Moments 09 25 :: Week 04

Last weekend Brian and I built a shed! We are feeling very accomplished. It will be so nice to have. Maybe, just maybe, we'll actually be able to park a car in the garage this winter.

Maia went wedding dress shopping on Saturday, and she and Caleb invited the group over afterwards. We got to see their new house, and meet some of Caleb's family. Brian and I had to leave a little early to catch Old Wicked Songs at the Milwaukee Chamber Theater. For our anniversary this year, we bought season tickets. It was the first of 5 performances this season. So excited. 

Meanwhile, Hudson was able to join Natalie and her family in Buffalo for a family wedding. 

River Wildlife's member appreciation party was on Sunday. We took a walk by the river. It's so gorgeous. We need to take advantage of this more. 

On Monday, I walked Spiky. Just look at those adorable ears! He was the first dog I walked that was tricky getting into the car. I almost thought I was going to need to bring him back, but eventually he cooperated. We had a great walk along the lakefront. The good news is, it looks like he's been adopted! He was a very handsome, very sweet guy, that's for sure. 

Van's dream came true this week. Brian took the van and worked from the road one day. They even spent a night at Kohler Andrae State Park. This guy loves a little adventure. 

While Van and Brian camped, Gretel was an only child for a night. She loved our little walk. I usually only take Van since Gretel just can't go very long nowadays. Plus, she's terrible on a leash. She was so happy. 

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The other exciting thing this week, is that I was on call-in reserve jury duty and didn't need to go in. It was kind of nice not scheduling much just in case. Was really able to focus on some projects I needed to work on. 

Moments 09 25 :: Week 03

Hudson came for a visit. This one has been planned for awhile, and it was so good getting to see him again. We took him to Zocalo -- been loving this place. It was perfect.

The next day, Augsburg played had the closest game of the season, as they played UW Whitewater. Once again, we had a great group cheering Cole on. 

The starting lineup. He knows a bunch of players on the other team. Always fun. 

Great photo our friend, the mom of #9 on UWW, sent. A Cole sandwich. Aidan and Cole played together from U14-U17 at FC Wisconsin.

With our guy. The Auggies won 2-1, giving up their first goal of the season. They also played Wednesday against Gustavus Adolphus and won 1-0 in their first conference game of the season. Right now they are 8-0. Killing it!

Gretel and the disco ball reflections. 

Brian and I rode our bikes around the area and down to the lake. It was absolutely stunning. I love that we live so close to the water. 

Monday I took Barbus out again. I first took him out for a field trip at the beginning of July and the poor guy is still there. I'm not going to lie, he's a little quirky. But he's also such a sweet, funny guy. He's also really cute with his scruffy fur. I don't understand why he keeps getting passed by. We had the best day. 

If you look close, you can see the adorable fawn Van and I saw on our walk the other day.

Moments 09 25 :: Week 02

Last Saturday it was my 56th birthday. What a crazy age to say, but thankful for this journey. After a busy few weeks, I got to sleep in and woke up to my favorite breakfast, bagels & lox, made by Brian. 

That night, we met up with Leif + Mel, and Andrew + Shelly at Zocalo food trucks. It wasn't the beautiful end of summer night I envisioned, but was still so much fun. 

Cole's soccer team always links the best photos on the game schedule page. Love this one. 

He's having an absolutely great time with this team. This photo of his teammate scoring his 4th goal of the game or something just makes me smile so much. So much joy, and I couldn't be happier.

On Monday I took this adorable dog, Laney, out on a field trip. As soon as I saw her I asked why she was there. Seriously, she was amazing. And at 29#, so different from the others I usually take out. She didn't stop smiling the entire afternoon. I just loved her. 

9-10-25 was our 26th wedding anniversary! Had to pull up some blast from the past photos. 

Such a beautiful day. Also, I don't remember so many bald heads there. Haha. 

Another good one. Time sure has flown by. I love getting to share my life with this guy.

To celebrate, we went to Bavette for lunch. 

Had to take a recent photo. I keep thinking we haven't aged, but I might be a little wrong about that. 

That night, we ordered sushi in and watched the Auggies play UW Eau Claire. Another great game. It's a really fun team to watch.

Our pretty girl. She's 11.5 years old now. Definitely slowing down, and needs to be carried down the stone stairs in our house, but overall doing great. 

This guy was excited to get a visit from Hudson, who is here for the weekend. This visit has been planned for awhile, unlike last week when he just happened to have overnights for work here. We are all excited to have him home, that's for sure. 

Klassy Kamping 25

After we left Minneapolis, Brian and I met our Klassy Kamping friends at Governor Dodge State Park. The OG Krew has gotten quite a bit smaller, and the photo of me and the boys shows. But our group keeps on growing, and I love that. This year, our group took up seven sites. Some of them spend almost an entire week there. I love that too. Brian and I arrived late afternoon on Saturday. We set up our camp and made a quick dinner. When the kids were younger, we developed the most perfect meal plan with fan favorites. We stuck to that for years since they all looked forward to it. It was pretty delicious, to be honest. Nowadays, we just kind of fend for our own. That works out great for this phase of our lives. One of from our group, just loves cooking. As he said, it's what he does when he's camping. You should have seen his set up! Often, we found ourselves there since they had plenty to go around. So once again, we got spoiled with some pretty delicious meals. 

What's crazy, is we didn't even move our van once. Brian and I took a little walk around the campsite, then later to the beach on Sunday. We also hooked up the starlink and watched Cole's soccer game on Sunday. It was relaxing and chill, exactly what he and I both needed. The weather was also perfect the days we were there. It was pretty much the perfect weekend.

(Past Years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010 - 

NOTE: I missed 2024, so it's just a photo vs. a post. But still, there was a krew.)

Moments 09 25 :: Week 01

What a week! We did so much, and saw so many of our favorite people. First stop, dropping the dogs off at the kennel. They were so bummed. Van, at least, wanted to go on an adventure. He lives for that stuff. Gretel, on the other hand, hates the van.

Next, we drove to Minneapolis for the Auggie's first soccer game of the season. 

Cole had quite the cheering section. Leif + Mel were in town visiting Finn, who was making a video for the team of the first game. Finn's girlfriend also swung by to cheer them on. And Zoe came into town after her first week of school. 

#4 played a strong 90 minutes. The team beat St. Norbert 1-0 for a good start to the season. (They played two more games since - 9-0 and 7-0.). Cole's experience over the past three weeks is such a difference compared to his last two seasons. It's exactly what we had hoped for him out of a college coach and team. We couldn't be more excited for him. 

Proud parents.

Afterwards, we went out for a late night dinner to celebrate Cole's 21st birthday! Yes, his first game was the same day as his birthday. It wasn't a 21st blow out bash, but he did get to order his first legal drink (and was carded) and got to celebrate his first win of the season. 

We stopped by his place for a quick stop and some cake before saying our good-byes. Brian and I left the next morning to go camping. It was so great getting to spend this special day with this guy. Minneapolis is treating him well, that's for sure. 

After a couple days camping (there will be a post on that next), Brian and I stopped in Madison on the way back. It's such a fun city. 

Students had just moved back to campus and it was a gorgeous day, so it was bustling.

This was a treat! On Tuesday, Hudson's flight brought him to Milwaukee! Brian and I were so excited to get to watch him taxi the plane to meet us. 

We even got a tour of the inside. It's not big, but I definitely wouldn't complain getting to fly this way.

Family photo. Just so proud of this guy. It's been a great experience, but the schedule has been grueling. He's definitely counting down the days until he gets a commercial training slot. 

On Wednesday, Cole started classes. I asked how it went and he sent this. I guess this will have to do for a first day of school photo.

Meanwhile, Hudson had a free day in Milwaukee so we just kind of laid low and walked around the city. He hasn't been home since April, and it just felt so great having him around. On Thursday, he flew to Michigan and Minneapolis, but was back in Milwaukee by 1pm so he and I got walk Van then go out for dinner. Unfortunately, Brian is back up teaching again so had to miss that part of it. Friday morning, Brian dropped him off at the airport and he was on his way again. He's finishing out a 3-week stint and flew to Boston today. Miss him already.