Eleven

Today is C's birthday, and he's getting to do what he loves best ... playing in a soccer tournament all weekend. There isn't much I can say about C that I haven't said before. He's tough but sensitive. Has a great sense of humor, yet whether it's in school or sports, such a hard worker. He marches to his own beat, and it is definitely one of the things I love most about him. As I've done over the years, here's a little Q&A with the birthday boy:

C ' S   F A V O R I T E S   A T   1 1   Y E A R S  O L D :
Color // Pink
Food // "I really don't know!"
Drink // Smoothies
TV show // Barclays Premier League soccer
Subject in school // PE
Book // Magic Treehouse books. "I've read the entire series."
Animal // Pig
Sport // Soccer
Place to be // "With my Storm." (dog)

If he could visit anywhere in the world, it would "probably be London to see a Chelsea game." And when he grows up, he would like live in London and be a professional soccer player.

May all of your dreams come true, my little love.....

(Past birthdays 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4)

Last Week in Moments

Bubbles // C with Brian, H and three of his friends paddle-boarding for his birthday party last weekend


We went to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Van Gogh to Pollock :: Modern Rebels exhibit. So good // Dinners cooked over the open fire are always the best


These crazy little things are "cotton candy grapes" and surprisingly, really do taste like cotton candy // The tomatoes from are garden are going crazy


Storm & Gretel begging in the kitchen on National Dog Day // C got an amazon gift card from one of his friends and bought this! A cotton candy machine


We finally made it to the Nature Center this summer to look for tadpoles, frogs and turtles // It's such a gorgeous place -- we are so lucky to have it basically in our back yard

C's Birthday Party

What a super fantastic fun day! C invited 3 friends to Panga to rent paddleboards for his birthday. It's next week, but he's going to be in a soccer tournament so we decided to celebrate a little early. It's been a number of years since he's actually had a party with friends. End of August birthdays are tough. Vacations, back to school and all. We've been out of town ourselves for the past couple years! Anyhow, the boys all took off on their SUPs with Brian supervising, so I hardly saw them! My parents came over and joined me on the shore -- and my friend Tami came out a little early to hang out ... so fun. I've got to say, C has some really nice friends with really nice parents. It's a good thing. We had snacks, and salted carmel cupcakes (per the birthday boy) and, of course, a piñata. No birthday is complete without one, according to C. He had a perfect day.

Last Week in Moments

Grandma visited us and took us out for dinner to Pizza Man -- such a nice surprise // So happy to get a date night with Scott & Ali on the calendar. We went to Amilinda for dinner, and Lake Park Bistro for dessert. The first week of summer break, we went out for dinner with them -- it's only appropriate we got to celebrate nearing the end of summer with them too

Last Week in Moments

H was invited to play in a 3v3 tournament with some of his soccer teammates. They ended up being short a sub so C filled in. Was so fun watching the two brothers play together. Not sure when that is going to happen again // The Frigs came on Saturday night for a visit! So much fun. We had taken them to the Milwaukee Public Market for oysters, walked around the 3rd Ward for a bit, then came home. Chris made homemade tonic, and they had gone to a farmer's market in the am so showed up with an abundance of zucchini blossoms. Needless to say, we ate very well. Love having them!


The next day we went to German Days at Carl Schurtz Park. We went last year too, and they loved it! This year was an absolute blast too. My parents, sister and her family, and my cousin and his family joined us too. Within the first couple minutes, H was working the penny toss // We always make sure to watch the parade -- which is literally 4 minutes long and just a bunch of people marching. Hilarious


We also swam in Moose Lake. I love that lake -- it's really deep, which means you need floatation devices -- but also, it takes some effort to touch weeds at the bottom // On Tuesday, Brian & H went to the PGA in the am, then we all went to the Wisconsin State Fair in the afternoon. One of my first stops is always the roasted corn


The boys rode the giant swing and said they felt sick for two days after. Ha! I can't handle those spinning rides either // Here's Nik Wallenda performing his longest tightrope walk. Pretty cool to see

Wisconsin State Fair

Soccer has resumed. Tennis is still going on. We had one day to make our annual visit to the Wisconsin State Fair happen, and it did! The morning of, Brian & H went to the PGA. Needless to say, once they were there, they didn't want to leave. And, there may have been a little whining. But, this is Brian's first time joining us at the State Fair, and we were so excited. Brian has a little bit different of an agenda than we've established over the years. But it was fun, and we definitely did things we haven't seen before. Like, go into the pavilions, where we got to see the winning culinary recipes. We also did our standard things. The boys rode the slide (twice). We saw goats and pigs. C and lost Brian and H for awhile -- they said we took too long with the swines. (C and I <3 pigs). We feasted -- eating alligator and the Wis-cone-sin (a soft pretzel cone with chicken schnitzel, potato pancake, German rotkohl, cinnamon apple straws and a beer reduction), roasted corn and cream puffs, poutine and perogies. It's definitely overload, but oh my ... how fun. The last stop was the Spincity to go on some rides. The boys went on their favorite -- the Genesis -- and a fun house. It took some coaxing, but they also tried out the giant swing. It turns out they take after Brian and me -- even the next day, they were talking about how sick they felt going around in a circle like that. Funny. As we were leaving, Nik Wallenda was about to attempt his longest tightrope walk. We found a cozy spot in the parking lot and stayed around for the whole thing. We had seen him on TV doing his Grand Canyon walk, as well as his skyscraper walk. It was pretty amazing watching him that close. Anyhow, we left exhausted and full, but what a fun day.

Last Week in Moments

Was washing the windows last weekend and this cute thing appeared // So hot! Brian pulled out the slip n slide to beat the heat. We also made it to the pool (finally) and went three days in a row


Watermelon monsters // C practicing his flips at the lake after tennis this week