St. Louis :: Day 2

Photo overload! It was a big day that started with crepes at Rooster then hours at City Museum.  Wow, that place is crazy and cool. Definitely stimulation overload. I crawled with the boys up some scary metal tunnels (Brian stayed behind) and went with C on the 10-story slide (H and Brian opted for the 5-story version). Some takeaways were: 1) wear moveable pants. My stiff jeans made moving around slightly difficult which was a little scary when you are trying to change leg position in the middle of a suspended tunnel. 2) bring knee pads. And headlamps if you think you are going to be going in the caves (which, I wasn't going to do anyhow). It was a pretty amazing place. After that, we went to the Soulard Farmer's Market. Most everything was closed when we went so we headed to the Gateway National Park. There was no way this family of scaredy cats was going up in the elevator, but the museum was interesting and impressive. In the evening, C unfortunately got a headache. That kid and his headaches! He's gotten better, but I think just get overstimulated on vacation. Or something. We left him at the apartment and went to Pho Grand for dinner. It's been rainy now, so totally hit the spot. Such a great day. We are loving this city.

St. Louis :: Day 1

Spring Break! It may not be somewhere warm and tropical, but we all just wanted a change of scenery, so a trip to St. Louis for a few days it is. I've never been before, and am excited to explore the city. We stopped in Springfield, IL for lunch and walked around the old State Capitol. From there, it was only a couple hours until our final destination. We rented a really cute Airbnb in what seems to be a pretty cool little area. Tons of restaurants with walking distance, which is awesome. The boys all had a slice of pizza at Pizza Head (Brian's chicken tikka masala was so good) before we explored. Dinner was at Meskerem Ethiopian. H has always wanted to try it, and it was absolutely delicious. We got the vegetarian and standard combo platters so we could try everything. Yum. After a long day, we were back at the apartment and in our PJs by 9pm. We're crazy like that. ;)

Moments 03 19 :: Week 05

Ranunculus! Definitely some of my favorites. As seen at Trader Joe's.


C had soccer in Schaumburg, IL all weekend. He was thrilled to have his brother from another mother, Finn, watch his game. It wasn't one of his best, and ended in an injury. What's with this guy, always taped up? Ugh.


After the game, we joined the Elsmo's for conveyor belt sushi at Kai. Best spur of the moment lunch date ever.


We even brought C's friend from soccer along for his first sushi experience ever, which was so fun. And look who else made an appearance! H! I'm guessing it had more to do with Finn being there than anything. :)


Sunday's game was rainy, but the ended up with a win and included a goal from C.


Pretty girl. So tired, but never can give up the ship.


College visit #3 -- Purdue. It's all so exciting!


Brian and H even got to meet up with Gracie who is a sophomore there. <3!!!!

Moments 03 19 :: Week 04

Nicolet HS basketball has been on FIRE! Once swim was over, H became a big fan. On Friday, the team went to the State Semi-Finals. It was the biggest field trip ever, with 10 buses filled with students. Kind of last minute, I decided I wanted to go too! So H and I went together. He was somewhere in that student section, however. They ended up winning 70-46 - and winning the Finals the next day too! We watched it on TV. The boys had soccer referee renewal.


Friday night we picked C up at the airport from his field trip. It's safe to say he had an absolutely incredible time. It might have been one of the best weeks of his life. We all missed him, including these guys.


Happy 48th birthday to Brian!!!!! Breakfast in bed was a fruit salad, chicken maple sausage and a breakfast panna cotta.


Not much planned for the day, but the lake was so gorgeous, we had to take a little walk down to see it.


In the afternoon, C had two ODP soccer games at the Marquette Dome. Such a cool place to play.


Back to the birthday. Corned beef and cabbage dinner and homemade angel food cake for this guy.


The big news of the week is that this guy got a hair cut.


A BIG haircut.


Whoa, right? Our friend Shannon said years ago that she wanted to be the one to do it when the time came, and she did an amazing job. C absolutely loves it, and donated it to Wigs for Kids.

Moments 03 19 :: Week 03

ODP soccer day at the Milwaukee Wave game. First breakfast, then the game with our friends. These boys have traveled to Las Vegas with the Wisconsin Fire together, played on the same team, changed clubs at the same time and now are on ODP together. Fun for all of us. One of their coaches plays on the Wave, but unfortunately was injured at this game.


This guy has been in Washington DC all week with his 8th grade class! Haven't actually talked to him, but from the limited texts and Snapchat updates, he's having a total blast.


Woke up to a foggy day. By the time I left the gym, it had cleared up. As soon as I hit our neighborhood, the fog was back so I just had to make a little side trip to check out the lake. The waves were fantastic! The change of seasons is still in the air.


Storm had to go for his wellness exam. On the car ride there - at the vet (he weighed in a 86 pounds and sat on my lap the entire visit) - pouting on the car ride home. P.S. Besides his lumps and bumps and probably a little arthritis, he's doing great. Not bad for a 12.5 year old dog.


My dinner dates. It's always so nice getting some alone time with each of the boys, and C's DC trip gave us the perfect opportunity.


One of my favorite meals when we go out ever -- Ricotta Gnudi from Centro Cafe. It's been years, and I just couldn't bring myself to try anything else. I love it so much! We also had an amazing caprese salad made with buratta and blood orange and flourless chocolate cake. I'm happy to report there wasn't a single morsel left over. We wiped our plates clean!

Moments 03 19 :: Week 02

C's soccer team hosted their annual indoor tournament. Since H needs volunteer hours for National Honor Society, he stepped in and help me out for 4 hours on Saturday. He loved it. Not.


C had two games on Saturday, and two on Sunday since they made the playoffs. He also had an ODP scrimmage in the MU Dome in between all of that. He loved it.


Meanwhile.....


C's team ended up coming in first place in their bracket! Yay! What wasn't yay, was that he got nailed in the shin during the finals (see above). It hurt for sure, but more than anything, he was so upset he didn't get to finish playing the full game.


Just a big giant dog foot and Gretel snuggling with her leash.

Moments 03 19 :: Week 01

This was the day we arrived in Florida. Felt amazing to get some sunshine. That's for sure.


Meanwhile, back home, Brian and the boys had a great weekend. It even included some R&R (rock climbing and ramen). Ha!


The best thing about winter mornings.


Snoozing in a sunny spot.


Rocking my Beautycounter Red lipstick to celebrate our 6th anniversary and March Forth.