We got another round of snow today – about 4 inches I think. Wade decided to tackle the shoveling when he got home from work and I cooked dinner. He came inside quite cold and decided the warmest room was the downstairs bathroom. He could turn on a space heater and really warm up. Madison decided that sounded like a good idea too. I got a kick out of them hanging out in the bathroom.
Wauwatosa
Wade and I always seem to end up in crazy situations. I think hunting for a tree was more than Wade’s knee could take. He spent most of Saturday in pain and decided to completely stay off of it today. (We are hoping he didn’t re-injure it, and he is going to try to see a doctor on Monday.) He decided the only useful thing he could do was string popcorn. Madison never left his side – hoping for a missed piece or two.
The problem with all of this is our tree is still on top of my car. We decided we needed reinforcements and Kyle and Christin came to the rescue. Did I mention we also bought a really big tree?
The four of us got up and had breakfast in time for church – a great accomplishment compared to the past two lazy mornings. After church we had lunch at one of my new favorite restaurants – Claim Jumper. Karen wanted a rematch in Spades and we never turn down a game. Then we decided to round out the afternoon with a little more Mario Kart (Karen kicks everyone’s butt).
Today we had some fun. We spent yesterday playing Mario Kart and today we decided to race real go karts – the fast kind. We drove almost to Chicago and had two races. Good luck on guessing who is who with our suits and helmets on.
Then we returned home, loaded Karen up with caffeine, and played Spades.
I finished up all the things on my list yesterday so tonight we get a nice relaxing evening before Daniel and Karen arrive. Wade made a fire and we spent most of the evening in front of it.
Wade and I have slowly been accumulating new (and sometimes old) furniture. Today I found a downside. I no longer have a place to sit in my paint clothes. I used to be able to take a break at the kitchen table without changing clothes or worrying about the paint touching furniture. I was working on the trim in Wade’s office and as I looked around I couldn’t find a single chair (or coffee table) that I wouldn’t mind a touch of paint on. It’s a good thing I am almost done with this painting stuff.
And a new goal for getting my painting done – before my stomach outgrows my paint jeans. At 24 weeks I can still wear them, and I only have one more entire room to go….
I think Madison is a little embarrassed by her new favorite toy – a pink elephant. She doesn’t often play with toys and rarely seems attached to one in particular. A few weeks ago she was bored inside and I wouldn’t let her out because of the rain. I tried to entertain her with a new toy – a pink elephant that squeaks. She loves it and often carries it around, but she immediately drops it if I pick up a camera. The only thing I can figure is she is embarrassed.
For once I am not the lazy (read as sleep the latest) one in the house. Madison has decided she doesn’t want to get out of bed in the mornings. She always gets in the bed with me when Wade leaves for work and now stays even after I get up. Today she came downstairs at 11:45 – what a lazy dog I have.
Wade had his ACL surgery today. His surgery time was 7:30 am so we had to be there by 6 am – very early for me these days. He was joking and happy before the needles started:
I would have taken a picture of the groggy Wade, but I wasn’t sure he would like that. He had a lot of trouble waking up, but we eventually got him home and into bed. The doctor said everything went well and to keep him on the pain medication at least until tomorrow.
One of Wade’s favorite holidays is Halloween – mostly because he can carve pumpkins. This is the first year we ventured out to a pumpkin patch. I think I was most excited to find a carmel apple.
Although it was fairly late when we got home from dinner we all carved pumpkins at Wade’s insistence and had a great time.
Wade has often wished he could find a pick-up soccer game like the good old days at Tech. He finally found enough people that were interested and organized one himself. Ethan and I watched and provided orange slices at the half.
Milwaukee is the city of festivals. Every weekend this summer has an ethnic festival full of concerts, food, and shops. Wade and I caught the tail end of the French Festival – Bastille Days.
Wade and I seem to spend most of our time in work clothes and respirators. Cute aren’t we?
We have a race track (Milwaukee Mile) within walking distance of our house. It might be a long walk, but we considered it. Wade’s friend from high school, Matt, is currently working on a pit crew for the 71 team of the Nascar Truck Series. They were racing at “our” track and Matt got us tickets and a pit pass. We were a little late arriving due to Wade’s delayed flight, but we got there in time for the good stuff. We saw quite a pile up on the track right in front of us, the stands were evactuated for the threat of a storm, and we got to visit with Matt. All in all, it was fun. I might even want to go back sometime.
The picture below is from the pit. Matt is sitting up on top of the truck towards the right in a blue shirt. He described his job as “strategist”.
Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads. We took Judy and Jerry to church, grilled burgers for lunch, and then went for a tour of Sprecher’s Brewery, which also produces colas and root beer.
We then put Judy and Jerry to work in the yard. I now have double knockout roses along the back fence, a filled window box, and a few new plants in front.
We ended the day with a wonderful steak dinner for a Father’s Day Meal.
Wade’s parents are in Wisconsin for a CVM meeting and made it a long weekend to visit with us. They arrived Thursday in the middle of thunderstorms and then spent most of Friday out visiting. Friday night we cooked dinner and then Jerry wanted to play Wii. We were impressed he wanted to play so we ran him through all the games on Wii Sports. Judy even bowled a few games too.
Wade and I woke up before everyone else and went to early church. We came home to find the girls playing in the tree house and “building campfires”. We puttered around the house and then the girls wanted to help Wade paint his office. He had bought paint with the name “Peanut Butter”. They had a great time using brushes, rollers, and fingers. The walls are now painted and the rest of the house is relatively paint free.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with the Wii and making brownies – Tina is quite the baker. The house is going to feel very empty tonight after everyone leaves.
Wade’s cousins are in town for Jamie to take a work-related class. The class is actually in Madison, an hour or so away, but it didn’t start until late afternoon. After an early morning run to the train station to drop off my mom, we had a leisurely morning. Then we found a cool putt putt course and had a little family fun.
Jamie and Anthony left around 3 pm and we had the girls for the night. We played a lot of games, walked to a local Mexican restaurant, and then made sugar cookies.
Wade and I unpacked most of the house by Sunday evening. Mom arrived on Monday and helped me put the finishing touches on my shelves and bookcases. Then Wade’s cousins arrived on Thursday – Jamie, Anthony, Marie, and Tina. We all went out for pizza on Thursday night – Wade is loving that thin crust is the normal pizza – and then the Wii games began.
When we moved into our new house we noticed many things we wanted to change. The light fixtures and ceiling fans in the house all need to be painted or replaced. One of the first things Wade did was to remove the lamp shades from the over head light in his office. We both thought they worked better as hats.
Time to start unpacking. Madison has become my shadow and doesn’t want to be more than two feet away – that means she gets lost in all the packing paper.
Wade and I spent the day flying and arrived in Milwaukee around 5:30 pm. We caught a shuttle to our apartment, dropped off our luggage, and then went to get Madison. We ordered Chinese food on the return trip. We had Chinese food on the couch while I opened presents. Tomorrow Wade is taking me out for dinner, but tonight it was fun to just relax.
Milwaukee is obviously the place to be! I got an email a few weeks ago from Cassie, a friend from DC, saying she was going to be coming in to town. She arrived tonight and Wade and I took her to dinner. Wade chose a restaurant he had been to with Chad and Sarah – what a winner! I can’t wait to take family when they come to visit.
Madison and I took a trip to the dog park. This time we discovered an agility course in the woods. She would go through the tunnel and leap the bar, but had no interest in walking the beam or the see-saw. Maybe next time when they aren’t covered in snow.
Madison has overcome her fear of heights. She seems oddly fascinated by the snow and the people below.
An old friend from Tech, Brad, was in town tonight. Who knew we would have visitors so soon after moving to Milwaukee? Brad works for a consulting group out of Atlanta and they sent him to Madison, WI for the week. His flight out of Chicago was canceled due to wind so he rented a car and stopped in Milwaukee for dinner.
Wade and I had fun today. We took Madison to the dog park. The temperature was in the middle 30s so everyone was out. Madison had a pack of dogs to run with.
Then we made a stop for Wade. He decided to buy a Play Station 3 with his birthday money. He says it is one of the cheaper Blue Ray players not to mention a game system. Regardless he is excited.
Our apartment now appears very “techy”. We have two laptops, one desktop, a server, a Wii, a Play Station, and a full size Area 51 in our one bedroom apartment. Want to come play?
Obviously Madison needs some recovery time after her romp in the snow last night. She has spent the afternoon curled up on an old comforter and pillow. Maybe I’ll do the same on the couch.
It has snowed all day and supposed to continue through the night. This snow is gorgeous – light and fluffy. We all took a long walk tonight and had fun playing.
(Goggles added to Madison by Wade – red eye on dogs is really, really bad)
Wade wanted to celebrate his birthday with a steak dinner and chose “The Capital Grille“. I made a reservation and when asked if this was a special occasion quickly filled them in. We arrived to find a birthday card and confetti on the table. Wade and I had the best calamari ever for an appetizer and then steak dinners. We were actually somewhat disappointed by the steaks. Wade had read wonderful reviews, but they didn’t compare to Bones or Chops in Atlanta. Wade did receive a free piece of chocolate cake with a candle, and a birthday picture. It was still a wonderful evening out.
It’s fun to start the new year with a birthday. Wade worked all day, but we celebrated with presents when he got home. I cooked dinner and even tried my hand at making an Angel Food cake.
Wade and I decided to spend all of today in the snow and cold. We bundled up and took Madison for another romp in the dog park. There weren’t as many dogs today, but she still seemed to love playing in the snow. We let her tire out and then headed home for some tubing with Chad and Sarah (Wade knows them through a Tech friend). Chad and Sarah both got snow tubes for Christmas and wanted to try them out. We spent a few hours testing a hill near our apartment. A lot of the snow was now ice, but we had a great time. Wade managed to find all of the jumps and got quite a bit of air.
The rest of us just had fun trying to go the farthest at the bottom of the hill. Chad and Sarah rode tandem once and made it all the way to the road.
When we could no longer feel our fingers and toes we came back to the apartment for a quick game of Wii bowling (Sarah who doesn’t like to bowl kicked all of our butts) and then ventured out to the movies. We saw the movie “Juno” in an old time stage theater (awesome atmosphere) and then tried a new pizza place. I think the evening will be complete after one more dip in the hot tub!
Wade and I spent the morning boot shopping and not finding as much as you would expect. Evidently Milwaukee sells out of boots before Christmas. Wade found one pair and I decided to order a pair off the internet. Then came the exciting part of the day – we went snow tubing! One of Wade’s co-workers had told him that the local ski hill has tubing. We decided to try it out. What an awesome time!! There are numerous lanes and lifts to carry you and the tube up the hill. You can go down the chute by yourself or tandem (Wade and I tried that once). We got a little cold towards the end of the day – my new snow boots should be here on Wednesday – but I can’t wait to go back!
Wade and I rung in the new year in our building’s hot tub with a wonderful lake view – there are some perks to living in an apartment!
Wade had big plans for the day. He found a dog park for Madison. Little did we know it would be the best dog park ever. There was a huge area with a circular path, trees, a creek, hills, etc. Little clean up stations were conveniently located and no leashes were needed. Madison loved running all out and playing with the other dogs. Wade and I enjoyed a nice snowy hike through the woods.