Summer Check-In

We've made it halfway through summer! Woot! So far, our summer can be summed up in one word: BALL. So much ball.

Recapping May... both kids finished up their school years with fantastic report cards. We're so proud! Iris had some issues with attention toward the end (she has ADHD, but no medication), but hopefully new challenges and new reading glasses for 2nd grade will help.

Iris played soccer this spring with Nick coaching. It was a challenge coordinating all the practices that the kids had. Iris has some good skills, but we'll see if she wants to continue playing.

Both kids played through their respective baseball/softball league seasons from mid-May through the end of June.

Iris at the plate

8U softball games were particularly challenging to endure (for both players and parents...). They are geared mainly toward pitching and hitting, so it's no surprise Iris's coach had the goal of "no sandcastles" every game. Iris definitely held her own, despite being moved up a league and being one of the tiniest on the field. She liked pitching (will have some natural skill once she's got the muscle to get it to the plate), catching (with gear that fits), and rarely struck out.

@ Waupaca, Felix pitching

Felix has been busy with league ball, tournament ball, and golf. We've been enjoying the tournament experience again this year - the boys have had moderate success (playing in a lot of hard-fought, close games), and we're getting to know the other families better. Felix has shown an affinity for catching, so we bought his a new set of catcher's gear and bag as part of his birthday present. The only downside has been how wet of a summer it's been - it's impacted our tournament games more than our league games. But it's been very rainy this summer so far.

Felix got a cool opportunity to go down to Madison with the First Tee program in June. He went down with a few other kids from the WR area, got to compete in a skills competition, meet Senior PGA golfers like Steve Stricker, take a tour and eat lunch in the VIP boxes on 18. It was a long day for him (had to leave WR by 6 am), but he liked it overall.

Steve Stricker (gray) watches Felix

And last but not least, Felix is now 10! Oh my goodness, we've been parents for a decade. What a smart, creative, artistic, athletic, challenging, clever human we've raised thus far. We are so proud. :,o) He got to throw out a first pitch at a Rapids Rafters game on the 11th, as did Gorman Thomas. Quite a cool experience! (https://youtu.be/fqzQHOuKVWs)

Awesome things - Good Omens mini-series, Killing Eve (finally getting around to this), Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge, you are amazing).

Felix: 10 yrs & Iris: 6.5 yrs

Spring 2019

Spring/summer sports season is nearly upon us, so I figured I would take a moment and catch up on the what we've been up to since my last post.

We celebrated Iris's half birthday on March 2nd. Normally, we wouldn't but since her teacher was celebrating summer birthdays at the kid's half birthday, we decided to take advantage and give Iris the friend birthday party she's never had. (It's difficult with her birthday falling before the school year and Labor Day). We had a pool party at the Y and she had a great time.

We hunkered down in March, enduring more snow and cold.

But finally, some excitement: Spring Break. We decided to stay a little closer to home, and took the kids down to Chicago. We spent three full days in the city, letting the kids decide our itinerary.

Day 0: Arrival
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon at the hotel in Skokie. I was in the midst of a bad cold/sinus infection, so I declined joining the others in swimming in the hotel pool. We drove over to Wheeler, to visit with our college friend Kyle, his wife Delphine, and 2.5-year-old daughter Louison. The kids played nicely, and we had a nice time catching up and eating deep dish pizza. :o)

Hello, friends!

Day 1: Downtown
After taking advice from Kyle, we drove downtown, parked, and walked along Michigan Avenue to the John Hancock building. The kids wanted to go up, so we did the 360 Chicago experience. We got there just after it opened, so it was nice and quiet. Great (albeit hazy) views. We stayed about an hour and a half before the kids got bored.

Looking north toward home

Felix really, really wanted to go see The Bean, so we walked back south to that. I'd never been up by it, and it's very popular. The weather was cool, but nice, so it wasn't too bad walking.

We ate lunch at a nearby French cafe. The kids were so-so about the haute cuisine. (¯\_(ツ)_/¯). They really wanted to go swimming next, so we headed back to the car. Because we had the Tesla, we stopped on the way to charge it. It was the Brewers opening day, so we followed along with the game while we waited. Finally, back to the hotel. We all went down to the pool this time. The kids swam until Iris whacked her head doing a flip. At that point, no more swimming. She got a nice egg-sized bump but was otherwise fine. We went to the nearby outdoor mall to get some dinner and wander. The kids enjoyed the outdoor play area. Back to the hotel for a quiet night.

Day 2: Shedd Aquarium
I gave the kids a list of many of the museums and experiences available to us in Chicago. The Aquarium was one they agreed on, so that's where we spent Friday. Again, we drove down and parked. We walked along the lake shore (chillier and windier today) until we reached it.

Had to wait in some lines, and the place was sooooo crowded. Why do people bring babies in strollers to places like this?? It might have been because of the crowds, but the kids were less enthralled by the aquarium than I thought they'd be. Oh well. We did walk around just about every exhibit. And, we ran into another family we knew, of all things. That was pretty funny.

Waving at dolphins

We headed back to the hotel after charging. Had another quiet evening and ate at that mall again.

Day 3: Museum of Science & Industry
Last day in Chicago. Both kids were excited to go to the MS&I. We spent several hours walking through the different exhibits (ooh, mirror maze!), going to the Tornado Alley movie, and letting the kids get souvenirs they watched get made on an assembly line.

Day 4: Brewers Game
Since Milwaukee was on the way home and the Brewers just happened to be playing an opening weekend series against the Cardinals there... We took advantage and took ourselves out to the ballgame. My folks joined us for the afternoon game. It was so cold and windy - thank goodness for the roof! We had great seats, stayed for the whole game, and saw a great come-from-behind win. Because the parking lot needed to clear out before we left, we let the kids do the run-the-bases thing. They both enjoyed that, despite the very long line. We had an uneventful drive home after that.

Go Brewers!

Since our trip, we've endured yet another snowstorm (Seriously? 10" in April? Again??), but have started looking forward to summer. Iris has been doing an intro-to-hockey class, and will be doing both rec soccer and softball this summer. Felix is on another tournament baseball team and will be doing league ball as well. Things are looking to get very busy, very quickly! Stay tuned!

Awesome Things: American Gods season 2, thundersleet, 80° days, melting snow.

Felix: 9.5 yrs & Iris: 6.5 yrs

Snow More

Wow, this has certainly been quite a winter with SO MUCH SNOW and SO MUCH COLD. The kids have missed 7 days of school due to one or the other so far this year, and with more potentially to come. Thank goodness I have the ability to telework. But seriously? -34 degrees? Just no.

Despite all of the winter, Iris has been busy with ice skating, gymnastics and swimming lessons. We're wrapping up gymnastics (fading interest) and ice skating, but she's taken well to the swimming lessons. Yay! One other thing of note is that she and Nick went to a Father-Daughter masquerade dance a few weeks ago. They both got dressed up and it was adorable.

Big change for her has been the pixie cut she got two weeks ago. She's wanted a boy cut and was asking to get her hair cut again, so, why not? It's super cute and no more snarls. She LOVES it. :D

We were informed that Felix has qualified to be in the Gifted and Talented program for math. We're so proud of him! Practically speaking, it means he's going to be pretested on upcoming units and may have accelerated or alternate lessons if it's something he grasps quickly. We'd just like to keep challenging him.

Playing on a snow day

Nick and I got away for Arts Bash up in Stevens Point and came home with some fine local artwork. It's nice to support that in the area.

We're looking forward to spring slaying winter. It's been a tough one on me - 11 years or so since I last had an occurrence of SAD, so it's been a challenge dealing with it again. Really hoping we have an early spring, but I don't have high hopes for that.

At least the sunrises have been beautiful!

Awesome things: Schitt's Creek

Felix: 9.5 yrs & Iris: 6.5 yrs

On to 2019

Now that the holidays are behind us, it's time for an update on our goings-on.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with family in GB and learned what it's like to take the Tesla on a road trip: that we have to stop and get coffee while it charges (alas!).

Just before Christmas, we had a bunch of to-dos. Iris was in a 1st grade holiday program at school, where she sang her little heart out with the others in her class. Nick and I got all glammed up for a holiday party.

Channeling my inner Mrs. Maisel. :o)

We got a new kitten! He's a one-year-old rescue from the humane society. We went in at 12:30 pm on a Saturday because the kids just "wanted to go to the cat store." Nick and I resigned ourselves to what would inevitably follow. We just made the best of it. While the kids poked their fingers in the cages, I honed in on a few likely candidates. Little Raspy (so named because his meow is a whisper) drew my attention because he was about the age I wanted, and he didn't use his claws when playing with my fingers. We took him into a side room to see how he would do with the kids (very well). Filled out adoption paperwork and left with Iris in tears (thinking we wouldn't get him for nearly a month). Started brainstorming names as we ran other errands. Nick rejected Christian Mewlich and Growlie Fingers, but ended our naming quest with Robin Meownt. At 1:45, got a call asking if we could come back to the shelter at 2:30. And at 3 pm, left the shelter with our newest little furry family member! Roary has come around to him. We're hoping Amy does, too, once Robin has been fixed. He's a very good little kitten who tolerates Iris picking him in his adopting of us, except he likes people food a bit too much. Lesson learned!

Robin Meownt!

We had lovely Christmas gatherings with family near and far. And Iris lost three more teeth, including one on Christmas day. Apparently a visit from only Santa wasn't good enough for her. 😉

Lastly, we got to meet our newest and teeniest little neighbor. The kids approve.

Welcome to the neighborhood and world, Asher!

We had ourselves a fine 2018 and hope 2019 turns out to be a pretty good vintage as well!

Awesome stuff: Kitties (of course), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (binged, now awaiting more!), Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Badger football season finale.

Felix: 9 yrs & Iris: 6 yrs

Holiday Card

Gruß der Jahreszeit! Šťastné svátky!

Photographic Memories by The Oberstadts, 10/19/18

Ahoj! 2018 was a year of traveling for us. We took our first family road trip (to Washington, DC) in March. We had several weekend trips involving baseball in in the summer. Nick and Cara celebrated their 10th anniversary with a trip to Munich and Prague in August.

Felix is now 9 years old, in 4th grade, loves baseball, and wants to be a solar engineer someday.
Iris is 6 years old, in 1st grade, loves cats & sports, and wants to be a space scientist.

We're looking forward to more adventures in 2019! We hope you have a wonderful holiday season! Please keep in touch! Na zdravi!

With love,
The Abts Family

2018 Highlights

Felix: 9 yrs & Iris: 6 yrs

Cold November

It's been two months, so it's time for an update!

The kids have been in their classes for about two and a half months, and according to their teachers last night, they are doing VERY well. Both teachers had the same question - would we be okay if they're challenged more? Hell yes, we are. Felix is, in fact, going to be signed up for the gifted and talented program. Not sure what that all entails, but we're very proud!

4th / 1st

Iris played soccer this fall, and her skill level increased dramatically from the spring. She was more aggressive and confident, and even scored two goals for her team. She's also been doing gymnastics (needs to pay more attention to her teacher and stop watching the big kids so much) and did a rookie basketball program. All at her own request. She's so active and athletic.

Iris (gray pants) scores!

The kids did a bit of trick-or-treating for Halloween. This year, Felix was a spider and Iris was a vampire.

They want to suck your blood.

We took the kids to see their first show in a theater - Wild Kratts Live! at the Fox Cities PAC. We got box seats (ooooh), which ended up being at speaker level (aaahhh!). Despite the eardrum-piercing nature of the show, the kids enjoyed it.

The holidays are coming up, so we hope you enjoy them!

Awesome things: Maniac on Netflix, exercising on my elliptical machine while watching the Great British Baking Show, the new Doctor

Felix: 9 yrs & Iris: 6 yrs

End of Summer

Short and sweet update to wrap up summer.

August and the first part of September were very busy for us! We took a breather at the beginning of August, since we had been traveling for four straight weekends. The following weekend, I had my 20th class reunion, which I helped organize. It was nice to see so many familiar faces and catch up with people.

Nick and I took a second honeymoon to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this year. We left the kids with our parents and headed to Munich and Prague for a 10-day trip. (Read all about it here.)

Iris turned 6! She got Lego sets and chemistry sets. She's a budding scientist!

We had a wedding here in town Labor Day weekend. It was a lovely event and the kids were fantastic.

The kids started the school year after Labor Day. Felix is in 4th grade and Iris is in 1st. They are already getting into the swing of the school year.

Iris started gymnastics. She's been impatient to turn 6 so she could start the levels.

Lastly, playing with a prism!

Felix: 9 yrs & Iris: 6 yrs