The ERAS Tour

The Sioux Falls Swifties had a night we won't soon forget with Taylor Swift in Swiftieapolis. I lucked into tickets a smidgen over face value back in November when they went on sale, whoop! The kids were start struck by the whole experience. It felt like we were planning for weddings as we spent months navigating which album to represent and then to find the outfits that coincided. Although many of my outfits didn't make the final cut, my wardrobe thanked me for the upgrade ;). The final breakdown goes like this: Anna- Midnights, Sully-1989, Greta- Lover, Piper- Speak Now, Mag- Reputation, and me- Lover. And then to manage the logistics as downtown Minneapolis was also hosting PRIDE that weekend. I'm happy to report it was worth all of the stress, the concert was incredible. The kids sang and danced and snacked and lived their best lives. It was a treat for me to experience it with them. When each of their favorite songs came on, they would get excited for each other, it was so sweet. And to top it off, we got two great surprise songs, 'Dear John' and 'Daylight.' The only thing missing was Dave, who definitely showed some signs of FOMO as he is already scouring future ticket opportunities. Ha! We are all so thankful for the experience and feel like the luckiest people on Earth to have been able to experience the Eras tour from the 11th row. 

Ready to go! 

Reputation and Lover

Greta gets into the bracelet trading fun. 

The crew. 

Outside of US Bank Stadium 

Sweet G, mega Swiftie. 

Sully

Everyone is in their own little world. 

A great day. 

 

Father's Day

Father's Day hit a bit different this year as my dad was admitted the Friday before with abdominal pain and a bowel obstruction. All of my cylinders fired at the same time, daughter, helper, care giver, nurse, mom... you get the point. It was great to have some connections on the inside. I spent as much time as physically possible in the hospital with him in order support both of my parents.  All of us did, an incredible benefit to having a large family. We brought home made gifts up when we visited and had a nice time, considering. He ended up going to surgery two days later and was quickly on the road to recovery. He is a determined guy and has loads of life to live. When he was feeling better, he enjoyed getting to know all of the care providers and continuously commented on how outstanding the care was at all levels. 

Father's Day for Dave was really nice. We had a picnic at Riverdale Park followed by a bike ride to QCB for some treats, and of course, Bread and Circus for dinner, per usual :). We are so fortunate to have such great dads in our lives. The kids have such great role models from uncles to cousins and neighbors. Thanks Dave and dad, you're both top notch. 

Family golf outing. 

A quick wave to my dad before our bike ride. 

This dad is rad! 

Bread and Circus hangs.

Washington Pavilion Gala

 Our favorite night with many of our favorite friends. It was another great event. 

Amy and I.

Our table + the auctioneer. 

Soccer and Softball SZN

Sully and Greta both had great spring sports seasons, although logistics got tricky at times, both teams were really fun to watch. 

Sully and the Thunderbirds had an incredible season 5-1-1, this is saying a lot considering last year they only won a game or two. This rec team mostly consists of other 4th grade boys from Sonia with a couple of other players tossed in, but they really play well and have so much fun together. Their coach, Aaron, is a perfect fit. On numerous occasions, he singled Sully out to compliment his growth, even telling him he was most improved this year. As the mom of a barely 11 year old who needs as many boosts as possible, you can imagine how this made my heart feel. We can’t wait until fall and to see how much these boys have grown in the mean time. 

Greta and the Unstoppables were 1-11 and also had an awesome season. Our team had a good amount of kids from Sonia and other nearby schools sprinkled in, and our school Librarian was the coach- mega win. Some of the highlights were: treats, learning dugout cheers, and winning the LAST game of the season. Greta even got to pitch one inning getting 2% of her pitches across the plate. As a parent helper in the dugout, I was concerned that she was maybe feeling defeated and would consider swapping out, but when I called out to see how she was doing, she happily looked over and said “no mom! This is SO fun!” She finished the season with an RBI after 3 fouls, her best at bat of the season. 

We loved having family come to watch and support our kids, it was really a great way to spend the spring. 

Sully in action. 

Sully and coach Aaron. 

The Unstoppables! 

Victory high 5s! 

Munstream.advenure: Missouri!

After a series of events, we landed in Missouri for our first official camping trip of 2023. Wallace State Park is about 45 minutes from Kansas City and we had a week of fun. We arrived on Sunday and had a quick campsite dinner before going for a pajama sunset (snakes and all) hike. We came back and had a campfire which was when I discovered a glitch in the Airstream…some of our electrical items weren't functioning properly, including some light switches and our THERMOSTAT (oh no!!). We looked ahead and found outings with water options (there was a small lake at the campsite but because of the snake we saw earlier in the evening, that was not an option). It's worth mentioning that our campsite was pretty sun soaked, so sticking around sounded really dreadful. We were fortunate to have temps in the 60s in the evenings which cooled the camper enough for sleep. 

Our modified camping week looks like this:  

We spent Monday at Oceans of Fun in a cabana and enjoyed the pools and slides, and the lawn chair slowdown in the afternoon. There is no shortage of snacks, soda, $16 cans of wine, and everything else that makes a water park fun. Good thing that sort of fun is in Dave’s wheelhouse because I could skip them every time. The kids loved it and had an absolute blast. 

On Tuesday we drove to St. Louis to catch a Cardinals interstate rival game vs. the Royals with Stacy and her family. The game was so fun and extra special to see it with the Winters crew. It was a major highlight- Cardinals won! 

Wednesday- Sully’s 11th! We had all of Sully’s favorite things for breakfast…poached eggs, texas toast, and crepes. We hung around Stacy’s house  for the morning and had a dessert lunch including a bare cookie cake and molten brownies (again :)). We hit the road at 2 and stopped for some birthday tennis shoes, a FaceTime chat with Lor and stopped for dinner at the Red Shanty in Higginsville, which was a top notch experience for all with an emphasis on the ooey goey butter cake. We celebrated Sully again around the campfire where he opened his gift and we enjoyed cooler temps as we crawled into our hot Airstream. 

Thursday fun included another cabana but this time it was at the Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, MO (ironically the same one I met my college girls at in March). We enjoyed a hot day in the water, snacking and relaxing before a dinner and then back to the camper. 

Friday was our final day, we spent it at the World War 1 museum in Kansas City for lunch and then made our way to Country Club Plaza for some shopping a ‘not mad hour’ it was intended to be a happy hour, but it wasn’t quit that…the bar tender was in a bad mood and so were the kids :). We were in good shape after ice cream and ready to get back to start the packing process. 

All in all, it was a great week with fun adventures, and urban camping trip, so to speak. We are in a sweet spot with the kids, they are all capable of most things, and still young enough to like hanging out with us. This camping/life season is 10/10. We are definitely made the most of it. 

Now we need to manage our electrical issue… hoping for a quick fix! 

Wallace State Park snake hike 

Forced Family Fun

Greta's best life. 

Never pass up a photo op ;).

Reunited with the Winters crew! 

Squad 

Stacy and Mark with Dave and I. 

Birthday chats. 

Schooling Sully at checkers @ The Elms Hotel.

Shirley Temples 24/7.

Excelsior Springs 

Not a good sign when the campsite host
is helping you problem solve. 

WW1 Muesum.

Plaza scenes.

Boujie Ice Cream

We were so impressed with this waiter at 
El Maguey (we called it El Maggies).

Last night hangs in the camper. 

Birthday Boys

We snuck in an early birthday celebration for Dave and Sully as we anticipated a quick start to summer. It was a picture perfect summer bbq with most of our family filling our patio. We had hot dogs and burgers and all of the usuals including baked beans (Dave's request) and molten brownies with ice cream for dessert (Sully's request). Sully is acting so grown up these days, he promised that even though he turned 11, he wouldn't turn into tween,  for the most part, he is holding up his end of the deal, with only occasional reminders. Underneath it all, he is still my tender hearted kid who will still hold my hand :). He is full of kindness, loves soccer, hanging with his buddies, camping, and poached eggs. Dave keeps the adventures coming and remains a hard working husband and father, we hit the jackpot! Hard to believe we have an 11 and 61(!!) year old. 

Dave pawns off his grilling responsibilities. 

Worth sharing- Isaac, our new chauffeur. 

Celebrating Dave with Bread and Circus and Circle K. 

Birthday lunch of champions.