New Garden!

We finally took the time this weekend to tackle landscaping the front yard with a new garden. This project actually began long ago when we first bought the house and said, "it would be nice to take out those bushes." If you don't remember, here is a picture of the original shrubbery.

A Shrubbery!

So over the past few weeks I slowly removed the very well established bushes and root balls. some of which took a long time and a lot of digging to get out. At last I had all of the bushes removed and we were ready to plant. But what to plant was the question... enter Diana! After hours of internet research, and even attempting to use graph paper, Diana fell back on what she is best at: arts and crafts. So out came the construction paper, and soon we were looking at a scale model of our front yard complete with movable bushes, plants, and flowers.

Paper Planning

This morning we woke up to a beautiful day and a plan. Off we were to the garden store, which happened to have a good deal this week; 15% off up to 10 items for every non-perishable food item. Well we had more than 10 plants to buy, but that didn't stop Diana. We just bought half of the plants and then went back again later with more food items.

After a few hours of digging, planting, mulching, and watering, the yard was complete. No sooner had we finished when someone pulled over in their car, rolled down their window and said, "looks great! this was long overdue." I'm pretty sure "long overdue" was in terms of the overall history of the house and not since we had moved in. Enjoy the pictures!

Before

After

Close up 1

Close up 2

Close up 3

New York

After the relaxing time in the Outer Banks, we drove up the coast to NY on Thursday to attend Charron Millspaugh's wedding on Friday night. We spent Thursday night at the Grandparent's house (Vinett's) and then met up with Mom and Emma Friday morning to go out to brunch for Grandma's birthday. We went to the Mohonk Mountain House, which is a pretty cool venue on top of the mountains and has a lot of history. We took some pictures, but check out the link, and go there if you get a chance. Brunch was great, and touring the house was a fun experience. The weather was cool and rainy so we didn't do much hiking of the grounds.

Part of the house from the porch

Lake Mohonk

Another view of the house showing the stone construction

After brunch, we rested for a few hours before driving across the Hudson to the Dutchess Manor for the wedding of Charron and Chris. We had a great time seeing cousins and relatives that we do not get to see too often. Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures so we are looking forward to seeing other people's pictures from the night. The night carried on to the bars along the river, and we called it a night earlier than some of the partying cousins. The next morning we enjoyed post-wedding brunch at Aunt Rachel and Uncle Keith's (Charron's Parents), and then we continued on driving west to lake.

We got to the lake early in the afternoon on Saturday and were welcomed by cool weather.We got situated and then went out to dinner so we could watch the Ranger's playoff hockey game. Unfortunately they lost, so it was back to the cottage for games of fighting solitaire before going to sleep out on the porch... which was a little chilly for the end of May. Sunday involved coffee on the dock, opening season chores, boating around the lake, and general relaxing. It was great to be at the lake again since we didn't make it there last year. Hopefully it won't be as long until our next visit! Monday morning we were up early and on the road for the final leg of the drive back to Milwaukee. Total mileage for the trip was 2,800 miles!

Wildwood Cottage!

Nothing beats waking up to sunrise on the porch

Or coffee on the dock

The girls enjoying a cruise around the lake. Diana, Cassie, and Coral.

The Lake

Are we there yet?

Outer Banks, North Carolina

The first leg of our long road trip took us from Milwaukee to the Mitsche's beach house on the Outer Banks. It was a long drive and when we got there we were ready to relax. We had great weather for all the days we were there with 70s-80s and sun. It was a nice change from what still felt like winter in Wisconsin. The days were full of time at the beach, time in the pool/hot tub, board games, great meals, and even a fire on the beach.
It was great to have everyone together since we are all pretty far apart, us in Milwaukee, David in Madison, Michael in Iowa, Matt and Kim in Dallas, and the parents in NY. It took some planning and some travelling, but everyone was together! And we can't forget about Cassie, who may have had the best days of her life, as you will see in the pictures below. And yes, we may be crazy dog people, but Cassie is a pretty great pup. So here is the trip in pictures:

There were walks on the beach with Diana and Cassie...

There were walks on the beach with me and Cassie...

There were walks on the beach with just Cassie!

At one point Cassie saw a crab run across the beach and into a hole. After that, she searched every hole and every place looking for those crabs... even in a bucket.

Then there's the pool. This is a newer addition to the beach house, the pool, bar, and hot tub. We spent a lot of time lounging around and in the pool, and at times it was a nice alternative to the sandy beach. It was also Cassie's favorite.

She enjoyed swimming in the pool... at times she just swam laps by herself.

She enjoyed walking around the pool...

She enjoyed riding the paddle board with us...

And sometimes she enjoyed riding the paddle board by herself...

Overall, as much as we liked the pool, Cassie loved the pool.

Diana and I took some time to go kayaking in the Pamlico Sound at pea island where we cruised around and saw lots of birds.

Before everyone left we were able to get a great group shot.

And a picture of just us.

And of course... just Cassie.

But wait! what beach vacation is complete without building a sand castle and digging holes!

Even Diana got involved in the sand sculpting...

To make the sun? a starfish? no, it is an octopus!

So we took a group picture with the sand octopus.

And that's about it. We had a great time in the outer banks visiting with everyone and now were leaving to continue our road trip with a drive up the coast to NY. We were leaving nice and refreshed after a relaxing time... well Diana and I were refreshed... Cassie was just pooped.

Dad Vail Regatta 2013

May was a very busy month for us! This is the first of three posts for the month. The beginning of May marks the end of the rowing season with the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. Diana was busy with coaching getting the team ready for the race. Cassie even helped critique the rowers from the launch, although she was often distracted by the ducks and almost went swimming several times.

Launch Dog!

We left for Philly early on Thursday morning, May 9th. And by early, I mean the plane left at 5:15... so we were up at 3:00 and parking at the airport at 4:00. But as Diana pointed out, the tickets were a good deal. Leaving at the hour we did get to see a nice sunrise from the plane.

Airborne Sunrise

Leaving so early meant we got to Philly pretty early also, at 8:30. We took the train from the airport to downtown, and then walked the mile or so to the river. We had some time to kill until Diana's rowers got to the river, so we found a nice spot in the park and took a nap. Refreshed after the nap, we met up with the Marquette rowing team and Diana did her duties as coach getting the crews out on the water for practice.

Friday was a long day of racing and Marquette had some good races, but did not advance to Saturday finals. Once we were done at the river we met up with some friends from Delaware and went out to dinner. Saturday was mostly watching races and I helped set up the Delaware alumni tent where rowers, family, and alumni met to eat, socialize, and watch races. Delaware had a good showing, winning gold in two events. Saturday ended with dinner and going out with friends once more before heading home on Sunday. Overall, it was a great trip and we will likely be back again next year.

Coach Diana!

Rowing in Philly

Delaware Alumni Tent

Marquette Women's 8

New Deck!

This weekend I finally completed one of the projects we have been talking about for a long time, but haven't done yet. Diana was away Friday and Saturday in Michigan with Marquette for a crew race. So Cassie and I spent the day decking over the ugly concrete patio in the back yard.

The process started by fastening 2 x 2 strips to the concrete. I used a hammer drill, concrete screws, and construction adhesive. Once that was complete I headed to home depot to get all of the decking lumber. I had to rent one of their trucks for an hour to get it all home. Fortunately the patio is 12 ft long so I was able to get 12 ft long deck boards and didn't have to do any cutting. I fastened down the boards, boxed it in, and it was done. Cassie enjoyed sitting outside in the yard all day watching, and Diana was pretty surprised when she got home Saturday night. On Sunday we picked out a stain and finished the deck together. It looks a lot better than the ugly concrete. Check out the pictures for the transformation!

Step 1: fasten "joists" to the concrete

Step 2: build deck

Step 3: stain deck.

NRT Office Moving Downtown!

A short and exciting update: my office is moving from the town of Pewaukee (20 minutes west of Milwaukee) to a new location downtown. The new location will cut my commute distance in half and will allow for biking to work. Everyone is pretty excited. Read the news release here or check out the new building here!

Great Smoky Mountains

Last week Diana spent her time down in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to coach the Marquette rowing team during their spring training trip. The weather wasn't particularly warm... but the wide river with miles of row-able water was a nice change from the Milwaukee River. Now they are back and ready to start the racing season in April.

I drove down to TN with Cassie towards the end of the training trip to meet up with Diana and the other coaches to do some camping and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park when they were done coaching from Friday to Sunday. The park was not too crowded since it was March and we were able to get a great campsite along a stream. On Saturday we did an 11-mile round trip hike up Mount LeConte to a peak elevation of about 6,600 ft. The last mile of the hike to the summit was still snow covered, but the temperatures warmed into the 60s.

Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the trails at national parks so Cassie had to wait in the car while we hiked. She did have a lot of fun being outside and exploring the campsite. She even took a dip in the 40 degree stream... only once though since she quickly realized it was COLD!

Sunday we packed up early and drove back up to Wisconsin, where winter is still holding on. Here we are on the last day with spring starting tomorrow and we are expecting wind chills below zero. Spring will come eventually. Enjoy the pictures from the trip!

Rowing in Oak Ridge

Our campsite by the stream

Diana and Cassie relaxing by the stream. Great white noise for sleeping!

Keeping the beverages cold in natures cooler

The trail up Mount LeConte

5 miles up, 5 miles down, plus a little extra = 11 mile hike!

Diana ready to hike! She loves that new rain coat!

Snowy hike up top

Great views of the rolling mountains

We made it to the top! Check another one off the list.