Toadfrogs and Elephants

Wade and I spent the day flying and arrived in Milwaukee around 5:30 pm. We caught a shuttle to our apartment, dropped off our luggage, and then went to get Madison. We ordered Chinese food on the return trip. We had Chinese food on the couch while I opened presents. Tomorrow Wade is taking me out for dinner, but tonight it was fun to just relax.

We were even lazier as a group today. I know for a fact most of us didn’t shower till 9 or 10 at night. We started the morning off with pancakes and omelets. The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent playing games, napping, or reading. Travis, Cori, Wade, and I had an awesome game of Spades. We also learned a new game – Bang. Let’s not forget that we are all from Tech. The closest neighbors had an unencrypted wireless connection so we all ventured to the basketball court at least once to check email.

Wade spent the afternoon hiking and found the trail to the top of a nearby hill. We decided to try the hike as a group. We piled into the two rented SUVs and drove until the rode disappeared. At that point we started hiking – straight up! Most of us were having quite a bit of trouble with the altitude and the hard climb – poor Derek even had Kaley on his back.

Group Photo at the halfway point

After the hike we decided to munch on appetizers – homemade guacamole and an incredible garlic and goat cheese spread by Travis. Wade cooked burgers and we all ate and ate. Then Wade surprised me with a very chocolately birthday cake! The left over candles were rearranged for Kaley’s benefit.

By this point we were all exhausted. Brad, Travis, and Kaley cuddled on the couch to watch Care Bears and the rest of us played games.

Everyone is embracing our vacation – breakfast was eaten around 10 and showers didn’t start till eleven or twelve. There are plenty of beds in the cabin, but only two bathrooms. The water is provided from a well and we were warned that long showers could use up all the water. We tried to keep them short and didn’t run out of water.

We decided on an excerusion to Chili’s for lunch and then a quick hike around the Garden of the Gods.

The hike was on a paved walkway with a few sidetrips to marked off areas (I’m talking to Luke, Wade, and Katie). The weather was wonderful and we all enjoyed being outside.

Wade and I

Kaley walked for a while collecting rocks and then got a ride from Dad and a short nap too.

Wade and I flew out today for Denver, Colorado, to meet up with some old college friends. We arrived in Denver on time, picked up Luke, and started the drive to Colorado Springs. Cori and Derek made most of the arrangements and we arrived at the cabin to find snow on the ground (we can’t seem to get away from the snow).

Jamie and Travis were the first to arrive and had stocked the place with food. Cori, Derek, Kaley, and Katie all arrived before bedtime. We are a group that loves games – board games, card games, nintendo, etc. (Yes that is me in the corner of the couch with a book.)

As of today, Wade and I own two houses. We signed the papers for our new house in Wauwatosa, WI and get possession on April 22. This wasn’t exactly the plan so if anyone wants a summer home in Anderson, please let us know. I plan to do some painting for a few days and then we are meeting the movers in SC to pack up our belongings.

Before signing the papers we had a final walk through to make sure the items noted on the home inspection had been fixed. We had listed three items – repair chimney, gutters for the garage, and unclogging a bathroom sink drain. All of the items had been handled except for the drain. The owner showed Wade the drain and then tried to explain that the sink was original to the 1920 house. We understood that, but it has nothing to do with why it doesn’t drain. Even old sinks should work properly. This wasn’t really a big deal – we plan to remodel the bathroom anyway and will fix it when we do. Wade simply doesn’t like working on drains and had tried to save himself the trouble.

Wade had to tell me one of my birthday presents early. He didn’t want me to walk out to my car and see this (although I thought the note was a nice touch):

My CD player was broken in my wreck (October of 2006) and it has annoyed me ever since. I don’t listen to CDs often, but I don’t like having something broken. Of course, knowing the replacement cost was $1500 was enough to leave it as is. Wade found a company in Florida that specializes in repairing the players instead of replacing them – much cheaper.

Hopefully I will have the player back before my next long drive down to SC.

Wade and I finally found a church! This is the second Sunday we have visited Community Methodist Church in Elm Grove. Wade and I both enjoy the traditional feel of the church, but we have been attending the contemporary service. The people are very friendly and we were remembered from last sunday. Today we met another young couple that leads the young couples group – which we were very glad to hear about. Now we just have to get all of our crazy travels completed so we can start attending reguarly.

Wade and I woke up today to snow – yes, snow in April. We lazed around most of the morning and then took Madison to meet one of Wade’s co-workers. Gary lives on a farm and Madison managed to catch both a duck and a chicken before we caught her and put a leash on her. Gary and his wife offered to keep Madison when we go to Colorado later this week to visit friends. We were taking her over for a visit to make sure they were okay with her (and her hyper ways). We were only there a short time but Madison did manage to get in a fight with their Jack Russell and cause their daughter to cry. They still insisted they didn’t mind keeping her for us. Awesome!