Fathers Day Weekend!

We had an amazing Fathers Day weekend!

Jimmy had football camp at Drake.  Each time he visits he fall more in love with the school and their program and this time was no exception.  He measured in at 6' 2 1/4" and 213lbs. He was having a great camp - moving fast, catching balls, blocking when his groin pull started to act up.  He sat out the last 30 min of the camp but didnt seem to mind.  We ended up driving home through a major thunderstorm (why do I always get caught on 35w in a storm?!) but made it home in time for him to hang out with Melanie.

Billy also had a banner weekend. He broke his 1st brick!  The photos below will tell the whole story;)  He's testing for his 2nd degree test next week and its part of the test. Did it on his 1st try. Way to go Bill!  Check it out!!  Video

Kay found a nest of bunnies in our front yard (actually Nikki found it and Kay rescued them) she spent a good part of the day checking them out and worrying on them. I hope she didnt fiddle with them to death but her sign is pretty cute.

Tom had a great Fathers Day. We talked to both Grandpa (so thankful they are both still around to love!) and the kids actually helped with yard work. All day. Willingly. With good attitudes. YEAH!

Kay was all over the board - weeding, mowing, moving wood but finally found her calling in gutter clean out. She's not afraid of heights and has good balance so it was the perfect job for her.

Billy was focused and zen and calmly stacked wood for 2 hours.

Jimmy helped Billy stack wood and mow the neighbors yard.

All 3 of the kids made Tom wonderful cards and Kay baked one of her signature cakes.  multiple layer - coffee/chocolate, strawberry/white and devils food.  It was beyond yummy.

Tom made smoked turkey, aunt minnies, stuffing and broccoli (all easy stuff to make while working hard in the yard)

The best was the coordinated neighborhood Fathers Day gift.  Thank god for neighbors that love the Packers!

It was a great weekend with family.  We are so blessed.  Tom is an amazing father and partner.  Our dads (Grandpa's) are still fiesty and the kids love talking with them and being with them. We are so grateful for our kids birth & foster fathers too.  We couldn't do what we do without this amazing village of men.

Thank you all and bless you all!

Biggest asian there!

213!

Go Dawgs!

Official stats

He's pretty excited about his board breaking 

Getting ready to stack wood

Weeding 

Her true calling - she was doing back bends and cartwheels on the roof - ugh

Grandpa's gift!

The cake is to die for

Stay out - unless you are Kay!

Reading Kay's card

Her card was so gorgeous

And nice!!

Billy got creative too 

He's too sweet

This proves it. Jimmy WAS a Packer fan at one point.

LOVE!!

Look what he got!!

YUM!!

Funny...Mike got a Packer mailbox. The front yard will soon be newly dressed up.

MS150!! 25 years and rolling!

This was a big year for me. It was the 25th year I rode the MS 150 and it happened while I was 50. So, I have biked this ride for 1/2 my life! Thats crazy! I've biked longer than I've been married to Tom.  In fact, its (almost) the biggest commitment I've ever made (outside of working at Target for 26 years). Crazy.

This year was a perfect ride. Good friends, new friends, traditions, new traditions... The weather was ok.  Saturday got to be hot and very windy by the end of the ride but we were on the gorgeous Munger Trail so we were in the shade and blocked from most of the wind. Sunday was cool (but humid) and the wind slowly became tail wind. We even managed to miss the rain, finishing before it started.

The core team was Wendy (27 years), Ned (23 years) and Kim (2 years). We met and adopted Zach as it was his 1st year. We also met Miranda, who is a friend of a friend and she was our camping neighbor.

Once again the Target team out did themselves! The food was yummy and the beer even better. Jim (the guy that hauls all our stuff and takes good care of our bikes) is worthy of 5 star rating. He's friendly, helpful and takes SUCH good care of us!

I did my 2 back bends of the year (I always do a back bend on Day 1 and Day 2 lunch) - its a great stretch plus I just want to see if I can still do it....I can!

My fundraising is ALMOST there. I suspect I'll get a few more pledges and be just fine. My goal was $4,800 (25 people to donate $150 and 50 people to donate $23 - the number of years ago that Uncle Alan died.  Right now I'm just over $4,600 so... fingers crossed !!

But, rather than telling you...I'll show you!!

The bus ride up includes a beer tasting of the new "hot" beers.

Day 1 DONE! Thats the sign that I wore on the my back the whole ride, I wanted people to ask me why I was riding!

Trying to stay cool before the last leg on the 1st day

My name is on the top fundraiser list! I'm a VIP!

All the top fundraisers

All the top fundraising teams, yep ...Target is in there!

Matt rode this year after a few years break. It was fun to catch up with him.

New tradition - lavender face masks - they felt like heaven!  With new friend Miranda

End of the ride! We did it!  Ned, Zach, Me, Wendy, Kim.

Jim the truck guy - he's the best!

Can you tell who was a sponsor?

Doing yoga to stretch out and leaning on each other so we dont fall over

Silly post lunch Day 2 photo by the silo (traditional shot)

My back bend!!

Friday night cold walk on the shore in Duluth. Love it there!

Sunset Day 2 in tent city

Once again...life got away from us

It seems like the days fly by and then next thing you know, you've totally missed May.

Now, considering May was cold and rainy and felt WAY more like April, its somewhat understandable but.. I also suspect that it has to do with having 3 teenagers and nearing the end of the school year.

Since our last post, we've celebrated Mothers Day, our 21st Anniversary, attended 2 band concerts, 1 orchestra concert, hosted Ian and his family to celebrate his graduation and acceptance into The Berkley School of Music and an out of town Taekwondo tournament. This is on top of tests, final projects, field trips and general every day craziness.

We'll give you the highlights in photos....and videos

Orchestra Concert 
Band Concert - they played a High School Musical Medaly - Jimmys favorite
Wolf Pack 
Jazz Concert  -
Korean National Anthem -
TKD 

Jimmy continues to kill it as the drummer int the jazz band.

LOVE that the kids from 9th grade Jazz continue to play together - Thank you Ross Wolf!  You made such a difference in their lives ! 

Ian and his family, both host family from South Dakota (Amber and Lim) and his mother, father and uncle from Korea.  For lunch, he asked for orange chicken and the brown rice with mushrooms (rice pilaf), we also had watermelon, beans, salad and mondu. Kay had waffles (probably to piss him off since they were his favorite)

His family brought an entire suitcase of Korean snacks, food and skin care products. Kay loved every minute of it!

They even gave Billy their grandfathers 4th degree Taekwondo pin. So special

Billy with Ian's uncle

The group

Billy's orchestra concert. They get better (and smaller) each year

More Korean photos. Jimmy led everyone in a rousing rendition of the South Korean national anthem

My favorite photo

Tracy attended 4 full day training sessions, adding to the craziness

Jimmy representing South Korea at Festival of Nations

The 3rd and 4th kid on the way to Chicago to kick some butt

Weighing in is always a bit nerve racking but they made it

The pomsea team

1st place !! (out of 1)

Love that smile

The pomsea medal winners

Team Rogers - miss those guys

3rd (of 3) in sparring

Sparring team - 2 kids even won a trip to Korea! They are fun to watch

Finally, time for fun!

We came back from swimming to find out hotel surrounded and evacuated. A guy had 9 grams of coke, multiple fire arms and shot one in the hotel room.   Who knew Schaumburg was a rough neighborhood?!

After biding our time at dinner, we returned and were allowed to stay in our room. Police were camped out all night. I think we had the safest hotel room in Illinois that night!  Never a dull moment.

Throw back to High School Musical 2 premier in India.   Still a favorite

Anniversary trivia with Jennifer and Doug. Gorgeous night at New Bohemian We biked up.

He's still a stinker and we had a play date with his brothers

Macho and Gander are slightly smaller than Maui and look like twins, they played non stop

Maui was channeling Ferdinand and was more interested in flowers than playing

The boys

He finally started to warm up to Gander at the end

Tracy actually got in a 40 mile ride with a stop for ice cream, a flat tire and reassured herself that she'll be able to finish the MS150 next week

Bangalore crew reunion and bar hopping in Uptown.  Love these people and miss all the others....