Chicago Girl's Trip

I am not sure men really understand friendship. Mike has some really good friends from college. They never see one another. They may talk on the phone occasionally, but they never get together. It's just not something they make an effort to do.

 

 

I explain to Mike that girls can't do that. They need to get together. They need to talk on the phone. They need to see one another and spend time together. They must make an effort.

 

 

If my friends went a year without talking to me (like Mike's friends do) we would no longer be friends. I guess men and women are just different that way.

 

 

So, this summer I decided it was time for a girls trip. It was time to get my favorite long-time friends together for longer than just a dinner or drink.

 

We were going to Chicago!

 

My best three high school friends planned a long weekend of pampering in the big city. It's always my favorite place to go in the summer and although it was sad to not be there with Mike, I kind-of saw the city a little differently going with just girlfriends.

 

Here is Cindy and Leslie at the airport. Lisa lives outside of Chicago so she would be picking us up from the airport.

 

 

 

We stayed at the Intercontinental which was a very nice hotel right on Michigan Avenue.

 

 

 

The first night we ate out at The Hubbard Inn. Great food! I had tortellini that night and it was really good.  It was so nice to just hang out and talk and not have to rush through our dinner to get home.

 

 

 

 

That night after dinner we went to the top of Trump Tower for a drink. I was shocked you could just go up to the rooftop and hang out! I figured you had to be staying there. The views were incredible.

 

 

 

I know, My friends are beautiful, aren't they?

 

 

 

We slept in the next morning (some of us longer than others) and decided on a movie. I know that sounds like a crazy thing to do in the big city, but we all agreed we weren't interested in shopping all day and walking all over. We wanted to RELAX! So, we had a lovely $28 apiece breakfast (all comped thanks to a later than expected check-in. Little did they know we couldn't have cared less as we just sat in the hotel lounge and had a cocktail which is what we would have done anyway! Did I mention the drinks were also comped?). The breakfast was awesome and we filled up and skipped lunch in exchange for yummy popcorn at the movies. We saw Way Way Back which was very comical and lots of one liners that I am still using like "C You Next Tuesday". I highly recommend it.

 

After the movie (which we were all dressed up for in dresses and heels due to our evening plans) we headed to The Paris Club for dinner. Again, the food was amazing. I had mushroom risotto that night and it was really delicious! Lisa made all the restaurant reservations for this trip and she did good!

 

 

 

Then we were off to see The Book of Mormon.

 

 

 

I am convinced after going to Chicago for the last 6 summers that you MUST have one big thing to do while you are there. It's just so awesome to have one thing that makes the trip special. This play was so awesome. We laughed and laughed through the whole thing! Really, really great show!

 

 

 

After the play were went to Michael Jordan's Steakhouse which was attached to our hotel for one more cocktail. I ordered a piece of cake for us to share. It was 43 layers.

 

 

Needless to say there was a lot left over.

 

 

It was sad to have to say good-bye and head back to normal life, but it was such a relaxing and enjoyable trip. I miss them all so much already. I wish we could do this trip every month. I appreciate these friendships and value them. Thank you, girls for the amazing weekend and for being my sistahs! I love all of you.

 

LB

 

 



August Classic

At the end of the baseball season beginning in 5th grade each coach is asked to submit two or three players to play in a Metro league tournament called the August Classic. The players from Owatonna get placed with other players from southern Metro teams. This season Noah was asked to play on this team.

 

 

 

 

That meant going to Lakeville 6 out of 7 days this past week! Mike joined us for the first two days and then he left to fish in Canada with my dad and father-in-law. That meant mom and I were on our own for the rest of the week and weekend. My sister also joined us for each game.

 

 

 

 

The other player from Noah's team selected to play was on vacation so Noah's cousin, Zach, was asked to play on the team as well. We were all super excited the boys would get to play together on this elite team!

 

 

 

I have to brag a bit here. From the Meet-and-Greet on Monday night the "boys from Owatonna" were a huge hit. I heard the coaches discussing their abilities, I heard people on the bleachers whispering about how good they were and as soon as they found out I was the mother/aunt of those two.....I got lots of compliments and even a fist bump congratulating me on how well they both played.

 

 

There were 12 players on the team which meant at any given time there were 3 kids sitting on the bench. The coach did a great job of rotating the kids into the game and no player ever sat longer than a half inning. I remember in the last game, Noah and Zach were both sitting at the same time and that didn't go over well with the gentlemen behind me. They could not figure out why the coach would sit BOTH Owatonna players at the same time.

 

 

 

The weather could not have been more perfect. Temps were in the high 70's and low 80's, partly cloudy skies, slight breeze.....it was amazing. The team started off with a loss. A bad loss actually, losing 8 to 1. Made me a little nervous about the rest of the week.

 

Another bad start was Connor getting hit in the cheek by a thrown ball.

 

 

It hit him on his right cheek and left him with a chipmunk-like appearance on that side and lots of bruising. This picture doesn't show the black shiner he got later. He had a hard time chewing for about three days. It was a horrible experience for everyone. The poor boy that threw the ball came over three times to check to see how Connor was doing. He felt so bad. It was really kind of him. The next day at the next game the boy rushed over to see how Connor was doing again. We were just glad it missed his eye and his temple.

 

The next day we played and won! They following day we played and won again!

 

 

 

Saturday we played two games and won both (one was a great comeback too. There is something about coming from behind to win. It's just that much sweeter!)

 

 

 

There wasn't a team that didn't have at least one loss in pool play which meant we made it to the championship game on Sunday!

 

 

 

The game started badly with us behind by 4 runs and the game seemed to be speeding by. We needed more innings to come back! All of a sudden it's the 6th inning and we were still behind by 3 (they play 7 innings).

 

 

Noah started off the bottom on the 6th with a double.

 

 

Zach got on behind Noah and the third player did too. That meant bases loaded. The boy pitching at the time was up to bat and hit a huge triple to the fence, over the right fielders head scoring three runs! We scored another run in that inning and that put us up by 1.

 

 

All we had to do was hold them and we won the game.

 

 

We did just that! Our pitcher that inning was amazing and struck out two kids, including the third out to win the Championship game!

 

 

 

Noah and Zach had a blast, we met all kinds of great people, and it was such a great way to end Noah's baseball season.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for a great week of baseball, boys! 

 

 

 

 

Now it's on to Fall Ball!

LB

 

 



Connor and Baseball

Another baseball season is in the books for Connor.

4th grade baseball is much like kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade ball was so for Connor it's not exactly real baseball. Considering he has been playing with his brother since he could stand upright he is definitely ready for 5th grade when things get a little more serious. 

A couple of things I do appreciate is that they still want the kids moving around to every position to learn the different ones. There is no one in the same position for more than an inning.

Connor likes pitching, catching, and playing second base best but he still plays outfield and the other infield positions too.

I also appreciate that there are no runs recorded and the focus is always on increasing their skills on the field. I had a mom get angry because a coach didn't let her kid get a double off a hit. She turned to me to lament about it and I explained that it's not about winning or losing, it's about learning how to field the ball and with no runners on base, you can't learn! If you have ever been to a little league game you know what I mean. Can you imagine if they let these kids run on every passed ball or over throw? It would be mass chaos on almost every play.....which is why the coach held up her kid. She didn't like that comment much and she got up and left the bleachers.

I am excited to see how Connor feels about baseball next year. Right now he likes the games, but isn't fond of the practices. I keep assuring him that soon even the practices will be fun. Even though he doesn't like the practices, I watched him on a 96 degree day go all out in a practice, diving and running with all he had. 

That's my boy. 

I remember Noah going through this transition too. Both were/are ready to take things up a notch. And that will happen next year. 

Until then....

LB

Five for Friday

Is it Friday? I love not knowing or caring. The only reason I might know anymore is because of baseball. How do most people work all year round? I can't imagine. If I ever bitch about my job, I need to go back and read posts from June and July.

Here's what I am happy for this week......

1. Lilacs. My neighbor has a bush. I MIGHT have borrowed a few blooms for my kitchen. Twice. I don't know what it is, but I swear their smell is heightened by 1000 this year. It fills my whole upstairs and I love it.


2. Curly hair. That's right.....I have been leaving my hair with it's natural curl lately and I cannot tell you how much easier this makes my life. I add product and I am done. I am using THIS product which has grape seed oil in it and I kid you not.... smells like a grape jolly rancher until it dries. Bonus! I let it dry naturally, rake a comb or my fingers through it and it looks good! When it was shorter the curls were all kinds of crazy. I am so glad I gave it a try now that it's longer and cut into long layers.


3. I am on a mission to get rid of all the fake flowers/wreaths in my house. Good Lord what was I waiting for? I bought this frame at HomeGoods the other weekend when we were in Lakeville for a baseball tournament.

A mirror is perfect for the entry of a home, don't ya think?

 

 

4. Chicago. Not only do I get to go with three of my besties in a few short weeks, but we are going as a family later in the summer too! WOO HOO! Nothing better than Chicago in the summer. I think when I retire I might have to have a house in Florida for a few months, a cabin in MN for a few months, and a condo in Chicago for the summer. Hmmm....might need another career for that to happen. Anyway, we will go to a Cubs game at Wrigley when we are there so I can't wait. What I can wait for....the long drive there. No flying that trip. Gotta stock up on movies and books.

 

 

5. The lovely retractable gazebo we bought a few years back was wrecked in a storm.

 

 

I loved that thing. I thought the retractable canopy would help this whole thing hold up with the wind we get back there, but it didn't.

So, we bought this.....

I am hoping it holds up. We had one similar once, but this one is studier.



Hope you all have a great weekend. My flowers have been loving the cooler, wet weather. Some heat in the forecast this weekend!

Peace out...
LB

Noah New Ulm Tournament

We traveled to New Ulm for a AA tournament this past weekend. Other than a HUGE rainstorm that completely soaked us over and over, it was a great weekend and the boys walked away with the Championship!

 

They announced each kids' names and then they shook hands with someone from the other team as they received their prize. Oddly, they gave trophies to the 2nd place and T-shirts to the 1st place. Kids would have rather have had hardware.

 

 

Way to go boys! Job well done!

All City and Pantry

It was time to update this blog and get those horrible snow-filled pictures off the first post! UGH! That was horrible! And I totally lost my Japanese Lilac. Makes me so sad. We are looking to replace that soon. There is a big hole waiting.

 

So, Connor had the All-City track meet in May. His event was the softball throw. As we were driving there with Papa, he set a goal of 114 feet.

 

 

A little warming up by every one's favorite PE teacher.....Mrs. Wiste. Mrs. Wiste GETS boys. She emails me pictures of Connor and little messages about how much she likes him. I love her. I hope Connor gets her for his last year at Washington!

And the throw.....

 



 

He got to throw three times. Then he helped shag balls while the others finished.

 

 

 

Then they huddled around for the results.....

 

 

 

 

Connor took second at 115 feet! One foot over his goal!

 

 

 

Way to go Connor!

 

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School is out and the projects have begun. On the agenda for me are painting the master bedroom, painting the trim around the outside doors, and cleaning windows.

 

Another job Mike and I wanted to tackle and actually accomplished was turning a coat closet in our back entry into a pantry. Our kitchen is small and has very limited storage. The cupboards are super tall and give the illusion of plenty of space, but they are difficult to use because I am forever having to reach for a chair to reach what I need. There was a coat closet just inside the garage door that screamed "pantry". We used it for coats and shoes and I knew talking Mike into it wasn't going to be easy, but he agreed! 

 

 

I forgot to take a picture before it was emptied. Just picture this closet (which is identical) with a two-level shelf going across the whole floor filled with shoes.

 

 

Then add about another 20 coats. That's what the closet looked like.

 

Here is the closet emptied....

 

 

Check out those lovely primed walls! Holy Dirty!

 

 

Mike went and bought all the supplies. We bought cheaper wood and then trimmed it out. I painted the inside of the closet (not easy) and then together we primed and painted all the wood. Mike got them hung up and viola! Introducing the pantry.......

 

 

 

I am so excited to have this space. I bought a cute book-end for my cookbooks....

 

 

 

Lots of plastic and some glass storage for snacks and cereal ......

 

 

 

Chip storage was tough. Those bags are hard to keep upright and for some reason, placing them in another container didn't seem like it would keep them fresh. So, I kept them in their bags and used baskets. I also have a wire basket for potatoes and onions on the floor too....

 

 

 

 

I love having a place to put those larger items such as the crock-pot, vegetable and rice steamer.....

 

 

 

 

 

It's been nice to buy large quantity items from Sam's and have a place to put them! I have not missed the closet one bit. We have hooks on the wall to hang coats and sweatshirts. We are better about only having one pair of shoes at this back door too.  I have lots more room to fill in there, but I am waiting for the perfect containers. I keep slowly adding week-by-week. Maybe a trip to Ikea in my future!

 

 

Baseball is taking over the month of June, and we love it. The rain has dampened a few games, but we are busy this week with double-headers. I can't imagine next year when both kids are traveling because having just one is crazy busy!

 

Hope you are all having a great start to your summer!

Peace,

LB