Jumpin' Around

Another weekend. Another jump around the state. Today's destination? We find ourselves back in Madison for the second time this week.

For an important reason. UW graduation at Camp Randall stadium! 

8,679 Badger graduates today and only ONE is our favorite! Carter's girlfriend Mamie. (Though we did know a few other special grads from Rapids.)

Dare I say there were more people there than on a Badger football game day?! Well if all the graduates were in the stands with the thousands of spectators, there certainly would be! And they kept it entertaining – for a few hours.

A couple fun surprises... The acapella group (and thousands of graduates) singing "Build Me Up, Buttercup" like they do during football games.

A good (and humorous) keynote speaker in Jason Gay, a '92 grad and current sportswriter for the Wall Street Journal.

And singing and dancing to "Jump Around" at about the 3/4 mark of the ceremony. It was warm, sunny, and we had plenty of reasons to sweat before we were jumpin'!

Oh and most entertaining... Mamie's "appetizer" of apparently super-sized nachos at the Vintage Brewing Co. in Cross Plains where we met up with her family after the ceremony. It was a good choice to meet a bit outside of Mad Town. Always a pleasure to see her parents and siblings.

Oh, and see our boy, too! 💖

Had a very nice visit with the family and one of their college friends – who manages to get a picture with Jimmy at this same brewery oh once every 5 years as it turns out. Yes, many of their college friends are like family. We're certainly blessed in so many ways. 

Especially to have sweet Mamie in our lives. Congrats, girl! 🎓

A Warm Madison Welcome

Spring finally sprung today! And it will evidenced by the hundreds of race fans who show up for work tomorrow looking like lobsters!

After church we picked up Jim's sister Sherry to head to Madison to see our nephew Colin race. All we could remember about this track is that it's usually windy. So our debate leading up to the parking lot was weather we needed a sweatshirt, jacket, or both. An hour later I wished in I was in shorts! 

So. Very. Warm!

We did get a warm Wisconsin welcome when part of the UW Badger Marching Band came through with some entertaining music!

They must get the most interesting gigs around Mad Town!

For a small group, they sounded great. They performed the National Anthem, too.

So let's get racing! First, I need to warn you you will not see the usual "Reffner Blue" #87 stock car.

Nope. Colin has switched to the Midwest Truck Series this season, driving #31. Believe me. It took me several laps to get used to it! Still has some pretty blue on there, too. 💙💙

He had a pretty good Ton 10 kind of day. He qualified 5th fastest. He finished 3rd in the heat race and 7th in the feature. A few more pictures so you, too, can get your eyes used to this new speed machine!

The exciting thing is that since is a Midwest series, he's racing outside of Wisconsin and his next race is at Hawkeye Downs Raceway – conveniently located in a new place I like to visit called Cedar Rapids, Iowa! So we get to see our baby boy again in less than 2 weeks. More hearts! 💙💙

We got home after 8 p.m. because the 200-lap super late model feature took forever. I stopped counting caution flags after 5. Huge, huge crowd that stayed to the exciting finish of the Joe Shear Classic, though.

We're fried and tired so I wish you good night. I'm going to dream that spring is here to stay. I hope it comes true!

PTO :: Packed Time Off

My PTO day (paid time off) started with an alarm at 5 a.m. That doesn’t sound relaxing for a day off. And that didn’t change for several hours.

Hubby and I left the house by 5:45 a.m. to head down to Madison, where our Lady Royals were playing their Division 5 state semi-final softball game against Oakfield.

First pitch was at 8 a.m. and we got there with time for him to find a seat and me to find the dugout for game-day pictures.

As the #2 seed, we were home team to the #3 seed. By the bottom of the first, we were down 1-0 and couldn’t ever relax. 

Granted there were many reasons for small celebratory smiles during the game, but they (and I) couldn’t relax.

It was nerve-wracking. Oakfield, who has had a record number of teams at state more than a dozen times, had a 4-1 lead by the bottom of the 3rd inning. We rallied to tie it and all was good until they scored 3 more in the 6th. We answered with 1 in the last at bat but… lost 7-5.

It was heartbreaking for MY girls. Especially MY seniors. Dang. 

Got home shortly after noon and then edited pictures until we headed west to Pittsville to join old friends for dinner. OK. Old as in Jim has known them forever and maybe old as in more than a decade beyond retirement. 

We met Marv and Sherry at their house in Pittsville then headed south to Babcock. Now I’ve been to Pittsville dozens of time and never even knew they had a downtown. I’ve always just gotten as far as the school or ballpark and that’s it. I did notice an ice cream shop on the way down so we girls decided that was a must stop on the way back.

A night of firsts… also have never even stopped in Babcock for any reason, let along dining. We ate at the Bucks ’N Berries place. I thought the sign said “Buck N Berries” like trying to be a swear word, but not. That must have been my hungry side of the brain!

Had a nice fish fry and funny conversation in the little diner. They’re a neat couple. So gracious. 

After dinner, we stopped by the cemetery north of Babcock to visit Jim’s old boss and friend Dave (who our friends the Kolbecks knew, too). He’s still missed very much!

When we got back to Pittsville, we grabbed frozen goodness at the Cranberry Creamery, sat outside and watched the Friday night high life.

I still can’t believe Pittsville has both a downtown AND an Ice cream place. I have to get out more!

Going through Rapids on the way home, we stopped to visit Jim’s dad awhile, too. 

Hey, when I take a rare day off, I’ve got to pack it with good (well, mostly good) stuff! Now, onto the weekend! 

No Sweat! Well, Some.

There were plenty of reasons to sweat out the Division 5 Sectional Championship game this afternoon. One, the game-time temperature at the neutral field in New Lisbon was some 85 degrees. And two, both Assumption and Seneca were ranked No. 1 in their sectionals.

Then there was the fact both teams are the same blue and both are Royals. What are the odds?

Lots of close plays in the dust. But somehow, through it all, MY Lady Royals kept their cool. Even with that slim 1-0 lead through much of the game. Thanks to a rally inning, we stepped out ahead at 5-0 and didn't look back. Still, we can never be calm because ANYTHING can happen in these games.

There was much rejoicing when we made the last out!

Pretty stinkin' cool that as the defending state champions we can return to make another run at it. 

Love these girls and can't wait to see what the do next week in Madison! Let's go, Lady Royals. MY Lady Royals, that is!

Going Mad

Having fun like college kids in Mad Town was only part of the fun this weekend.

First was a Friday victory for our Assumption Royals baseball team! That was fun to watch and capture lots of action shots – and smiles. I love this picture because we've got two base runners really anxious to score. Hope we have more games like that!

Saturday started with book club for me then celebrating the 65th wedding anniversary of Jim's aunt and uncle Joe and Janice. Got to see some cousins and kids over brunch, so that was nice.

Then we headed down to Madison to hook up with our Rudolph contingent of friends for a concert. Downtown Madison has a very fun vibe when it feels like a Saturday in summer! Had a very fun time making our way for the hotel to The Mavericks concert.

This is only half our crew. The Fuller Boys and their crew was down the street. A dozen of us fun-seekers in total. You can see the capital in the background and the Orpheum, where our concert was. 

So admittedly, when Jim bought us these tickets I did not know The Mavericks or their music. I still didn't when we were done. But I liked it! A lot! 

I wouldn't classify them as '90s country. More like rock-abilly mixed with a Mexican mariachi band. Very cool sound and their lead singer had a phenomenal voice! 

And really, where else can you rock out to some great brass – and an accordion? So fun! It was a great concert. Afterwards, we had to fast walk in the rain back to the hotel. We knew the summer weather wouldn't last.

This morning, we grabbed breakfast at I-Hop and hit the road. And it was still raining. We just stayed indoors and watched golf this afternoon. And the weather. What?

Yup, that lower left icon is correct. A winter storm warning just days after back-to-back high temperatures in the 80s. We're fake spring victims here! Oh, Wisconsin. You're so silly.

We're nestled right between Stevens Point and Adams on the map. Pretty close to the edge of the 9-14 inches zone (with locally heavy amounts up to 18 inches). Uff da! So we'll see how it plays out. All the rain in the past 24 hours has certainly greened things up around here. I'd hate for this storm to screw up "real spring" when it shows up.

Maybe in May.

Be careful out there. I'll be sitting here wondering what spring sports will happen this week!

Raising the Roof

I should've known when I saw this rooftop monarch giving so much love to this purple flower yesterday that the gods would be smiling on all things purple this weekend. But I didn't want to assume, of course.

So yes, pleasant surprise to jump out to a victory in week number one of the regular NFL season. And with a convincing home win over the Pack to boot. You know who's happy?

Our grand-pup Rey. Representing the West Coast SKOL Squad! She's so cute. And she was smiling later! 

But enough about that. You're welcome.

Yesterday was a full day. Unpacked and did laundry in the a.m. and then we hit the road to Madison for a wedding for Jim's cousin's daughter. It was raining and gloomy at home but the sun was out by the time we got to Madison.

Good thing, too, because it was a rooftop wedding here – at the Monona Convention Center.

Very cool venue facing the water. 

Cousin Mark walking daughter Lindsey in.

In addition to butterflies and flowers and rooftop seating, 

There was also a fountain up there, which I'm sure was an amazing background for wedding photos!

Another rooftop view... yup it was Iron Man weekend. So they did the half one yesterday and we could hear them (during the ceremony) announcing people as a they crossed the finish line down below. At least Camp Randall was out of earshot when the Badgers lost at home.

The reception downstairs had great views, too!

And the rain held off until we left Madison so we could enjoy a final view too! Rained the whole way home.

Actually stopped at our friends' house because the guitar players and singers that Jim sings with at church were having a jam session. Basically classic country sing-a-long with some Eagles, Jimmy Buffett and Southern rock mixed in. Got home about 1 a.m. Got up for church and am fighting sleep right now.

It was a long, crazy, busy week. But boy, there certainly were mostly highs! 

Pretty sure Rey's got the right idea here. Time to relax and have wonder-SKOL dreams!

Golden Girls

Getting up and on the road at 5 a.m. turned out to be the start of a great day. A great GOLDEN day. Yup, spoiler alert: Our Lady Royals took home the gold today, defeating Barneveld 3-1! Yay!! And the rain held off so it was a great setting for a great game. 

The game was always too close for comfort, but it was more exciting than nerve-wracking. Finally, I got to see one of our girls hit one out of the park! They've almost all done it this season but only at games when I'm not there. Thrilled it was my birthday twin Ava!

So fun to see the whole team ready to greet her at homeplate!

There were a lot of good plays on both offense and defense. So proud of these girls! Love, love, loved seeing all their smiles and even some tears (of joy) today. Well deserved, Lady Royals! 

And I not only got to touch the trophy, but carry it! Somebody's gotta do it.

It was quite a long day of travel plus following team bus police and fire escort around town plus editing hundreds of photos – plus some celebration socializing for both softball and our girls soccer team, which won sectionals today and are going to state next weekend. What a time to be a Royals fan.

Should have sweet dreams tonight. In fact, it's time to get to bed since we hit the road at 7 a.m. for another long but fun day. Pretty sure there won't be any cameras or trophies involved. Just fun. 

And hopefully sunshine.