Moments 07 21 :: Week 05

Our friend Stephanie & Aaron rent a pontoon boat every year during the Air & Water Show, and invited us. This is the second time we've gotten to go with them.

The Air & Water Show is cancelled this year, but we still took the boat out. It was such a hot day. We even got in the water.

The captain & Brian.

Van's favorite thing to steal (besides everyone's shoes) is a shower poof from the boy's shower. Thankfully he's still super cute.

Cole went to his first soccer ID camp! He left on Sunday and my mom and I picked him up on Tuesday.

He absolutely loved it!

At the end of the week, he had another soccer ID camp. This one is a bunch of coaches, and one we signed up for awhile before at lot of the colleges were announcing theirs. He's having fun, but it's a different experience than the actual college one. Anyhow, originally we planned on driving back and forth, but we decided to get a hotel instead. I'm glad we did. It's been so great. Something I'd never do, even a couple years ago, was go into the hotel gym. Had such a great time doing a few workouts this morning. 

In the afternoon, I met with up these two for lunch and a visit to a new Thai bakery. Enjoyed an I-tim-ka-ti — Thai coconut milk ice cream with sticky rice, palm seed and peanuts and came back with tons of sweets. So good. 

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Hudson had a busy week too. He spent Sunday - Wednesday camping out at the EAA and volunteering. He had a big day of work on Thursday, then he and Brian went back up to be spectators. A week of airplanes. He's loving it.

Moments 07 21 :: Week 04

Last Friday, Hudson & Brian were supposed to fly to an airport for breakfast. The weather didn't cooperate, however, so they spent some time just taking off and landing.

Brian and I finally ate dinner at the new hunt club he belongs to. It was fantastic. I had Pork Tenderloin with Bing Cherry Barbecue Sauce and Creamy Mascarpone Polenta. So good.

It's official, we have a Billiken. Hudson decided to transfer this year. I'm sure he would have been happy staying at Western Michigan, but he just wasn't thrilled about going back. He missed a larger town (St. Louis IS pretty cool) and while he made the most of it, last year was just plain tough. Plus, fun fact, Saint Louis University was the first accredited aviation program in the US. Here's to new beginnings. 

Brian drove up to Washington Island with a friend and camped Saturday night. It was a perfect weekend for it. 

Cole whipped up some delicious caramels. They were gone in a day.

Sunday night we all went to the Van Gogh exhibit.

The colors and music were absolutely amazing.

Love this guy. It's been a busy crazy summer, but I cannot believe he'll be leaving us again. It's going to be like starting over.

The snuggles are still happening. Every single day.

I was eating lunch, when next thing you know, this happens. Van is definitely easier than Gretel was as a puppy, but my gosh, he's still a lot. These GSP puppies are something.

We watched the Bucks playoff game at our neighbors house. Perfect setting. I still can't believe they actually won it. Hudson has been going down to the Deer District to watch it. He and his friends were up north this week, and even drove the four hours back to partake. It was insane. Over 65,000 people in attendance. The city is on fire.

Chicago Getaway :: Day 2

After lounging around for awhile (which really felts great -- remember, we have a puppy), we packed up and spent another day wandering. We picked up falafel from Oasis Cafe (located in the back of a jewelry building), and decided to eat in the park. As we were walking over, we heard music coming from the pavilion. Turns out the Grant Park Orchestra was rehearsing for this weekend. So we sat on the steps and just enjoyed it. Later, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago. Brian's been dying to get back there, and it really was great. It's been awhile for sure. Afterwards, we were hoping to grab a quick snack from Eataly, but it was too busy. Ended up having a lunch at The Purple Pig before swinging by the hotel one last time to grab our bags, and catch the train back. Chicago is such an amazing city. We sure do miss it. 

Chicago Getaway :: Day 1

Brian and I were able to get away to Chicago for a couple days. We woke up early on Wednesday and took the train down. After dropping our bags off at our hotel, we took the "L" to Bucktown and wandered the streets all afternoon. It's nice to see the city back in action, but can definitely see some of the businesses that were hit hard by the pandemic, which is so sad. Grabbed a quick lunch (and margarita of course) at Big Star, then walked! We honestly didn't have many plans, and just wanted to soak it all in. Dinner was at Momotaro, and one of the favorite meals we've had in a very long time. It was so beautiful and so good. Such a treat. Afterwards, we walked around the West Loop - where it all started for us. So much fun to see so much activity all around. Even walked by our old loft building. So many amazing memories. We finished the evening by having a cocktail at our hotel (we stayed at the Chicago Athletic Association) and admiring the beautiful skyline. Then we went to the game room to watch the Bucks in the playoffs. Such an exciting game too. A perfect day. 

Moments 07 21 :: Week 03

Van Duke is officially 6 months old. 

We tried to recreate this photo. 

Made this Cinnamon Chocolate Pull Apart bread. Yum. 

Brian is off of work this week. Thanks to the boys busy schedules, a puppy, and just being late to the game on booking anything this year, we are doing a staycation. Day one, golf with the boys. 

On Day 2, we rented a Duffy boat and cruised the river for lunch. 

I'd say it fit the four of us perfectly. LOL. It was so comfortable. 

Always fun getting a different view of the city.

We'd totally do that again. It was so much fun. 

Trouble maker. He has been ruining his toy bin, so we put it on the crate. Didn't deter Van at all. He just jumped right up there.