NCAA D3 National Tournament - Round One

What an exciting weekend. Augsburg hosted the first round of the NCAA DIII Tournament. Brian and I drove up, and Zoe took the train in for the weekend to cheer Cole and the Auggies on. Since it was home, they had team dinners both nights at families homes. The first game was against Occidental from Los Angeles. They ended up winning 3-1 to move on and see another day. The second game was against Edgewood from Madison. It was absolutely nerve-wracking. Edgewood brought it, but thanks to an early goal, some incredible saves and strong defense, they were able to hang on and win 1-0, making it to the Sweet Sixteen. Because of their ranking this year, they would be hosting again this weekend. However, the dome is being put up and there is a big wrestling event so instead, they will be traveling to St. Louis. Home advantage is always good, and it was so fun having all the family and alumni at the games, but traveling will be fun for the team too. I never want this season to end. It's been so amazing. They deserve this, and I'm just so happy for them. 

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.