Congrats to the Tunas!

 In early August, we took a quick flight to WI to celebrate Tayler and Batu. They got married two years ago and had a backyard wedding celebration. Of course, we couldn't miss this, so we headed to the Midwest. 

We stayed in Janesville since it was close to the wedding fun. We went to a winery for a tasting, and Max got the best soft pretzel he ever had. We then ventured to a local bar & restaurant on the lake. This was a typical WI place and I was loving it. There was live music and the food was great! It was a long day so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest for the big party.

We spent that Saturday in Janesville at my aunt's house visiting with Tayler and Batu,
and the rest of the family.

My aunt and I surprised the couple with a champagne toast and a speech. I struggled a bit getting through it because Tayler started crying. This, of course, caused her to get emotional too. 

Tayler has grown into an amazing woman and I am so proud of her. She found a partner in life with Batu and I couldn't be happier for the both of them.

We had a great time in Janesville celebrating the happy couple. After some games, we headed back to the hotel to get some much-needed sleep before our early flight in the morning. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

 Another year around the sun and another fantastic birthday celebrated with Andy and Max. We started the day at Andretti with indoor go-kart racing. Max was excited because he is now 12 and can race on the bigger track. This was a lot of fun.

Andy bragged the rest of the day about how he got first place out of all the racers.

We had sushi for dinner at our new favorite sushi restaurant near our house. This place is so good and is our new go-to place since Sakana closed.

The boy sang to me, and I blew out my candles on my favorite gluten-free cake.

Time certainly goes by fast, but I am glad to spend it with Andy and Max!

First Day of School

 Max and I returned from WI a couple of days earlier than Andy so we could attend Meet the Teacher. As a sixth grader, Max now has all four teachers, one for each core subject. This is to prepare them for junior high. Max only wanted to meet his homeroom teacher, and he was ready to leave. It might have been because it was beyond HOT in the library, or because he was looking forward to his dinner date with me.

We had a nice time at our new favorite sushi spot, talking about the upcoming sixth-grade year.

It's the first day of sixth grade and Max grew just over two inches taller than the first day of fifth grade. He's pretty proud of this...so is Andy. He is just a quarter inch under 5' 4" tall. Which is taller than most my family. Ha Ha!

He doesn't have his core group of friends in his class like he had last year, but that's ok. I let Max know that will be the case in junior high too. You can't guarantee to be with your friends and this will prepare him for that. Here's to a fantastic year of school, finishing his final year at elementary school. How is this even possible????

Camp WI: Round 2

 On July 5th we flew out to WI so Max could spend a week visiting his grandparents and we could all spend time with family in cooler weather. 

The first part of the week, Max spent in SP with Grandpa T, Grandma V and his cousin Kyle. Max requested to go fishing, so they went fishing one day and a movie the other day. Max again caugth the first fish of the day.

One night we made pizzas on the smoker and played Uno where Grandma V won overall. 

Then Max headed to Grandma L's house for a couple of days. They went to a museum together and the Madison Zoo.

The last part of Camp WI was spent at Grandpa T and Grandma S's house. One night we went to a good ol' WI supper club for dinner.

One day they went swimming and to see the new Superman movie. Of course lunch at Chipotle first. 

Max taught Beau about Mario Kart and Beau is now a big fan.

Tayler stopped by and it's always good to see her. Max is officially 3 inches taller than his cousin. 

We celebrated Grandpa T's birthday, and Max helped prep the meat for the smoker.

It was another successful Camp WI week. Until next summer! 

Happy Birthday!

 Another fast year around the sun and Max has turned 12. What a fast year. I guess time goes by way too fast when you are having fun.

We started celebrating the night before with a crab boil dinner at Angry Crab. Max just loves this place. 

That night we had ice cream treat for the birthday cake and candles.

Followed by presents!

We did all that the night before because Max celebrated his actual birthday with his two best friends at Great Wolf Lodge. What a fun and crazy place. These boys had a great time all day at the water park.

Then we ordered pizza in before the boys hit up the arcade. 

Followed by ice cream.

The rest of the night was in the suite where the boys played video games, hung out and stayed up really late. That's why we got a two bedroom/two bathroom suite so the boys could have the living room, bedroom and bathroom to themselves while Andy and I had our own space.

It was a fun birthday this year and Max had a great time with "the boys."

Camp WI: Round 1

 Max wanted to spend some of his Summer break in WI and since Andy's on a five-week sabbatical from work, they went together. 

The first 24 hours were with Grandpa J and Grandma V where they went fishing and bowling. It was also exciting that Max's cousin Kyle joined them on this day.

Everyone caught fish this day, but Max caught the first fish of the day and he caught a total of two fish. He was very happy about this, but he refused to bait his hook and hold the fish. He had so much fun fishing that he wants to do it again when he's there in July.

Bowling was also fun. Max did not win at bowling, but he had fun eating cheese curds.

They ended with dinner at Rocky's and more pics. 

Max headed to the westside in the morning to spend 24 hours with Grandpa T and Grandma S. They started with some baking.

Then they went to the pool with cousins Beau and Quinn. We forgot to pack swim trunks but shorts worked nicely.

They watched the Minions movie and had a BBQ dinner.

The last 24 hours was spent with Grandma L picking strawberries. This is something they did together last Summer and Max was looking forward to repeating it again this Summer.

Mad had a short trip to WI this time, but it's only round one. He will be back in July for round two of Camp WI and he's really looking forward to it.