Day 1422 | Strawberry Shortcake
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What has to happen shortly after picking strawberries? Strawberry shortcake, of course. With real whip cream. It was as delicious as I dreamed it would be.
Day 1421 | Strawberry Picking
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The boys and I were back at it today: berry picking! The temperature was cool, there was a lovely breeze, and there were no bugs (I know, I was surprised, too). The picking wasn’t quite as plentiful as I prefer but we got the berries we needed so no complaints. Ah, summertime in Wisconsin.
**Check back tomorrow and I’ll add a couple of links to past berry picking adventures. It’s too late for me to tackle that now. :)
Day 1420 | Posing Cousins: Take 2
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Almost two years have passed and we're still visiting the same rocks. But look how cute these kiddos are!
Day 1419 | 12 Years
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Celebrating 12 years with this guy. It doesn’t get much better.
*Special thanks to my mom and dad for watching the boys. Such a fun weeknight treat!
Day 1418 | Father’s Day
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Sometimes Father’s Day and our anniversary lands on the same day. When this happens, it becomes even more apparent to me how lucky to have this man in my life. He’s truly my best friend and the best dad. And I’m not even exaggerating.
Even though Father’s Day this year was harder than any other we’ve lived through, it makes all of us hug each other a bit tighter.
And an extra special shout out to my dad for all the sacrifices, love, and laughter he’s provided for me over the years. I love you.
Day 1417 | Best Friends
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Have I mentioned lately how truly lucky I feel to have two kids that are best friends? It’s going to make summertime shenanigans a lot more enjoyable...that’s for sure!
Day 1416 | Say Cheese
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These little nuggets are loving their hand-me-down cameras (except that one with a new iPhone...that’s no hand-me-down). My boys go through phases where they can’t go anywhere without them. Someday I’ll make a photo album of all the “artistic” scenes they capture.
Day 1415 | Tuesday Night Blues
/A day late, but that’s how it goes sometimes. The whole family met for some Tuesday Night Blues at a park across the river from us. It was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert and yummy picnic.
Day 1414 | Artist in Residence Mural
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Check out this new sweet mural in downtown Eau Claire. We’ve been watching the empty wall transform over the last ten days and it’s been fascinating. We even made it over for the official “unveiling” and got to meet the artist and get her autograph. Living downtown is the best.
Day 1413 | A Small Family Gathering
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After three separate *and huge* family/community events yesterday, I was just too tired to throw together a blog post. The photo above is of my dad's side of the family (he's one of eight siblings) including a very small number of extended family (nine to be exact). All of his siblings, all of their kids, and all of their kids' kids made it to a 90th birthday celebration for my Grandma. It was pretty incredible to see all these people in one photo. And we all really like each other. Isn't that amazing?
Day 1412 | Crystal Cave
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Carpe summer! Some people might decide to take it easy on the first day of summer vacation and ease into a more relaxed existence. Not us! We seized Summer 2018 with a trip to Crystal Cave. The tour of the cave was interesting and informative. The sifting for gems was a big hit. And the company couldn’t be beat. If this is any indicator for the fun in store this summer, it’s going be one for the record books.
Day 1411 | School’s Out
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Summer has officially begun and we're ready.
Chase had a great last day of school. He was all smiles running around with his little friends at his first-ever last day carnival (he missed it at his school in DC because of this). He loved having his friends and teachers sign his shirt. And he's thrilled about the idea of being a first-grader (eek!) next year.
Robbe cannot wait for Chase to be home every day. You'd think he's be *a little* bummed about missing out on momma+Robbe time, but he's not. I'm trying not to take it personally because, as Robbe pointed out today, Chase is his best friend. Robbe and I made the most of our final solo morning together, though. Of all the activities I offered (and there were a bunch), Robbe decided to have a coffee/hot cocoa date with daddy at his office and go to the pet store to shop for his uncle's new puppy. Always thinking of others, that one.
All in all, a great end to a great school year. And now it's summer break. How did that happen?
Day 1410 | Art Portfolio
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Chase is bringing lots of stuff home from school these days. Some of the “treasures” are not so awesome. Some of them are, though! He brought home his art portfolio—many are pieces we hadn’t even seen yet—and it’s pretty great.
Chase has never been the artistic type. Despite many attempts, he just hasn’t been drawn to drawing (see what I did there?). He made some impressive strides this year, though. And, most importantly, he really liked using his creative brain in this way.
Above are two of my favorite pieces of his collection. The drawing is titled “Landscape” and features Chase and Robbe together. The sculptures are part of his exploration of pottery and are a dinosaur and a broken dinosaur egg (or a bowl), depending on who you ask.
Day 1409 | River Crossing
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It was a little cool and cloudy yesterday but we made the best of it. We met some friends to explore the neighboring city of Altoona and it’s new River Prairie development. There’s a lot going on over there: a fun playground, some of the sweetest scootering hills we’ve encountered, and this fun river with tons of rocks scattered about for crossing. We’ll definitely be back.
Day 1408 | Safety First
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Robbe loves to call people out on their lack of helmets when riding bikes and motorcycles. Good thing we’re always practicing bike safety in our family. And we look really cool, too.
Day 1407 | Dabble Day
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Our amazing library hosted a Dabble Day today and we were actually in town to participate. The boys drove some nails into a stump, learned how to write with a feather + ink, decorated some bookmarks, played with a coding robot, and we even ate at a food truck parked outside. It was a pretty great way to spend a morning.
Day 1406 | Halfway to Summer
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One of our kiddos is done with school. The other has four days left. So close to summer vacation and non-stop quality(ish) time with these two. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty great.
Day 1405 | Back Home
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We're home again. After six days of quality family time, we're back to reality.
The funeral was exactly what George would have wanted. The music was moving, the priest's message was captivating, and Chris and his brothers' reflections were touching, and funny, and heart-breaking.
We feel like we've been stuck between two places for the last two months and that continues. As happy as we are to be sleeping in our own beds and tackling our normal routines again, we're still drawn to Chris's home town and especially his mom. I imagine this divide will continue for some time.
Day 1404 | Painted Bricks
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The grandkids painted these bricks for Grandpa today. It was the perfect project to include them and bring them all together. Family is the best.
Day 1403 | Fruit
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During tough times, it’s nice to feel the love from friends and family. We’ve gotten lots of texts, cards, social media messages, and some friends have dropped off little goodies and even planted some of my garden. And there’s been fruit. Lots of fruit. It’s been a total dream. I love fruit but usually the boys eat so much that there’s nothing left for Chris and me. Not this week!
Thanks for showing us the love, everyone. You’ve brought sunshine to a gray week.
