Moments 05 24 :: Week 05

Last Friday, we celebrated Craig's 50th birthday. Emily contacted us earlier in the week to ask if we could ask them out to "dinner" and start by having a cocktail at Experts Only. We bamboozled him pretty well I think! Our sneaky skills definitely impressed me. He walked in the door completely surprised by loads of his friends.

Craig heads were all over the venue, and popped up in the funniest places. 

We were all hiding behind them as he came through the door.  It was such a fun night. 

The next day we planted and worked around the house. I came across this nest. What the heck? If course I researched it. Turns out, it's a finch nest, and a cowbird laid two eggs in it. That's what they do! They lay their eggs in other bird nests then abandon them. Typically, the cowbirds hatch a few days earlier than the other eggs, giving them an advantage. In this case, unfortunately, cowbirds and finches eat different diets though. The chances of survival are not great. 

On Sunday, we celebrated Al's 60th birthday. I had picked Hudson up that afternoon from O'Hare, so he came along too.

Monday was Murph. Unfortunately, I was super sick from Friday on, so this was my slowest ever. But I did it. 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run. (Finally feeling better today, a week later. This cold wiped me out!)

As expected, the cowbirds hatched earlier than the finches. So cute. Isn't it sad about the different diet though? I wasn't sure what to expect. 

Since Hudson was home, we had a mid-week graduation celebration for him. Almost all of our family was there, along with Leif & Mel and a couple of Hudson's friends. Wish I would have gotten more photos.

Hudson flew out bright and early on Thursday. Brian had to drive him to O'Hare and leave the house at 5am. Hudson had purchased a cheap ticket there, and got to fly standby on the way back. Kind of a cool perk he has with his Go Jet Wingman status. 

Bird update. The cowbirds are gone. After the first day of open mouths, they weren't moving much the other two days. They just weren't getting any food! Not sure which bird removed them, but I hope the cowbird mom doesn't retaliate because one of the finches hatched. Look to the right of the eggs and you'll see an little open mouth. Also, one of the blue eggs has been missing for a couple days, so only three babies, hopefully.

Moments 05 24 :: Week 04

Beautiful peonies sitting on our counter. From Trader Joes - not our backyard. (We do have pink and white ones though).

My sister had a table at the Rogers Women's Luncheon. She's been on the board for years, and kicked off the event with a glimpse into her personal story. She's such a great public speaker.

The flowers at the Wisconsin Club were spectacular. 

Hudson's Graduation :: Day 04

Time to head home. We didn't even get to see Hudson this day, since we were all up and out kind of early. We  had to time dog pickup from the kennel, so first walked through the park again. Just a bit of history on it -- it officially opened to the public in 1872 is one of the largest and best preserved 19th-century Gardenesque style city park in the United States. The pavilions are beautiful and most date back to the Victorian era. It's pretty special. The magnolia trees were starting to bloom too. After our walk, we went to our favorite grocery story, United Provisions, then headed back. What a perfect weekend,

Hudson's Graduation :: Day 03

Saturday was the school-wide graduation celebration. Again, it was bright and early at 9:00am. But we wanted to get there when the doors opened at 8:00am to get a good seat. Besides the fact that Hudson was in the very last row and we were closer to the front, it was perfect. Ha! Jon Hamm was the keynote speaker. He was entertaining and had a great message. Each school is called for their official graduation. When the School of Science and Engineering were called, they tossed paper airplanes. I'm just so happy Hudson finally got a graduation. (His, and many of the graduating class of 2024, was a drive through ceremony -- what a weird time). Afterwards, we met up with his roommate Henry and his family for some photos, then went back to our place for some lunch and to watch another important graduation. Our niece Maia graduated from Marquette Law School. Also with honors. These kids are incredible. We took Hudson back to his place, then walked around the park again. The geese and ducks are not phased by people at all. It's pretty crazy. That night we went to Brasserie by Niche to celebrate with Steak & Frites, and Pettit favorite. 

Hudson's Graduation :: Day 01/02

I have no idea where the past 4 years have gone, but Hudson graduated college this past weekend. It was an amazing celebration for an incredible guy. Seriously, I'm so proud of him. It's crazy to think about the first day that we moved him in (to Western Michigan). During the height of the pandemic, when there was constant fear and no in-person classes, but still craving that experience. He ended up transferring to St. Louis University. After a trying first semester, he ended up moving in with a great group of guys in the second half of the year. Honestly, this is really when his college experience started. They ended up being his roommates his junior year as well. COVID started loosening up a bit. He had a great year. Those roommates all graduated, so he lived with a couple of his swim friends his senior year. Between his friends and experiences (club swim and flight team), he can look back on this time fondly. That makes me so happy. 

Nina & Papa met us in St. Louis to celebrate. We picked up pizza and relaxed the first night. Hudson didn't get back from Flight Team competition until late, and I had picked Cole up at O'Hare the night before. He was jetlagged from his adventures in The Netherlands. The next morning, the School of Science & Engineering had their graduation at 8:30am in the morning. We did a poor job coordinating where he would be, so didn't get any good stage photos, but were thrilled to hear his name called. Not only did he graduate, he graduated summa cum laude. Wow. We met him after graduation and walked around campus. Papa had never been before, so got the grand tour. Of course, I had to take graduation photos at every chance I could get. We grabbed lunch and then had a little celebration at our apartment before Hudson took a nap, and some of us walked around. We've stayed at this apartment before. It's in a great area right by the Botanical Gardens and Tower Grove Park. That night we had dinner in The Hill. What a perfect day.