Our "Soliana goes to Kindergarten" Weekend - A complete success

This past weekend we celebrated Soliana's going to Kindergarten by taking her shopping at the Mayfair Mall and then spending the night at the Americann in Hartford.

John took me up to Oshkosh on Friday while he went to work.

Soliana and I were having a great morning playing until I decided we should ride the scooters (not mortorized scooters, but razor ones that you move with your foot) to meet Courtney after her zumba class.

I was scooting along with Soli feeling very excited and quite accomplished that a 63 year old lady could still ride a scooter.

Everything was fine until I hit a crack in the sidewalk.

My knees hit first, then my hands, and at that point I knew that my face was going to kiss the sidewalk.

It happened so fast but yet felt in slow motion as I processed what was going to occur.

I hit the sidewalk with  my upper lip, which luckily protected my teeth.

I got up super quick, as I always do when I fall.

I asked Soli if my lip was bleeding, but I was pretty sure it was  not since I couldn't taste any blood.

I could also tell it was pretty fat, but mostly on the inside where my teeth had made cuts.

We continued on to Courtney.

I put ice on it when I got back to their house and inspected it in the mirror.

Luckily you could not tell from the outside unless you really looked closely.

What a relief.

We all went over to the zoo for lunch.

Courtney took me to meet John at work since we were going to West Bend to the visitation of Louisa's stepdad.   His death had touched me in a way that few others have, so I felt we should go see the family to show we cared.

It was a short visit and we ended up at Cranky Pat's for beer and pizza.

I really needed a few beers after my near catastrophe of the morning.

I really feel that God had sent angels to hold me back from really slamming my face into the cement.

I have said a number of prayers for that.

On Saturday morning, John, Soli, and I left for Mayfair Mall.

We ate lunch at a McDonald's in Germantown before hitting the mall.

Then it was on to Mall where we started at Build a Bear.

Soli made a starwars bear and named him Mason.

She had such a fun time making him and picking out clothes for him

After Build a Bear, we went to Foot Locker to buy some new shoes.

She chose red high tops.

Then on to Justice where she chose a first day of school outfit which made her look more like a middler schooler than a kindergartner, but so cute.

After a stop at the Lego store where Soli picked out three new, custom made by her, people and a kit to make a policeman helicopter.

We went back to the hotel where John and Soli enjoyed the pool and we all played a little pool.

Soli chose to have dinner at JJ's right across the street because she loves a sub sandwich, but JJ's was a bit of a disappointment since they do not make subs to order.

We did our best to enjoy what we had and we did enjoy brownies and sweets that John brought from the gas station for dessert.

We spent the night watching Disney and playing with Legos.

It was a great day for all of us.

 

On Sunday we enjoyed breakfast at the motel before heading over the Mineshaft to meet Courtney and Tiz.

We had a great lunch and then the girls enjoyed games.

After gaming it was time for us to say "Good Bye and have a great year in Kindergarten, Soliana."

I know she will.

She is one great kid.

I forgot to post this photo, so I will leave you with this one.

I love it.

Just a grandpa and his girl.

And Another Weekend Comes to a Close

Yep, you read that correctly, just that quickly another week is over or just beginning,whichever way you look at it.

Courtney and her family are vacationing with Paul's side of the family.

These are not my best times, I prefer not to share and I am not very good at it, but what can you do.

I suppose they deserve their time with my precious little ones, too.

At any rate, they will be home tomorrow and things will be back to normal.

I spent last week getting my classroom ready for my little ones.

We had registration on Monday and it was a huge success.  Another year of very excited Preschoolers.

I am getting anxious because as much as I dread the end of summer, I also love the beginning of a new year.

A new chapter to add to my life story, new characters to shape and mold, and new story lines.

Hope it turns into a best seller again this year.

 

Anyway on Saturday, I was on a mission.

I have a little sideline business called Sherri's Shots where I make personalized photo collages with letters from architecture and nature.

My very first client, who put in an order over a year ago, is finally ready for her finished product.

She wanted some letters having to do with the Brewers so we headed to Miller park yesterday to hunt for letters, especially an N.

There was no game, so that made the hunt easier.

Before we went to Miller Park, we had a wonderful lunch with my college roommate, Joan.

We ate at the Panther pub in Greendale.

Tried a grapefruit beer which was very refreshing.

The conversation was great as usual and the time went by so quickly.

It was a great visit.

 

Miller Park turned into a bit of a bust, but we did manage to find a few letters.

We were excited to see Pat McCrudy that night at Kelly's Bleachers, but best laid plans...

We were eating at Fuddruckers and checking the time of the show when we realized that Pat wasn't there on Saturday night but had been there on Friday, oh well, on to plan number 2.

We stopped at Splash martini bar in Oconomowoc for a martini or three and there was a decorated, lighted up boat regatta and fireworks right on the lake out our window.

It was a great ending to a fun day.

Sometimes life without plans can be good, too.

 

Today, a nice long walk and some lazy movie watching.

All around a good weekend.

Class Reunions, Riverfest, and time with the Girls

It's another Sunday night.

The summer is winding down too quickly.

Paul flew out to Montana to spend some time with his folks at their cabin in the mountains.

Lucky for me, I got to spend the last six days with Courtney, Tiz, and Soli and we had six days of pure good times together.

We played games, watched tons of TV,(lots of Stuck in the Middle, I Carly, and the Olympics) ate lots of good fun food, read books, crafted, shopped, had pedicures and manicures, and took in Riverfest.

It rained all day for the Friday of Riverfest, but we did try to enjoy ourselves despite the wet weather.

My pre class reunion party was on Friday night at the  Just One More bar.

I had not planned on going, I was planning to watch the fireworks with the girls, but the rain had other ideas and the fireworks were cancelled until Saturday.

We walked up from the park about 9:00 and with a few beers in me, I decided we should go over to the bar.

I am so glad we did.

I was able to talk with both Tom Reason and Jim Wrass for quite a long time which was so nice.

Both of them were big parts of my past and it was so good to chat with them.

On Saturday we went down to Riverfest to take part in the ride special.

The girls had lots of fun.

The girls also got their faces painted and enjoyed snow cones.

It was a fun afternoon.

After frozen pizzas for dinner, we went down to my real reunion at Riverfest.

Again, it was so much fun.

I had the opportunity to talk to so many people.

45 years is magical.

All pretenses are gone, the cliques no longer exist, and everyone has life stories to share.  We have all experiences great joy and great sorrow.

No matter what you were in high school, by this time in our lives, we are all on a level playing ground.

I found it rather funny (in a sad sort of way) that instead of discussing grandkids, we discussed our parents and how they were either dead or aging.

The circle of life, we all live it.

Today the girls and I went to an Ethiopian fund raiser in Verona and then John met us in Waupan for dinner.

They went home to Oshkosh, we came here to a much too quiet house in Watertown.

And again, life goes on...

The Mall of America

We have always taken Tizita somewhere special before she begins another year of school.

Usually we have chosen the destination.

We have taken her to the Appleton Mall, Little Amerikka, Circus World Museum, Wisconsin Dells, and Chicago last year, so this year we asked her where she wanted to go.

She chose the Mall of America which could not have made me happier, John,  however, was less than enthusiastic about that choice.

We started out from Oshkosh on Friday after lunch.

We arrived at our hotel, the Double Tree by Hilton in Bloomington about 6:30.

Tiz said that the hotel was "quality."  I guess after seeing the places in Ethiopia, she thought this hotel was pretty cool.

I found it online and we got the hotel for $87.00 a night which I thought was a great deal for that area.

We were on the 15th floor with a great view.

We spent Friday night watching the opening ceremony of the olympics and ordered room service.

 It was great to see the athletes from the US followed by the ones from Ethiopia.

Simone Kines and Gabby Douglas have become household words around Tiz and Soli.

 Everything in our room was ultra modern.

We really liked the sink.

This is where Tiz ate her breakfast each morning.  It does not get any better than this!

On Saturday we left for the Mall of America.

We got there early so we had lots of time to just wander around and look.

It was the calm before the storm.

We enjoyed the clean, quiet bathrooms at that time, too.

We had fun at the American Girl Store, Claire's, Lego Land, and a many other stores.

We shopped till we dropped for sure.

Tiz got some really nice clothes for school as well as some pink converse shoes.

It was a very successful, fun day.

Tiz said it was everything she wanted it to be!

Tiz made some lip gloss for Soli and her.

This resulted in glitter everywhere,  mostly on Grandma!

We went back to the Hotel.

John and Tizita swam until the pool was closed due to someone puking.

After the swimming, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant before watching more Olympics and playing Pay Day.

On Sunday we made a stop in Pepin Wi to see where Laura Ingalls Wilder was born.

We had lunch in a cute little cafe with yummy food.

Made one last stop in Alma to check out the locks before heading home.

It was a fun weekend.

I know Tiz enjoyed it and I am hoping it is the start of a great school year for her.