Attempted Kit-Napping

Kitty tried her best to kidnap, or kit-nap, Daddy's suitcase, but her efforts to thwart his departure were unsuccessful.

She is not happy.

Jim had to get up at 2 a.m. and be on the road by 3 a.m. to the Madison airport for his flight to Denver. The good news is that it is a direct flight. The bad news is that I have to follow that same ungodly schedule on Friday when I fly out to join him.

Ugh.

Jim has a conference for work out there. Typically, his only "conference" at the home office is with Sylvester, who I suspect is by his side most of the day. Most days. Since the suitcase came out the day after my return from Sister Weekend, that darn cat intuitively knew it was for Daddy not Mommy.

Early in the day yesterday, Jim texted me a picture of her laying on the open cover and napping. When I got home she was inside of it. While she was eating her dinner, Jim sneaked some clothes in But she was right back in it as soon as he turned his back.

Yup, she is missing her man.

Not that we all aren't. But I don't plan to wait by the door (like she's doing) until he comes back. I've got work to do the next two days, plus my own packing. I will fly out Friday to join Jim and the friends we are staying with for a Rocky Mountain weekend. Cannot wait!

I have never been to Colorado or seen "real" mountains like that. I'm sure kitty won't lose any sleep over my departure.

In fact, she will probably help me pack!

Scenic RRRRRRRoute

Without breaking any confidentiality in the "What happens at Sister's Weekend stays at Sister Weekend" clause, I still have plenty of photos I CAN share. Probably too many. But here goes...

This was out 16th Wild Women's Weekend. As part of our Opening Act, my twin and I had a Sweet 16 birthday party!

How did Beaver Dam get its name? Hmmm...

R People turn this way!

On Friday we drove over to historic Cedarburg to check out why it's a hot spot. Mostly it's the shopping, I'm sure, but they also have a covered bridge (for foot traffic only). I took a timed photo on the non-covered bridge in the same park. I look a little funny trying to keep my head out of the way!

 

It's right next to a road with plenty of traffic but they must have been locals. No one stopped but us.

Silhouette of Raylene.

 

The bridge is single lane or, as we say, 7 sisters wide. Our matching shirts say: "I can't remember if I'm the good sister or the evil one."

Spent several hours in Cedarburg eating lunch, shopping, sight-seeing and eating ice cream (of course)!

I felt like Cinderella running into my ugly step-sisters who were not invited to our weekend!

 

Mr. Deck Chair has family everywhere in Wisconsin!

After shopping, we headed east a few miles so we could see Lake Michigan. And other related scenery. Weird flower / weed thing I saw!

Rayna the photographer takes a break from "shooting" to smile. Yup, found the lake.

Did not get any closer than this, though. Only got a cliffside view from up top.

Walked the trail to the rumored set of stairs leading down to the beach. I think they were a mile beyond where the last person on the trail indicated "not too far." I eventually saw them and "radio-ed" back that it was too long of a hike for everyone. So we took the easy route and got into our cars and went north to Port Washington.

There was a park with lake access that did not require any hiking, running or cliff climbing!

Leaving our mark.

Photo ops at the marina downtown...

Not a super impressive lighthouse, but I love them all!

On Saturday morning, the twins decided we just hadn't packed enough into one weekend so we ran a 5K in the very, very, very hilly downtown Beaver Dam. Raylene hadn't run hills like that before. I don't think she was having fun. Well, until it was over anyway. We even medaled!!

Well, ALL the finishers medaled. But it makes for a good story. We did finish 7th and 8th in our division, corresponding to our birth order in our family of 8 kids. Ha.

Later, the "older" girls got their workout at a park down the street from our cabin. Here Romey is laughing and screaming simultaneously while praying she doesn't fall off the teeter-totter.

I'm just hanging around, minding my own business.

Raylene was the only one who could manage a pull-up. She may or may not be just standing on her tippy-toes. I'll never tell.

Rayna is just a-swingin'!

She got a timed photo of all of us on the swings.

We switched up our traditional goodbye group hug on Sunday with a staged sky-diving scene. We are all screaming in fear of falling 3,000 ... centimeters to the ground.

After our goodbyes, I headed from Beaver Dam over to the Warrens Cranberry Festival. Not because I didn't pack enough into my weekend, but because I was hoping to catch Carter marching in the parade.

I had 2 hours of driving and knew the parade would be in full swing when I got there. By the time I found a parking spot and then found the parade route, unit #53 was going by. And the Assumption High School Marching Band was unit #63. Whew! Just in the nick of time.

Thankfully they got a few breaks from playing since the sun was out in full force, it was 80 degrees and their uniforms are more suited to Veterans Day parades in November.

A few dance moves.

Catching Carter in the center of it all.

After the band went by,  I left Warrens and headed home, about an hour away. Go home in time to unpack, spend a half hour with Mr. Deck Chair and watch the Vikings win! Wow.

Great finish to a gRRRRRRReat weekend!

Back on the Grid

I wasn't planning to go off the grid during the entire Wild Women's Weekend, but when you are staying in a place like this, it just calls to you: Un-wind and Un-wire.

It was too nice to stay inside all three-plus days, but it served us 7 sisters well.

We were all "on deck" by mid-afternoon on Thursday -- on the shore of big Beaver Dam Lake in southeast Wisconsin. Yup, we road-tripped to a town not necessarily known as a tourist trap, but that was fine. It was within driving distance of other places that are!

Had perfect weather and, as they say, a good time was had by all. I took some interesting photos to share but unfortunately, Carter has a zillion hours of homework this weekend and has commandeered my computer.

I will have to share a scrapbook of sorts tomorrow, with photos that passed the Top Secret Security team inspection.

In the meantime, unwind, un-wire and enjoy a sunrise on the lake...

Babes in the Woods

As I am frantically trying to get my stuff in order so I can leave for our 16th annual sister weekend in the morning, I had to look up some "old" photos from previous Wild Women's Weekends to get in the mood.

Why wouldn't I be in the mood already? Oh just the typical cramming 5 days of work into 3 to get 2 off. You know how that goes. Then things don't wrap up at the end of the 3rd day so I am trying to get it done now and will have to squeeze in time in the morning, too.

Yup, I'm in the mood to get outta Dodge and head for the hills... or the woods... or the lake...

The photo above was taken in 2009 when we stayed up in Park Rapids, Minn., and saw some tourist attractions in the area such as the Mississippi River Headwaters and Paul Bunyan and Babe. Bet Bemidji has never had so many Babes all at once. Ha.

Hopefully, this weekend will bring more fun (and sun) as it always does. Just have to adjust my mood accordingly and not stress about what I did or did not get done before leaving. Right?

I will save my packing for the morning. And you can bet I am not going to suddenly do my "Saturday Chores" on Thursday. Heck no! I am hitting the road for my 2-hour drive south and hope to be sitting on a deck chair by 2 p.m. with or without the other Babes.

Once they arrive, I can't guarantee I'll move from that spot either.

Until the snacks come out... Never a shortage of chocolate and yummy treats!

At least all 7 of us combined are not as big as Babe! Yet.

Well... That's Over

When I looked at the calendar today and saw it is the official start of autumn,  I felt cheated. I just didn't feel like I had a summer. Am I the only one?

Part of it was the fact that we were still wearing winter hats and gloves at baseball games through May, and were quite bundled up at a few in June, too. The "feeling" of summer got started so late I didn't get a chance to embrace it before it was hoodie time.

Not that I don't love hoodie time... or colorful trees... or bonfires with friends...

I just want a little more time in the sun. Mr. Deck Chair does, too.

I do like Maxine's concept that leg shaving season is over. But I would be willing to extend that season with no whining. I'm just that dedicated. Truly.

They do say time flies when you are having fun so perhaps the cool and crappy weather wasn't the only reason summer felt like a fleeting moment. We packed a lot into it. Heck, I was everywhere from Wyoming to Cincinnati. And that included a handful of trips north of Highway 8. Throw in a couple weddings and birthdays, and we were busy.

Guess maybe if I would have taken time to sit and relax and enjoy summer, parting wouldn't be such sweet sorrow.

I can still make some of it up. Mr. Deck Chair and me, well, we are just that dedicated.

Truly.

The Other Voice

Two things happen at this time of year... I tend to use The Voice (aka Homework Nag-igator) and the other Voice starts a new season.

Tonight was like season opener for fall TV shows. I don't watch much TV but I enjoy Modern Family, Big Bang Theory (which is now on Mondays) and The Voice (which may or may not have to do with any crush on any judges).

I'm sure Carter would prefer if I just watched The Voice rather than use it, but that's really in his hands, not mine.

He did not have school today since the teachers had some conference. He could have gotten all of his homework done before cross-country practice at 3:30 p.m., but no, that's not his style. So now I have to hop off the computer so he can use it. Even if it was available for quite some time.

That's fine. Adam and Blake are calling me to the other room any way.

We'll see whose chair I can get to turn around tonight!

A Perfect Game

In a "perfect game" of baseball, none of the opponents reach base and their score is zero. In a "perfect game" of bowling, none of the pins remain standing and the score is 300.

I must have had better than a perfect game last night as my score was 303!!

Oh wait, that was over 3 games. I guess that doesn't count. There were other parts of the evening that did turn out perfect, though.

About 40 of us gathered at a Green Bay bowling alley to surprise our friend Scott's wife, Sandy, for her 40th birthday (which is actually still a week away). Now we had just golfed with them 2 weeks ago and had to keep our big mouths shut about seeing them "soon." We succeeded.

And so did everyone else invited. She was utterly shocked. The surprise birthday party "game" was perfect!

It was like a reunion of the wedding party from a few years back. Got to see family and friends of theirs and it was a good time. Besides beer and pizza, there was bowling, too.

Moonlight bowling.

Very cool throwing the ball via blacklights and disco lights and loud dance music. I could not see the "arrows" or "lanes" to aim for on the alley, but that didn't really affect my awful game! I actually did slightly better in the dark and brought my average up to 101. Whoo-hoo! Any time I break 100, I'm a happy bowler!

We were out way past my bedtime and got to bed at Scott and Sandy's around 2 a.m. Had pondered golfing today but it was cold, windy and rainy. When we got back to Rapids in the early afternoon, though, it was clear at least. Hubby went golfing with his dad and sister and I went to book club.

This month we discussed Defending Jacob by William Landay. Very interesting read, especially as a parent. It begs the question how far we would go to protect our children whether they did something wrong or we're just not sure if they did. And, a good discussion on how well we know our children compared to their friends, their enemies and anyone who is closer to them on social media than we are. A good read.

When I got home, Carter, who had stayed at a friend's house last night while we were out of town, had a surprise for us. His friend's mom made a fresh apple pie. All we had to do was bake it. To me, that called for a special trip to the store to get some Cinnamon Bun ice cream – perfect for warm apple pie ala mode.

Wow. That was a yummy way to cap off a great weekend! Perfect, in fact.

Smiley Faces

In its 58th year, the Smiley Invitational in Wausau is actually named after someone with the last name Smiley. It does not mean that the runners have Smiley Faces when they compete. Only when they finish –  because it is a very tough course.

There were 60 high schools there with Assumption being the 59th largest. Yup, only one school smaller by enrollment and I had never heard of it. Where is Albany (besides New York)? Here is the starting line for the boys Varsity run for just Divisions 2 and 3.

They all had to run and merge together into one lane, not single file or anything, but still challenging.

For example, here are the JV girls running across a bridge right after their start. Of course, they had 500 runners in that one – a few more than Carter's race. How do they even move? Crazy.

 

Carter on his way up one of the steep hills. This course is not for sissies!

 

Carter coming down a hill, which sounds easier but it is not necessarily easy on the legs and you don't want to bang into the runner in front of you.

Kind of lucky it was cloudy and cool for the early runs.

Carter wanted to finish under 20 minutes, but his time of 20:13 still beat his 2013 finish by 46 seconds. So that is a major improvement.

This race included a megascreen for the finish so we can see their results right away. Great scrapbooking material, too, of course.

The guys checking the results. As a team, our boys finished 5th out of 19 Division 3 schools. That is so awesome! They are really coming together. Am proud of them all.

Our sophomores Tony and Connor both medaled again, too, finishing in the top 15 for D3 runners.

This is getting exciting. I am bummed I'll be out of town the next two weekends. Hate to miss anything!

At least today we were home by 1 p.m. and had a good chunk of Saturday left. In fact, by the time you read this, hubby and I will be in Green Bay, hopefully pulling off a surprise birthday party for a friend's 40th.

I'm sure there''ll be Smiley Faces all around.