye. 3.5 months was not a short amount of time. He was definitely ready to go, but we sure are going to miss him. So exited for this next era though.

On the way out of town, we stopped at a diner for a good ole' breakfast. 

We also got this cute photo from Hudson today. It's Natalie's 25th birthday. I'm not sure who's idea this was, but I love it.