Moments 11 25 : Week 02

Friday night, Emily + Craig invited us to Feed Your Soul. It's always such a fun event. 

I didn't get great photos of the event or the art -- but I did get the fire breathers. Is that what you call them?

First snow of the year came on Saturday. It wasn't much, but here we go. A couple days later, south of us actually got quite a bit, which is crazy this early in the year. 

On Sunday we went to the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend. Andrew works there a few days a week. I'm so glad he introduced us to it, because it's a really cool space. The current exhibit was chairs of Frank Lloyd Wright. He's not known for comfort but I really liked this one.

Also couldn't get over the braids on this chair. Love it.

The colors on this piece are incredible! 

It's always a good time when these guys get together. 

The main reason for our visit was the Bloom exhibit was going on. Local florists design pieces to compliment some of the artwork. Here are some of the displays.

The gang, minus Mel who had just gotten a bunch of vaccinations so was under the weather. 

In other exciting news, the DIII live show to announce the tournament brackets was on Monday. Augsburg will be hosting, and start the tournament playing Occidental from Los Angeles, California. Wish the Auggies a successful weekend! It's been so much fun watching them this season. 

A couple years ago Costco sold stuffed chicken dog toys and haven't been able to find them since. They are Van's absolute favorite. Was so excited when I saw them again. So is he. He spent the first 3 hours in the basement just laying his head on top of it. He's obsessed. Gretel has one too, but he kind of takes over. 

Our Japanese maple glowing.

Finally caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights. They've been making an appearance lately, but we never see them. I saw a faint glow, but the camera really shows it off.

These were pretty minor. Hopefully some day I'll be able to really get to enjoy them. Mother Nature does it again. 

Moments 11 25 :: Week 01

It's full on Fall around here. Love it when the wall of leaves changes colors. They are already gone.

More beautiful trees on a walk. Could also hear the lake in the background. Stunning.

We celebrated Halloween this year! Our friends Matt + Jeff had us over to their scary themed party. 

No mistaking which house on the block was theirs.

The best part was seeing Matt who was 6' 8" in his heels, next to our teeny tiny friend Dre. It was ridiculous. Everyone's costumes were so great. 

The next day, we met Leif/Mel, Bill/Lora for brunch. Always such a great time. 

On Monday I took Josie out on a field trip. She was such a shy, but super sweet 1-year old dog. I had to lift in her into the car, she was so scared, but she turned into a new dog on our walk, even going up to people and greeting them. It's getting cold out, so I'll need to find indoor dog friendly places. I'm going to miss it so much. 

There is a WHS foster facebook page. I typically don't post on there, but have twice recently with a couple of dogs I felt really would shine outside of the shelter. Josie was one of them. Several volunteer dog walkers and another foster mom who was at the shelter while her foster kittens were getting vaccinated, all chimed in on what a great dog she was. And guess what? Another foster family agreed to give her a little 1-2 week break. This news made me so happy. He posted photos of her and she looked so calm and carefree. I hope she has a great time. 

A benefit of the cooler weather is stunning sunrises. 

The Auggies ranked #2 for D3 schools in the latest coaches poll. I'm sure it was before their horrible semi-final loss to the only team that has been able to defeat them. To get kicked out of the conference playoffs in 6th place kind of stinks. The good news is, they already have qualified for Nationals next weekend. 

Moments 10 25 :: Week 05

Stunning! Just some fall colors on my walk with Van. I love this season so much.

Can you even with this guy? I got to take Bucky out on a field trip, and could not get enough of his little piggy legs, snorts, smooshy face and floppy ears. I cannot imagine being a 5-year old dog stuck the shelter. I'll confirm next week, but I think he was adopted though, so yeah! He was so sweet!

Poor guy was so tired after our long walk. He could barely stay awake on the ride home. He looks like such a grumpy old guy, but he was the sweetest. 

Brian had to get cataract surgery on his other eye this week. It's been really bothering him, so I know he's glad to have it done. Even if the following couple days have been a little uncomfortable. 

Minneapolis Weekend No. 2

We were back in Minneapolis last weekend — twice in one month! This time, Hudson flew in to join us, and it felt so good having the P4 back together again.

Brian and I met the boys at Wesley Andrews for matcha chai tea lattes (so good!) and then hung out at Cole’s place before dinner at Little Tijuana. We love it there and wanted Hudson to experience it too. Next time, though, we’ll have to branch out — there are just so many amazing restaurants in Minneapolis. My “must-try” list is getting long!

The next morning, Hudson, Brian, and I met up with Leif, Mel, and Finn at Brit’s to watch the Manchester United game. YES — Leif and Mel were in town visiting Finn too! We’d planned this weekend for a while, and it all came together perfectly. After the game, the three of us headed to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It was a little rainy, but it’s been years since we’ve been, and I just love that place.

Next up was Augsburg vs. St. Olaf — both top-10 nationally ranked teams. What a matchup! One of the parents even organized a little tailgate beforehand, and it was fun meeting some of the other families. There were 750 people in attendance! Cole’s been dealing with a knee injury this week, so I was nervous, but he was taped up and ready to start. He played great until he landed awkwardly on his other foot and had to come out after 40 minutes. Crushing! Augsburg was up 2–0 and looked set to win, but in the final minutes St. Olaf scored twice to tie it up. The most heartbreaking tie ever — St. Olaf hasn’t lost a conference game in 29 matches. We had it!

Still, we ended the night on a high note with dinner at Pizzeria Lola with all the boys. No photos this time, but it was delicious as always.

The next morning, Brian and I had to hit the road, but first stopped by Cole’s apartment to pick up donuts from Glam Doll. Our neighbor up the street works there and happened to be on shift that day — such a fun coincidence! We grabbed Lu’s for the road and headed out. It was hard to leave, but Hudson had a great day with Cole — seeing his school and doing other fun things. I’m so glad they had that time together. And honestly, I’m just so glad we all did.