Moments 05 25 :: Week 05

A man and his best friend. These two also went camping for a night on a whim this week. 

Had a few minutes before breakfast with Leif and Mel, so headed to the lakefront. 

Love living so close to the water.

It was the final day of games for the English Premiere League. Mel made an incredible English breakfast. It was a close battle at the end between Cole and me (with Hudson sneaking up after a strong few weeks), but I came out the victorious one in the family in our fantasy league. Finished 16th out of 40 in our very competitive league. Not too shabby.

A blooming catcus in our house -- what a nice surprise.

Memorial Day Murph at the gym. Clearly, this is post-work out since I look like I want to die. It's a doozy.

After Murph, Brian and I headed to Lion's Den with Van for a little walk.

The water was absolutely stunning, and the weather was a little cooler so perfect if you ask me.

Felt good to get out. I was pretty exhausted by the time we got home though. That workout and day kicked my behind. 

Oh hey, it's my parents! Marshaling at the US Women's Open.

Another winner of a book finished. I've heard real stories like these from people I have met over the years and it's almost impossible to imagine. Lots of Spanish sprinkled throughout, which was challenging, but this story is a gift.

One of my favorite spring scents. Cannot walk by without shoving my face in them. 

Most exciting news of the week, Cole committed to Augsburg College in Minneapolis! He entered the transfer portal the week before school got out, and had almost 30 schools reach out to him. In the end, it came down to Augsburg or Emerson in Boston. I'll miss him being only a couple hours away, but we are so excited for him. He had a great time at North Central and had amazing teammates, but he deserves to have a great soccer experience. We couldn't be more excited for him and this next chapter.

Moments 05 25 :: Week 04

It was a gloomy, rainy week that even brought some storms. Gretel did not approve. She gets so scared and actually locks herself in the bathroom. At least we didn't get tornados like Hudson. He was on the road, but his roommate was home. They didn't have power for several days. It must have touched down only a couple blocks from their home. Lucky.

Third time taking Goldie out. I just adore her, and hate the idea of her not getting a break from the shelter. Cole even came along this week.

He totally understood why I think she's the sweetest. She had a little extra pep in her step as well. She's still available for adoption, which I cannot understand. But good news is, I think Daisy has been adopted. I originally signed up to take her, but I had asked about Goldie, and the shelter said that it's really nice when they get a bit of routine. Honestly, I'm going to really miss our outings when she finds her new home, but she deserves it.

This brave goose and her babies were see wandering through our yard. Yikes. But, baby geese are the cutest. 

Cole is playing on a RKC team again and had his first game. He's having such a blast. It's just so much fun watching them play. These guys are good! Cole played fantastic too. They've been training bright and early 3x a week for a couple of weeks now. He loves it so much. 

Moments 05 25 :: Week 03

Last weekend was a full one, filled with friends and family. It was pretty incredible. After Sedona, Brian flew to LA then to Minneapolis, where he met Cole who drove up to meet with a coach and tour a campus. It also happens to be where Finn went to school -- he's been such a huge help introducing Cole. After the visits, Brian and Cole met up with him. They had a very fun night, that's for sure. Meanwhile, I got to see Top Dog Under Dog at the Milwaukee Chamber Theater. But first dinner at Bavette. What a great night. 

Brian and Cole came home Saturday. Brian had a couple hours before we met up with Andrew and Shelly (they were out with me the night before too), Bill and Lora. Bill and Lora had treated us to Pat McGann, a comedian. I have to admit, it might have been my time actually seeing a comedy show. We laughed like crazy, and I just hoped he didn't call on me. He did call on Bill, but he deseerved it since he's the one who made us sit so close. We also ran into my cousin, Justin and Amy there!

Mother's Day! And per usual, my mom didn't take a break and instead treated us to a wonderful dinner at their house, included spaetzle, a request from Maia. It's nice having them back. 

I took my girl Goldie out on another field trip. I look forward to Mondays so much it's silly. 

It was a gorgeous day so we took a long walk, and even went to Bradford Beach where she got so much love from people. She's seriously a dream.

At the end, I sat down, and she snuggled on my lap for 20 minutes. I may need to take a new dog out next week because I think about her all the time. When it was time to go back to the shelter, she pulled to get back to me, so I think she's having fun too. She's been there awhile which breaks my heart. I love being able to do this, but it's not easy. I just hope she finds a new home soon. Who knows, maybe I won't be able to handle knowing she's still there and I'll see her again on Monday. Daisy, my first foster field trip, is still available too! It kills me. 

Sedona :: Day 05

The last day! Brian and I woke up and hiked Sugarloaf again. Seriously, it was so nice having this gorgeous trail right by our house. This time, we hiked to the summit, which provided a 360 degree view of the area. It was absolutely incredible. I had to get a photo by a giant asparagus stalk. They are part of the agave plants, and grow 6" a day. They are everywhere, so cool. Anyhow, after packing up, we stopped by Local Juicery for smoothies, then hit the road back to Phoenix. Of course, we needed to fuel our bodies before hoping on the plane, so stopped at In-N-Out. Yum. Brian dropped us off then returned the car. Cole and I headed back to Milwaukee, and Brian had to fly to Los Angeles for a meeting. We missed Hudson so much this trip, but it was really nice getting to spend this time together. 

Sedona :: Day 04

I'm so glad we were able to take an extra day to explore the area. After a leisurely morning, we decided to hike Cathedral Rock. It's everyone's favorite, who we were with. Unfortunately, due to our late morning, the trailhead parking was already full. The park ranger mentioned we could try Baldwin Trail instead to reach Cathedral Rock, so we decided to try it. The drive was gorgeous, and the hike was incredible. It wound through forest and along river. We were actually so glad this happened so we got to see it. We also met a couple from New York in the parking lot, and ended up hiking the entire trail with them. They were really nice and interesting -- it worked out really well. The hike to the top of Cathedral Rock is a little challenging, but was so worth it. The views were incredible and we felt very accomplished. Cole and I, and our new friends, decided to scale another rock surface to get even higher up. That was probably the most difficult part, but it was stunning. I thought the decent was going to be terrible, but besides a couple scary parts, it was ok. After the hike, we had a later lunch at a Mediterranean/Indian food truck. It was pretty cold and raining by then, but the food was great. After, we walked trough Tlaquepaque shopping area. Not really our cup of tea, but the mall itself was really pretty. We also stopped by a mystic store, which none of us appreciated. But we had to check it out. After our big day and late lunch we were all exhausted. We planned on going out for a nice dinner, but opted for Mexican take out instead. 

One last picture. Mackenzie sent this to Pam. They are javalinas, and are all over Sedona. Usually early in the morning or at night. We saw three on our way back from the wedding. This photo was taken on the wedding property grounds the morning. Crazy!