Moments 10 21 :: Week 05

Last Saturday, Cole and the rest of the Nicolet High School Varsity soccer team had their last game. It's the first time I didn't want high school season to end. Such a fun, great year. They ended up losing in the Regional Playoffs to Oshkosh North. It was kind of an upset, but what a great season.

Fall rain and leaves. It's been pretty gloomy and cold this year. 

Still some beautiful colors though. 

This guy got to take a car ride to the airport to pick up Hudson. Yay! He's home for a few days for Fall Break. I am always so happy when we are all together. 

Went to Momo Mee for lunch. So, so good.

Stopped to see the surfers (the little specks by the back waves). Very windy.

We've been wanting to eat at 3 Brothers forever. We ordered takeout last year when Hudson was at school and the restaurant was still only doing takeout. But we've never gotten to have the full experience. Got lucky when we called last minute for reservations and got in. It was such a great night. What a special place.

Moments 10 21 :: Week 04

Last weekend, we headed to St. Louis to visit Hudson. Brian hadn't been there since drop-off, and Cole hadn't been there since they went to tour it again in June. We are all pretty obsessed with this city. One thing Hudson wanted to do was visit the Soulard Farmer's Market. We had gone there when we visited for Spring Break a few years ago. It was definitely pumping. 

We also went to Balken Treat Box again, and walked Cherokee Street. Found a great brewery for a quick stop. 

I don't really think we look a ton alike, but sure do in this photo!

We also went to a Billiken soccer game. They won again -- ranked 12th in the nation, or something crazy like that, at the moment. This is the best (and only) photo I took. Ha!

Sunday we went to Beast BBQ. The boys and Brian had gone here before, but it was a first for me. 

Um.... yes, it was delicious. The pork steak was ridiculous.

The four of us. Only photo we got. My gosh, I love it when we are all together. In other good news, Hudson is doing really well and finding his groove. In fact, after spending a weekend in a hotel with us,  I have a feeling he was ready for us to leave. 

Finished another great book. Took forever, per usual, but really enjoyed it.

My friend Carol celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. After our workout, we went out for coffee (and, I made a Coffee Cake). Next thing I know, we decided to stop in at the wine bar just up the block (I do some bookkeeping for them - very fun). Before you know it, we were all taking a seat at the bar and having a glass of wine. At 11:30am. In our sweaty workout clothes. They headed to a shop afterwards - I decided I better go. And then, a couple of them went to lunch! Such a fun, unexpected day. We all loved it so much. Especially Carol.

Cole's Environmental Science class is paired with a PE class called Outdoor Pursuits. It's a year long class, and they do really fun stuff. Lately, they have been riding their bikes. On one particular stop, Cole ended up catching a fish. With his hands. I'm so glad this is documented. It's pretty hilarious. Only he would do something like that. 

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In other exciting news, Hudson has been flying a ton this week! He had a long-distance night flight and flew to Evansville, IN. Then he had another long-distance, and flew somewhere in Illinois. Yesterday, he did his first solo (at night nonetheless) in the new to him plane. He always sends his plane number so we can listen to the control tower if we want. It's so cool. I was a little nervous about yesterday though. It doesn't help that he told us he's been struggling with landings. Right? Anyhow, he called afterwards, and was just beyond excited. He said it was absolutely amazing. That makes me very happy. 

Moments 10 21 :: Week 03

Cole had a soccer game in Mukwonago on Saturday. On the way home, we swung by Lee's. Please tell me how you can even pass up a dipped cone from a place like this? You can't! 

We took Van to check out a lot (it's under contract - like everything lately). He lost his mind at all the sheep!

This little guy was having problems flying and hung out in our yard for a bit. I had to relocate him to the woods so the dogs would get him. Couldn't find him the next day, so I'm hoping he flew away and a coyote didn't get him. Eeek. 

First movie in ages! Brian and I snuck out to see the new James Bond flick. 

Had an intimate team meeting with the founder of Beautycounter this week. So glad I was able to make it happen! It was really great.

I don't like to play favorites, but.... this is Mouse, and he's the best gym dog out there. 

I always order school photos, and absolutely love them. We had to skip last year since they took selfies (I did order his soccer picture though). Can't believe he'll be getting senior pictures next year!

It was senior night at the soccer game. We'll be losing 10 players. And again, can't believe my guy will be senior himself next year instead of holding the "O."

Moments 10 21 :: Week 02

Only one photo this week. The snuggling pups. Still going strong. It's so cute how they snuggle up like this. I still can't believe Gretel puts up with him. 

Nashville TN :: Murals

Nashville is filled with so many awesome murals. I think we did a pretty good job finding murals the suited all of us. 

Nashville TN :: Day 03

Our last full day. Penny treated us all to biscuits from Biscuit Love, which was right across the street. They were really good. Afterwards, we walked to the Johnny Cash Museum where we strolled around for awhile and all became a little obsessed with The Man in Black. The museum is located in a more touristy space, so we decided to drive over to 12 South again, and BarTaco. It's a chain (there's even one in Madison, WI) but it really is good. And totally hit the spot. We all loved it. After heading back to the condo, we hung out for a bit, and decided to go to Yee-Haw Brewing for some moonshine cocktails. After that, we ended the night at Patterson House. Such a great way to end the evening. Lots of laughs, great environment, delicious cocktails. And the best quote of the night, from our Uber driver: "I want to go to heaven, just not tonight." 

The next morning we left at 11am and were all on the same flight to O'Hare. Loved spending time with these ladies. I absolutely love this tradition, and feel so lucky to be part of it. 

Nashville TN :: Day 02

Another ridiculous, fun day. After much coffee, we walked over to Hattie B's for Hot Chicken. It did not disappoint, that's for sure. The big surprise for me was the incredible side order of waffles! They were delicious. We did save room for Baked Bear ice cream sandwiches. Penny and I made the winning combo with blackberry swirl ice-cream layered between a sticky cake cookie and chocolate chip cookie. Afterwards, we went to French's to buy some boots. Emma was the only one who found some. I did get a cute dress though. It had been pouring while we were in the store, but we had to get going to the super secret surprise Amy had planned. We all had smiles from ear to ear when we found out what it was -- a Petal Tavern. And, I kid you not, the rain totally let up the entire time we did it. It was such a perfect thing to do. Along the way, we stopped at HQ Nashville. They did a great job with the Stranger Things theme. So fun. After some pinball games and shots, it was time to load up and petal on. The 90 minutes went way too fast, that's for sure. We ended back on Broadway and low and behold, Boot Barn is where four more of us found boots that called our names. I went into this trip saying there way no way I was getting any, but I'm completely obsessed with them. We celebrated our purchases with more drinks at a Robert's Western World. Gracie even filled out a dollar bill for their wall behind the bar. Later that night, we topped by a British pub by our condo for dinner (I had really good fish sliders), then went to The Station Inn for their Blue Grass Jam. I have to be honest, we didn't get the warmest welcome there, by one guy in particular. Kind of a bummer, since we were pretty excited about it. But we still had fun, of course. And the Blue Grass was really cool. We decided to call it an early night and head back to the condo.