Moments 08 26 :: Week 01

Last weekend was so fun hanging out with friends. So fun that I didn't even take any photos. Friday night was dinner with my college roommate, Irma, and her husband Greg. We went to Wonderland and it was so good. Emma introduced me to one of my favorite cocktails last summer, a New York Sour. I tend to forget about them, but whenever I see them on a menu, it's what I'm having. 

Afterwards, we went to Art Bar, where I may have had another. Sunday we had some friends over for an early dinner. It was a perfect end to the weekend.

Meanwhile, Hudson and Natalie were in Croatia. Their friend and her family have apartments there. They had the best time. 

Oh Gretel. We basically let her do whatever she wants at this point. She's the sweetest.

Brian traveled to Nashville for work and ran into the twins. I guess it's a thing because he saw them last time too. 

Took Hank out on a field trip on Monday. Unfortunately, he can be listed for adoption for a few days. He's only 1-year-old and has lots of puppy energy in a big boy body. After 45 field trips, he's the first to have chewed through my car harness. He had a blast getting out and splashing in the water. Such a handsome guy.

We got a call last Friday from a panicked Cole. Long story short, he had asked for an extension on his lease and thought it went through, but it hadn't. He was supposed to be out of his apartment in 1.5 hours. The lucky guy got an extension of a few days, but had to hustle to pack and move. He already had a planned trip to Wisconsin and got home today. Now he'll need to figure out where he's going to live for a few weeks. Soccer season starts soon. Crazy. It was a lot to do, but he did it! This place was amazing for him and worked out so well for his first year. He'll be moving in with 7 other soccer players soon. Definitely will be a change of pace, but thankful for all of the great memories this year.

If I had to pick one word to describe this guy, it would be joyful. He just wants to have fun and please his people. Such a goof.

Brian and I went to South Shore Park for Art Blaze. John Kowalczyk is the artist of this installation. 

We also saw "The Moving City" which is an art car that was commissioned by the city and created by Sarah Davitt. We also saw it recently at the Night Market. It's supposed to raise awareness about reckless driving. 

Moments 07 26 :: Week 05

What a fun week! Last Friday night, Hudson + Natalie came for a visit. It was her first time in Milwaukee, and we couldn't wait to show her around. After dinner, we went to Riverwest for Riverwest 24. I don't even know how to explain it. It's a bike race, but also, just a huge, incredible community event. It's known as "The People's Holiday" and it's just an absolute blast. We missed the aerial acrobats, but saw a fun band.

We walked around a little bit to take some of it in. Checkpoint 2 is always fun. Afterwards, we ran into some friends and hung out for a bit. So fun. 

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go to Oshkosh for the day for the EAA Airventure. Here's the type of plane Hudson + Natalie fly and instruct with.

It was pretty fun watching Hudson sign in on the airline crew sign-in. After all of these years of going to the EAA, training and now working as a commercial pilot, it was cool looking back on the journey. Way to go Hud.

It is an exhausting day, so felt good to sit down and watch the afternoon airshow. 

On our way out, we saw a bit of the Royal Airforce exhibition. Wish we could have seen it, but the show is 4 hours long after all. We decided to leave a little early and beat the traffic. Thank goodness we did, because we were able to get dinner and then Hudson + Natalie went out with friends. 

The visit was way too short, but we loved it. 

But first, we met up with Mel + Leif at their place and went to the Milwaukee Public Market for Bloody Marys, per Natalie's request. Such a great idea. Just look at these!

Before they headed out, we were able to walk around downtown a little bit, including a little river walk.

Absolutely loved seeing them. 

On Monday I took NikNik out for a field trip. It ended up thunderstorming as soon as I picked him up, but the weather didn't bother him. It just put a damper in our plans. We started at a pet store while we waited for the rain to taper a little bit. Finally, we were able to take a little walk along the lakefront which made him very happy. The best news is, he was a benchwarmer so at the shelter for awhile, and he was adopted the next day! Way to go NikNik!

Thursday night, Brian and I ventured over to the Ozaukee County Fair. How have I never been there before? I'm shocked I didn't at least take the boys when they were younger. 

Fair food kiosks are the best. 

I mean....

You won't catch me on the rides, but again, I love the scene. 

My favorite part, of course, is the animals. 

The best part about these smaller fairs is that you get to interact with the people showing the animals. We learned so much from a woman who's daughter is showing some of the larger cows. These are babies who get to start their fair journey this year. So cute. 

There were so many beautiful birds!

Pigs are so cute though, and always remind me of Cole. He was obsessed with them when he was younger.

The Budwiser Clydesdale Horses were there this year. They are absolute magnificent. They paraded downtown Cedarburg earlier in the day, which we missed, but was impressive from the videos I've seen. Even the dalmatian was there for the ride -- and yes, it had it's own stall too. It was busy digging holes when we were there. Adorable. 

Moments 07 26 :: Week 04

Yay Spain! Was so excited to see this victory for them. I'm just not a fan of how Argentina plays. Dirty, in my opinion. It's been a really fun few weeks of the World Cup. 

I took this cutie pie, Penny, out on Monday. She's 2 years old and deaf, but so smart, sweet and extremely well behaved! Someone clearly took time to train her, because she was very responsive to basic hand signal commands. Plus, she's very treat motivated, which helps. Owning a deaf dog definitely has some challenges (she's no dog, and I imagine that's because she gets startled by them -- you just need to be proactive and make sure isn't in a position to be surprised by things), but it also meant she isn't an anxious dog, like so many of them from the shelter. It's a tough place for them to be, no matter how comfortable people try to make it. Anyhow, I had so much fun with her I even extended my time with her. She's pretty incredible. 

After the gym, on my way to Costco, I noticed a bunny not moving on the on-ramp to the highway. It looked alive, so I immediately exited and came back around, put my hazards on, and grabbed a towel from the car (which I have for my shelter dogs), made sure cars were coming, and went to grab it. Immediately I realized it's back legs were paralyzed, so I called the Wisconsin Humane Society Wildlife department and brought it in. I'm sure they will need to euthanize it -- but I just couldn't leave it there. It must have been terrified watching all of those cars zoom by. So sad when this stuff happens. Look how sweet this thing was.

Wednesday night Brian and I went downtown for the Milwaukee Night Market. We had an absolute blast. It was packed, and was so much fun seeing the city come alive like this. Plus it was Pet Fest, so I got to hang out with some shelter puppies from the WHS and other rescue organizations. 

Moments 07 26 :: Week 03

Last week I was working the CrossFit Good Land tent at our local farmer's market. You can only imagine how excited I was to see Jack's Playground, a foster based rescue, at the market too. They had some adorable, adoptable dogs with, but George is the one I keep thinking about. He's old (11-13 years old), deaf, and was brought up from Florida after his owner passed away and he was left alone in the house for two weeks. He is adorable. 

On Sunday we traveled to Appleton to check out Mel + Leif's new digs. We absolutely love it! 

Mel whipped up an incredible lunch. She sure does spoil us. 

Afterwards, we walked out their back door which puts you right along a river walk. Seriously, it's pretty fantastic. 

Honestly, this week kind of stunk. It was incredibly hot for multiple days. I wasn't able to walk a shelter dog. I wasn't able to walk our dogs. And we had to keep the house closed up to fend off the heat. We were able to keep it pretty cool overall. But the last day of the heatwave was kind of brutal. The good news was, I sat down for a few hours and finished this book which I was totally into. It's a crazy one, and I loved it. 

Justin was in Minneapolis for work and spoiled Cole with a fancy French dinner. Cole had so much fun spending the evening with him, and said the food was incredible. Fun!

To help with the heat, we filled up our cold plunge and sat in it at night, and got the dogs a splash pad. Too bad they aren't really into it because it feels great. This is the furthest I could get them in it, and even that took multiple treats. 

As if the heat were not enough, we woke up Thursday to unhealthy air from the Canadian wild fires. It cooled down for a day, but we couldn't even open our windows since the air was unsafe. It's improving a bit, but it's still unsafe. Poor Van and I haven't had one single walk this week. We are both going crazy. 

Brian and I fortunately had planned weeks ago to go to the Milwaukee Art Museum on Thursday. We were very thankful for air conditioning and good air. We also were able to check out the Gertrude Abercrombie exhibit before it closes after the weekend. Here are some of my favorites. 

Brian and Gertrude. 

We also checked out the Widline Cadet exhibit. 

I always love finding paintings that inspire me that day. I have some favorites for sure, but it is always changing. 

The German Romantic Prints and Drawings exhibit was kind of cool too. These etchings are crazy. 

Exited for this season, but also sad it's his last college hurrah. Senior season! Time sure flies -- what a journey it's been.