Soccer, Cheer, Packers and other assorted things

It's been a busy bur fun weekend.

On Friday we did the shopping and watched some Lifetime movies over a few beers.

On Saturday we left early for De Pere where Soli was playing two games of soccer.

It was a very hot day.

It's been in the 90's for the past three days with no end in sight, so we knew it would be hot at the games.

Luckily we could sit in the shade of a building.

She is part of a soccer academy so during the game, the coaches are teaching the kids the rules.  It's an interesting way to do kids' soccer.

I, personally like the free for all park and rec style.

At any rate, I think Soli had fun even if it was so hot.

We all went to lunch at a nice little bar/restaurant in De Pere.

John and I brought the girls home with us for the night.

All they did was watch TV and eat, but that is okay because sometimes that is what you need to do!

On Sunday we went to church to hear Koine.

We sat with the Budreaus and the girls had fun with Harmony.

After church we got lunch at kwik trip and then had to head to Oshkosh to take Tiz to her cheer practice.

Courtney and Paul were working a Packer game so we were in charge of transporting her to and from the practice.

The Packers almost lost, but pulled it out in overtime.

It was a fun weekend.

Sorry so short, but I have a few things I have to take care of tonight, so this will have to do.

A Quiet but fun weekend

This last week John and I decided that enough fat was enough fat.

Yep, it was time to watch what we eat, yet again, and start walking more regularly so we could lose a bit of this fat.

We walked every night last week for at least three miles, so that was good.

We shopped on Friday and bought lots of fruit, a few veggies, and other things that we thought were better for us than sweets and ice cream.

So, far, so good.

We did not have any visitors this weekend, so we knew it would be a quiet, inexpensive weekend compared to others.

We had a great adventure of Saturday which took us to Apple Holler in search of some freshly picked apples which we found there along with too many people and too much heat.  It was almost 90 today.

We found our apples and headed on.

We would not have gone to this apple place except that it was on the way to see John's folks at the veteran's cemetery in Union Grove.

We had not been there for quite awhile so it was good to pay the a visit.

Always a humbling experience to go to that cemetery and see all those markers for all those brave men and women who have fought for our freedoms.

The markers all stand in perfect rows just like the soldiers in the military.

After our visit there, we headed to Elkhorn to check out some of our old haunts.

Elkhorn will always hold such a special spot in our hearts.

We bought our first home there and we brought both our babies home to that house.

And we made many life long friends there before we moved back to Watertown.

We visited our first apartment, our first home, our church, and the downtown area.

It was a sweet trip home.

Then we stopped at Herb and Pearl's grave on the way home.

It needed some flowers so we decided to return on Sunday.

John grilled brat burgers for us.

We finished watching Under the Dome and called it a night.

Today, Sunday, after church, we headed to Herb's grave with  my mom and our bouquet of flowers.

After that we visited my dad, grandma, grandpa and Ohma, too.

It was a weekend of visiting our dead loved ones, I guess!

Lifetime movies filled the afternoon and the Packers play tonight so 

Go Pack Go!

Celebrating another Tiziversary!

It was nine years ago that we first met our sweet little Tizita.

Each year at this time, I like to celebrate that day that we first met her coming off the plane from Ethiopia.

She walked off of that plane and into our family.

This year Tiz and Courtney came out on Friday night.  Alissa, Nathan, my mom, Courtney, Tiz, Mal, John and I wall went to Taqueria Maria's for margaritas and great food.

After dinner we went to Bismarks for some beer, basketball and darts.

Kev joined us there so that was nice.

On Saturday, Courtney, Alissa, Tiz and I went to a store called Five Below.  It was a surprise for Tiz since it is a store that she really likes.

We found one in Waukesha.

After a very successful shopping trip we went to Fuddruckers for a great burger, fries, and shakes.

We got home and Soli and Paul arrived shortly after that.

Soli had a soccer game in Green Bay in the morning so they came out after that.

We had a fun supper for Tiz on Saturday night.

Yummy fun foods all to the theme of Cheer.

She really enjoyed it and everyone had fun with the silly foods.

After dinner we all went outside and sat around the fire.

We played a game where we asked each other questions.

It was a great night of sharing some fun, old stories and building new memories.

Today it was church and then everyone headed home.

Now it is time for me to get back into school mode.

Here are a few photos:

Such a great way to celebrate another Tiziversary, another year with our sweet Tizita!

It's Official, Summer is Over!

It's Labor Day and we all know what that means, right?

Summer is over and tomorrow I am staring another new school year.

For me, this is over my 40th first day of school not including the 17 years that I myself was a student.

That's a lot of first days and let me tell you, I feel the same first day anxiety today as I felt every other first day.

The only thing that changes is my age.

There are so many unknowns for that first day.

Will there be criers?

Will I remember all the songs and fingerplays I want to use?

Will the kids be able to sit and listen?

Will they clean up the centers the way that I want them to?

Will the kids be kind to one another?

Will my new aid be as helpful as my old one?

And, those are just a few things off the top of my head.

The one thing I know is that the kids will have fun!

So, bring on that 57th or so first day.

I am ready.

John and I headed up to Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls for our little Labor Day get away this year.

We had not been to that area of the state for a long time.  It is a beautiful part of our state with lots of fun things to do.

We actually went to that area because someone asked me to do one of my photo collages for them and they asked if I could get photos from that area.

John and I arrived on Saturday and took a bike ride on one of Eau Claire's many bike trails.

We found lots of photos.

We went to Chippewa Falls after our bike ride and stopped in a place called Bye the Willow, a wine and beer place that  is owned by the girl who will get the collage as a shower gift.  I wanted to see if I could find anything to photo in the bar.  I took a step out of my comfort zone and actually asked the bartender if she was Amy.  She was not, so then I proceeded to tell her what we needed and I took many photos at the bar.

Not sure what I would have done if that had been Amy, I guess I just would have said we had a mutual friend or some other baloney!

After our stop there where John had a beer and I had a yummy wine, we went over to Leienkugals Brewery. 

We opted out of the tour and just did the taste testing.  What yummy beers.

I liked all the fruity ones.

After our fun tasting party for two we went back to Eau Claire to have dinner.

We ate at a place called the Green Mill Restaurant, what an excellent place.

I had a shrimp Italian dish and John had lasagna.  With two dishes we were able to get a free bottle of wine.  Such a deal.

The servers and the food were wonderful, oh, and so was the wine.

Back to the Motel 6 for the night.

Only $50.00 and it was a great room.

On Sunday we walked around Eau Claire to get a few more photos and then we went back to Chippewa Falls to get a few more.

We had success with the photos so the trip was a success for more than one reason.

Headed home later on Sunday.

Today we took a walk, John washed cars and I baked apple crisp and one of Ohma's apple cakes.

With the start of school, I guess the thought of apples is near and dear to me.

Stay tuned to see how that first day was.

Minoqua/Mercer - Back to school Adventure with the Grils

When Tizita was going into Preschool, John and I (mostly my idea, I suppose) decided to take her on a fun end of the summer, beginning of school outing.

Before Preschool, we took her to Build a Bear, mini golfing and Monkey Joe's

Before Kindergarten, it was a trip to Little Americka

Before first grade, we went to Circus World Museum and rode the ferry

Before second grade we took Tiz to the Dells where we rode the Ducks, mined for gems, and wne to Tommy Bartlett's.
Third grade took us to Chicago via the train.  We went up to the Sears tower and enjoyed other Chicago sites.
Last year before fourth grade we took Tiz to the Mall of Amreica for some serious shopping.

We started taking Soliana places to celebrate her end of summer, too.
Before Preschool, I don't think we took her anywhere special or at least I cannot find any documentation of it and my memory is failing me here.
Last year, before Kindergarten we took her to Mayfair mall for some shopping and then to a motel  in Hartford to swim and spend the night with us.

All these trips have been so much fun and I hope they will be remembered by the girls for a long time.

This year I debated taking both of them to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter near Cinncinati ut they had spent so much time traveling in a car this summer that I thought better of that idea.
Instead of the museums, we took them to Minoqua for a long weekend.
The hotel we stayed at was so awesome.
We had a suite and the pool and hot tub were fantastic.
We started our trip in Mercer with a stop at the loon and the infamous Wampam Shop.  We also got a tour of the little ,museum from a very nice old man who volunteered there.

After our Mercer adventure, we checked into our hotel.
The girls swam for over an hour and had the pool all to themselves.
They both love to swim and pretend to be mermaids.
We ordered pizza for dinner and watched TV

On Friday, we began our day with breakfast at Paul Bunyan's.
It was so yummy, we were stuffed after it.
We headed to the Wildwood Nature center to have fun with the animals.
It was a great, fun time.
Soli and Tiz both loved the bunnies so much.
We also fed the bears some soda, fed giraffes, fed deer, and went in the parakeet house, although Soliana did not like it in with all those birds.
We ended our day with a great dinner at the Islander Restaurant and watching the ski show.

On Saturday we shopped in downtown Minoqua and then took the ferry at Merrimac.
Today we went to church and then to the pot luck for the new teachers.

It was a great way to end the summer for me and the girls!
School, bring it on!

Bookworm Gardens and the Shalom Wildlife Center with the Grils

On Wednesday, I watched little Harmony for Louisa so she could spend the day with her big kids.

Tiz begged Courtney to bring  them out so she could help watch Harmony.

It was a great afternoon full of fun Harmony moments.

Tiz did a great job of watching her.

Soli decided she wanted to stay overnight here since I was planning on going in with John on Thursday anyway.

We had to get up early on Thursday so we could get on the road in time for John to get to work.

Soli had a fun night with us and was ready to go at 6:15 in the AM

Courtney, the girls and I went back to school shopping when I go there.

We got all the girls' supplies and then bought some new outfits at Justice.

We ate lunch at Rocky's and treated ourselves to frozen yogurt.

Then we stopped at Brinkley's so that I could look for some clothes.

The girls were so good while I tried things on that I treated them to some pottery painting.

It was a great, fun day full of successful shopping.

Here are a few photos:

On Friday Courtney, the girls, and I headed to Bookworm Gardens in Sheboygan.

The last time we were there, in 2015, it rained on our parade and we couldn't see everything.

This time the weather was wonderful and we had a great time.

After Bookworm Gardens, we ate lunch at Wendy's and went on to the Shalom Wildlife Center for a adventure there.

We had a great time at the Wildlife Center especially with the golf cart that we rented.  The girls loved driving the golf cart around the center.

There were lots of fun animals to feed and lots of information about native americans and their beliefs.

We enjoyed some ice cream on the way back to Oshkosh to end our fun filled day.

John and Paul did join us for some Mexican before John and I headed home.

We went to Kohl's on Saturday to do some back to school shopping for me.  It was a very successful trip indeed.

Today we took a bike ride.  It was only 13 miles around town but it felt like 200 miles.  We are slightly out of shape, I would say!

Another good weekend.  So excited because this Thursday we take the girls on their back to school outing to Minoqua!