Moments 08 21 :: Week 04

On Sunday, Brian & I decided to take a field trip with the dogs on our walk. We loaded up the car and took them to Lake Park. 

We haven't been out to Chenequa yet this year for a beach day. It wasn't ideal, and we only had a little time, but are so glad we did. I love it out there so much.

Mean skies. It did end up absolutely pouring on us when we were heading home. 

Fortunately, it cleared up later, because it was the Nicolet Knights first soccer game of the season. Cole is so excited to finally get his number back after all of these years. 

Cole is a starter, playing in the center midfield position. He's played all but 4 minutes the last two games, and is really showing leadership on the field this year. It's very fun to watch.

This is no filter! The sky was absolutely insane. 

It was National Dog day. These are the first two photos I had of the goofballs. This is Van the day he left for bird dog training. He's going to be there a few days. Yes I miss him, but the break is frankly really nice too. Just look at this stinker! On my table. 

And my girl. I think she was trying to climb into my lap the other day due to the rain. She's such a scaredy pants.

Saint Louis University

Well, Hudson is officially moved in to his new college and city. We woke up bright and early to make the long haul to St. Louis. Move-in was a breeze. There are so many students helping the freshman and transfer students. We lucked out for sure. Considering he decided to transfer about a month before actually going, his dorm was one of the last on his list. But you know what? It's kind of amazing. It's HUGE, and he and his roommate have their own bathroom, if you can believe it. After unpacking, we were starving, so drove to drop off our U-Haul and pick up some Salt + Smoke BBQ. Absolutely delicious. Brian and I left Hudson to do his thing, then checked into our hotel and wandered around campus. I had never been before, so loved seeing everything. It's really nice. The next morning was Convocation. We weren't really sure what it was about, but are so glad we went. It was pretty inspiring, and the President of the University was absolutely amazing. After that, we had a couple hours, so took Hudson for lunch again. We went to a new food court called The Foundry. It opened about 1.5 weeks ago, and is even walking distance from Hudson. That will be nice to have there, for sure. Then, we had to say our goodbyes, and made sure to drive past the airport where Hudson will be spending a lot of time. Ugh, goodbyes suck. I really missing having him around, but seriously, it was time to go. Such an exciting future ahead. Here's to a much better year. 

Moments 08 21 :: Week 03

This guy was supposed to spending the week at bird dog training. Unfortunately, he ended up with a minor case of kennel cough so we need to wait a couple weeks. He only was bad one day. Look how sad he looks!

Grandma invited us all over for dinner as a send off for Hudson, and early birthday for Cole. So nice!

Early send off celebration for Hudson before he leaves for college. (Because he's ditching us to be with friends on his last night!)

One last attempt at a family photo for awhile. He's been home five months now. I've loved every minute and will miss him like mad, but it's time for him to go. So many plans, and such a bright future. I'm exited for him. 

Moments 08 21 :: Week 02

On Friday, Cole and I headed to yet another soccer ID camp. One of our family friends plays on the St. Mary's team, and Cole met the coach the week before in Schaumburg, who mentioned there would be a camp the next week. This one was only a few hours. We drove up Friday night, checked into our hotel, had Mexican food, then went to sleep. 

While Cole was at camp, I wandered the campus. It's not a very large one, but very pretty. 

I also walked along the Mississippi River and streets of Winona, MN.

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible. Torrential downpours. Fortunately, I took cover in a cafe for lunch and was able to stay there awhile. 

I really wanted to visit the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, which also ended up being a perfect place to be during the storm. There were some pretty significant artists (Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne and more) and artworks (one of versions of Washington Crossing the Delaware by Leutze for example)  represented there. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos in the permanent gallery, but was able to in the others. Here are some of my favorites:

Pretty spectacular, right?

From the outside.

It sits along the River.

I was able to catch a few minutes of Cole playing. He had a really great day and was so glad to be able to check it out. Unfortunately, the ride home was grueling. Very slow, fast wipers and hazards the last 1.5 hours of the ride.

What a crazy week. On Tuesday, we had a massive storm. This is the view from our window when a tree knocked out a power line. The neighbors on both sides of us have trees down on power lines, so we, along with another 180,000 homes, lost power that night. 

And guess what? Almost 72 hours later, we still don't have power. It's down to about 13,000 and we are one of the lucky few. Fortunately, our neighbors across the street are doing ok, so they let us run an extension cord to their house. It's seriously saved us. We have one freezer hooked up, and charging stations for our technology. Hope this gets fixed soon. 

At 8:00pm Friday night, the power turned back on. What a welcome sight these power trucks from Michigan were. It feels so great to be back to civilization.

Moments 08 21 :: Week 01

Was able to catch a couple of Cole's games the last day at camp. It was such a great experience for him.

Van Duke at his last day of puppy class. I know this may be shocking, but he was NOT a star student. Haha. They loved his spirit though.

How crazy is this? This is Fletcher -- another puppy class student. They were so cute together.

Finished another book. 

I just wish this guy would get comfortable. (Seriously though, he is such a giant snuggle bug. I love it.)

Our clematis are going nuts. 

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By the way, no, we are not ignoring Gretel. This is the season we don't see much of her, as she is busy constantly stalking in the yard. I'm sure Van will be joining her soon. He's finally getting trained on the electric fence and doing pretty well. We still have to keep an eye on him all the time though. Also, nope -- I don't have any photos of Brian & Hudson at the EAA all week. I'm sure many were taken. They had a great time, that's for sure.