A visit with the our Wonderful Friends from Ohio!

It's been three years since we saw Patti and Tom, our long lost but now found friends from Ohio.

We met Patti and Tom when we first moved to Elkhorn.

We lived in the same apartment building and Patti was the one person in that apartment full of teen moms that I could relate with.

Our friendship was fast and furious and our husbands became fast friends, too.

We spent two great years together making memories before we moved back home to Watertown and they moved back home to ElyrIa, Ohio.

We both went on to have two daughters and we really did keep in touch until the girls were in high school.

We would either go to Ohio or they would come to Watertown or we would meet in the middle.

These get togethers were always fun.  Our kids got along famously, too.

But somewhere around 1990 we lost touch with each other.

No one was to blame.

Life just happened and we got busy and we forgot to write or call.

Fast forward to 2011 when Patti found me right here on this blog!

We contacted one another and fell right back into our friendship as if no time had passed.

We  made arrangements to meet in Indiana.  We had a wonderful time and caught up on all the life we had missed.

Our friendship and love for one another was greater than ever.

We met again in 2012 and vowed to never let years go by again.

In 2014, we each brought our two oldest granddaughters with us to Indiana and they had a great time, too.

Then, three years passed and we did not see one another

.Thanks to Facebook we stayed in touch though and this last Thursday Patti and Tom came up to visit us in Wisconsin.

I planned and cleaned and waited for their arrival and all of a sudden, it was over.

The time was short but the friendship is so big!

We has so much fun making some new memories on this last visit.

We ate Wisconsin brats and cheese curds, we took a boat ride on the Milwaukee River, we ate Mexican, we played cards, we talked for hours on end, we had breakfast together and then is was time to say good bye.

I loved having them here at our house.

I miss them.

I cannot wait to see them again and it will not be three years from now!

Here are some photos from the weekend visit:

Here are a few photos from some of our other meetings over the years.

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As soon as Patti and Tom left, Alissa, Courtney, and Soliana arrived.

Tizita and Paul were camping in the wilderness of door county.

Alissa, Mallory, and Courtney had just had a cousin night in Oshkosh and now they were coming out to spend time with us.

We had a wonderful few days.

On Saturday night John, Lissa, Courtney, and I went out for a few beers.

Gigi stayed with Soliana.  When we got home, Soli was watching TV and Gigi was asleep on the couch, too funny!

On Sunday, Alissa left and we just played with Soli all day long.

We played Day care, drove the escalade, and played games.

It was perfect.

Today, Monday, Courtney, Tiz and I headed to Oconomowoc to explore and have some fun.

We started out at Imagination Station.

Then on to Fowler park for a picnic.

We walked around Fowler Lake and ended up at the Children's Play Gallery.

We had so much fun.

We then had ice cream and shopped at St. Vinny's.

A perfect, perfect day.

Here are a few photos:

Oh, so fun.

Oh, so many happy memories.

Summer is winding down

Yep, sad but true.

We had our end of summer inservice on Thursday and that can only mean one thing, it is almost time for another school year and the summer is almost over.

I am hoping to fit as much time as possilbe in with the girls in these next few weeks.  I still want to make some more memories with them before we all head back to school.

Last week Courtney, Tiz and Soli came out for a day so Gigi could give Soli her birthday gifts.

She gave her a mermaid costume, some mermaid jewelry, and a few books about mermaids.  Soli has a new interest in mermaids since finding a show on TV that she likes about mermaids.

We had a yummy ice cream cake and then went to the pool.

It was a great day.

Our good friends, Patti and Tom are coming this next weekend for a visit.

I am so excited to see them, but John and I need to get this house ready for guests.

We only have family stay here and while Patti and Tom are like family, it's still a bit different.

On Saturday we spent a good part of the afternoon weeding our garden and other parts of the yard.

I have been rearranging furniture trying to make it all more welcoming for them.

On Saturday night we just relaxed and watched a bunch of episodes of the Americans which is a series that we have been enjoying.

On Sunday after church and after :?breaking" into our  entrance door which would not open for us, (Long story, but these kind of things only happen to us, I am sure)  we headed up to Oshkosh.

We stopped off in Fond du lac to ride a city bike trail there.  It was a beautiful day for riding and the trail was really nice.

After our bike ride, we tried to eat at Ardy and Ed's but it was so busy that after 20 minutes of waiting we just went to Courtney's and ordered Rocky Roccoco's which was so yummy.

Soli and I played in her tent and then today we went on a great bike ride which ended at Fratello's.  Tiz and I won the race back to their house.

A little more time in the tent and it was time to leave.

I love spending time with my girls!

Looking forward to fitting as many more fun times into this summer that I can.

Girls weekend in Galena and Dubuque

I don't do girl weekends.

I go everywhere with John and that is the way we like it, but when my wonderful "old" friend, Pam Wilke asked me to do a girl weekend with her, I agreed.

I was stepping way out of my comfort zone here, but I love Pam and since her husband died, she wanted someone to go somewhere with her for a wknd.

We decided on Galena and Dubuque.

I will admit that I was a bit nervous about it all, I am a nut that way, but once I got in the car and we got on the road, all those nerves flew out the window and we had a great, fun filled weekend.

We shopped till we dropped in Galena after a nice lunch at Dirty Gurty's.
We headed over to our Hotel in Dubuque about six.
We stayed at the Grand Harbor Resort right on the river.
Great clean hotel.
We ate at the Tony Roma's which is attached to the hotel.
Another yummy meal.
Talked ourselves to sleep that night.

On Saturday we headed to the farmer's market.
Then rode the Fenelon Elevator to the top of the bluff, had ice cream, and shopped some more.
We walked the river walk and then walked to our horse drawn carriage tour of dubuque.
We had a great tour and learned a lot about the history of Dubuque.
Ended our night with pizza and beer at the shot tower Inn.
Again, talked ourselves to sleep.

Came home today after a lunch at Red Robin in Madison.

Great times with a great friend.

St. George Island Adventure 2017

We have been to St. George Island at least 20 times, I have lost count, but we had not been there for three years, so we were long overdue for a trip back to the Island.

John and I were both so excited for this trip.

We would arrive on July 2 and then have two full days on our own before Courtney and her little family arrived.

Our drive down was quick and painless.

We made it to our stop in Cullman, Alabama in good time.

Arrived  on the Island by 3:00 and checked into our Villa B4.

There were many more people than we are used to because it was the 4th of July and we were in a much more congested area, but the beach and sea are huge and there is plenty of room for all of us.

The pool at our place was wonderful, warm as bath water, and never very crowded.

John and I enjoyed our walks on the beach each day and a wonderful dinner and drinks at the Blue Parrot before the others arrived.

Once the girls arrived we spent our time in the pool, the waves in the sea, and the villa for quiet time in between.

We did take a trip to Appalachacola for lunch at the Grill and two trips to the state park, but other than that we spent most of our time at our place enjoying the pool and the sea.

Both girls made friends and enjoyed playing with them.

We also did a little shopping and bought hermit crabs, we ate ice cream at Aunt Ebby's and we ate two meals out at local restaurants.

It was a relaxing, fun filled vacation.

I don't know when we will go back, but I can assure you, it will not be three years from now.  I cannot wait that long again.

Oh, and we did get to celebrate Soliana's sixth birthday on the Island which was very special!

Here are a few photos:

See  you soon, St. George