Fun at the park

Last Saturday we went to Chicago to visit Andy, Beth and John.

We really had no plans so it was awesome to just hang out with the boys and hang out together. 

We went to the park in their neighborhood and we joked that James was the country kid coming to the big city. It was an awesome park, cool climbing thingys, all fenced in, special squishy rubber ground, etc.- very different from the spread out, grassy park in our neighborhood! 

 

The boys liked the swings of course.

Both kind of co-existed near each other - not really playing together but curious what the other was doing.  You can see Patrick and Andy following them around.

Most of the park was covered in a rubber flooring, yet James managed to trip in the small area where it wasn't and gave himself a bloody lip!

We quickly moved onto the slide - pretty big and fast for a one year old.

John knew what this was all about and was ready to go right away!

Head first no less!

He was loving it and wanted to go over and over and over. 

We joked that it took 4 adults to take John to the park, one to help him up the stairs, one to be at the top of the slide, one to catch him at the bottom and one to take the photo!  He was so cute and such a dare devil!

James wasn't as sure -

for a second I thought he was going to follow John's lead -

but then he decided to go down backwards instead.

He also loved it... guess we are going to have to try the big slide

at our park this week before it gets too cold!

Saturday night was filled with delicious BBQ and adult beverages.

I should have snapped a photo of the food, but we ate it too fast!

Sunday morning Aunt Betty read the boys some books.

Such a sweet photo!

James loves ALL Buckys!

On Friday we had dinner with the Knapps and got to spend some more snuggle time with Macey. It was awesome to have a Friday night IN with good food and good company, just a block down the street. 

 It was a comfy clothes date night!

James was definitely interested in Macey but will not be allowed very close to her for at least a couple of months without very tight supervision! But his real partner in crime for the evening was Bucky, their dog!

James thought Bucky was hilarious!

Bucky was very good with James too - and entertained him most of the evening. Bucky would do circles around the 1st floor - stop in front of James to wait for the giggle of approval and then do it all over again.

I figure we are helping to break him in for Macey!

Two tired boys!

Say Bucky!

So I think I mentioned that James can now say "Bucky".

 I have been trying to get it on tape but he just won't look at the camera!

You can definitely hear him say it - just turn it up a little since I am closer to the camera.

In other exciting news... James has a new girlfriend!

Meet Macey!

What a little sweetheart :)

Girl's weekend

Last weekend I had two fantastic girl's nights planned.

Jen Stelse and I got tickets to a Harry Potter Comedy show at the Overture Center

 and went out for sushi and drinks.

Sadly I only managed to snap a picture of the sushi that night!

Then Saturday was Heather's bridal shower and bachelorette party!

We went to a place called Hamburger Mary's in Milwaukee.

It is known for Drag Shows and Kareoke!

Here I am with Hamburger Mary!

Julie and Jenn

Susan and Megan

Jenn, Alison and Heather

You can also see one of the Dancing Queens in the background!

We had a great time celebrating Heather :)

Make Bo Pay

Last week Patrick and I went to the Kohl Center for a really unique event called "Make Bo Pay".

This is the second annual event that Coach Bo Ryan puts on in support of the American Cancer Society. He opens up the basketball court to any and all students. They pay $1 to enter - he matches it. Then they get the chance to shoot a free throw - if they make it - Bo donates $10. Then they get the chance to shoot a half court shot. If they make that, he donates $1,000!

Here is a photo of the students taking their shots.

We attended a simultaneous event where we got to watch the students but also taste wines paired with "tailgate food". We spent the evening in the Kohl Center suites enjoying the food and the entertainment.

Me and Rachel - a friend from college and a former ACS employee



And of course - we rarely go anywhere without running into someone from Fondy!

Dave is one of the co-chairs for the big Coaches vs. Cancer event each spring.

 Hoping to get involved on that committee some day!

And the grand total after the event. 

What an amazing event and generous coach!



Pumpkins!

We have a great little pumpkin stand in McFarland just down the street from us and decided James was still too young to full appreciate a full on Pumpkin Patch - so this worked great!

James liked walking around the pumpkins and patting each one as he went by.

He kept calling them "ball , ball, ball" - his new favorite word and toy!

While we could have probably found one big enough for him to fit in -

we went with some smaller ones for the front porch. 



One cute pumpkin holding another!

Saturdays in October are AWESOME!

Last Saturday Northwestern came to town to take on Bucky. This is always a big deal in our family since Lisa and Ed went to NU and Patrick and I went to UW.

When you add the Rhyan's to the mix (Mark and Karen are UW alumni and Niki is currently at NU) we truly have a HOUSE DIVIDED!

We took some group shots - none of which were that great -

 I actually like the one of us all laughing (below) the best!

Mom and Dad always split their loyalty - though their purple was the top layer this year and the day ended up being warmer than expected --- so they were representing Bucky most of the day!

Mark and Karen got us this awesome bar table and chairs for our basement.

Additional seats in our stadium seating Badger basement... yes please!

Thanks again you guys - it is fantastic :)

There is the purple and red combo!

I figure this way - they see a win no matter what :)

We had tickets all over the stadium --- Mom and Dad sat with our neighbors from Mequon.

They are also NU grads (along with 2 of their kids).

It was easy to find Mom and Dad in the crowd

--- small section of purple --- two red t-shirts! heehee!

Dad, Mom, Ginny's twin sister - Jennifer (the original Aunt Jen Jen), Ginny and Dan.

This is their son Danny --- can you believe I used to baby sit him when he was James' age?

He can grow a beard! ... I feel old!

We missed seeing Danny and Caitlin at the game - that is why I was sent a picture of Danny - so we reciprocated and sent back a photo of us too.

What did we do before technology?!?

Quick photo after the game!

James spent the afternoon with the Conlons and had a great time.

So much fun in fact, he was not interested in napping, I believe due to, as my sister would say, "missafunaphobia"

Claire and Jack entertained him all afternoon - we even got a report card from Claire.

Translation: James and Claire had fun. Fun with Jack, fun at 7606 Lindemann Trail.

So cute! Thanks again for watching him Claire (and of course Amy, John and Jack too!)

We ended the night with dinner back in McFarland at 5100 - huge big screens with no reservation needed!

James got a new hat that he and Mark were taking turns trying on. 

Great day --- thanks again to everyone that made it happen :)

And my apologies to the NU fans --- this year - RED WINS!

UW Homecoming Parade

James and I went to the Homecoming parade on Friday night -

it was a first for us both (not sure why I never made it during college)!

Patrick was not with us because he was IN the parade!

Grammy and Buppa came to meet us since they were in town for the game the next day as well.

James was happy to see Buppa and get a better view of the parade from his shoulders.

Here is a blurry photo of Patrick driving his boss Adele in a shiny red Mercedes!

I don't think he ever went over 5 miles/ hour - but it was still pretty cool!

Family photo - Patrick was towards the beginning of the parade so actually made it back to us to watch  the second half. Other than Patrick and the band - the parade was kinda disappointing. It looked like the floats were made while celebrating Homecoming the night before - nothing to write home about!

But we had fun regardless and enjoyed what was probably one of the last warm nights of the year!

BUCKY!

Guess who can say "Bucky" ?!?

It is more like "BuQKEEEE" - but we will take it :)

Now that fall is finally here we have been working on not only wearing a hat - but KEEPING IT ON!

This one seems to be the best choice so far - maybe it is the chin strap, or maybe he just knows how adorable he looks in it!

I taught Thomas and Josiah to say Bucky at a very early age as well - to the point that when Thomas sees the Western Michigan "W" in Kalamazoo - he tells Lisa and Ed that "Bucky lives there!"

I am sure James will learn about Willie the Wildcat next time we are together  - just glad we got to him first!

More pictures from the weekend to come!

Cheering at the Milwaukee Marathon

Last Sunday we went to Milwaukee to cheer on Eric and Jo-Jo in the Milwaukee Marathon.

I was in charge of mapping out the spectator spots and Tara was in charge of making sure the runners could see us in the crowd. It was a fun day for everyone and we saw the guys a bunch and they could spot us everytime!

Elise and I sporting our orange scarves!

Family photo - Patrick flew a Winona State flag at each stop so they could spot us down the road.

Cheering on the side of lake drive - about 1 block from where my grandparents used to live.

Allie and James were troopers - in and out of the car/ the strollers/ getting fed on the run... they did awesome!

Elise, Reilly and Landon

The big kids did a great job of entertaining James - he thought they were hilarious!

Grandpa Ted and Grandma Carol with Allie - she didn't mind  the bandana at all!

Jo-jo coming in to the finish shute!

Eric coming in - arms raised! You can see Mandy and Zeus cheering with the kids as well!

Big ol' kiss for Tara!

Our group after the race!

It was a great day :)

Congratulations guys!

What an awesome accomplishment :)