Maci is my Co-Worker for a Day & a Scottsdale Weekend with Christie!!

Pic from last week’s snow tubing field trip 

Connor seen not in tube :)

Weekdays:

• Monday - Happy President’s Day!  The kids had no school but Maci has been wanting to come to work with me so today was the day!  She was so excited which made it so cute!  She loved the sushi from the cafe, her strawberry banana smoothie for breakfast and the snacks from when we visited my friend Mouli BUT her fav may have been the dry erase board in my office!  She did some great drawings :). I was most proud of how she entertained herself when I had meetings or calls.  She loved every minute, was so polite to everyone she met and can’t wait to go back.  During the day, Connor got invited to go to a movie of Sonic 3 with Seb and his dad.  Fun days all around! That night Maci had training and soccer.  I ran her up there but Clint had to pick her up b/c Connor was finally getting a haircut.  I was able to get him in at 8p - he bravely decided to get it shorter this time around and I Love it - he was getting adjusted but by Wednesday said “yea it looks good.”

So Proud of the Drawings

Did some arts and crafts too 

Oh and she wore some blue light glasses to look extra ready!!!

• Tuesday - Back to work and school.  In the evening, Maci and I were off to soccer practice at Minnetonka High School while Connor and Clint had basketball at the same time.  Connor was going to apologize at his practice for quitting on his team in the final game of the last tourney.  I am so proud of him, Clint said he went up to the coach and said it with a few tears in his eyes but said it wont happen again.  Guess what, they scrimmaged the #1 team and Connor had multiple steals and was just crushing it - go buddy!!!  While they were doing this, I worked at a local library to clean up some email.  Nice that it was so close to Maci’s practice b/c it is COLD and not easy to hang in the car for 90 mins.
• Wednesday - This was a wrap it up day so that everything could be in a good order before I head out of town with Christie girl!  After work, Connor had basketball practice and then I ran Maci to soccer practice.  Clint was thoughtful and picked her up so I could relax from the day and get things in order before my trip.

I love when they are into doing something together!

• Thursday - I got up with the kids to say bye to everyone.  I gave huge hugs and then finished my packing before Clint was driving me to the airport at 9a.  I got some food, hung by the gate, took my calming pills and was off.  It was a pretty easy 3 hour flight.  I watched some junk Bravo TV and colored on my iPad.  Once I was there, I headed over to the other terminal to meet Christie who had just landed as well.  I only hung for about 10 mins until she was there!!  YAY!  We got our stuff, hailed a Lyft and were quickly at our hotel.  We sat by the pool for a bit just to enjoy the end of the day before getting ready for dinner and eating at the Old Town Tortilla Factory - yummy!  After a few cocktails, food and travel - we were spent and hit the hay!

1st spot - pool bar!!

Dinner Time

Friday : 

• Christie couldn’t sleep in also jet lag with us being 2 hours behind her home.
• She sweetly let me sleep while she read in the lobby of the hotel 
• Once we were up and at ‘em we got coffees and then had to hit the road for the spa.  Our first apt was at 1030a.  I did a moisturizing body wrap and Christie got a facial.  We then hung out in a salt room for 30 mins where they pumped pharmacy grade salt into the air - great for skin conditions, sinuses etc.  After that wraps, we got to have lunch by their spa pool before our final treatment - a pedicure.  It was WONDERFUL!
• After we were done, we did a quick change into our suits so we could lay by the pool and read/color again.
• Before we knew it, time for dinner again.  This time we ate at Olive & Ivy in the old Scottsdale downtown area.  It was a Mediterranean restaurant which was different and yummy.  We did a little window browsing before heading back to the resort.  
• While we were out and about, Clint took Connor to a baseball personal clinic then the 3 of them headed up to the Wayzata basketball game where they won by like 40.
• Once back, Christie zonked right away but I finished reading my 2nd book of ‘25 - “It Ends with Us”

Outside the Spa

Shopping Finds HA

 

Pick on the Water Before Dinner

Saturday : 

• Once again, a sleep in for me while Christie roams the halls :)
• I got showered and then we got around to heading out for brunch.  Followed by some shopping.  I bought more for the kids than myself but I did get a really nice tan hoodie from a local Scottsdale shop.  I also got a new gray Tshirt and a sweater vest.
• Once we felt we had done enough browsing/spending, we headed back from another afternoon at the pool with books and coloring :). Dang did we LOVE our pool afternoons!
• Back at the ranch, Maci had a performance training and then Clint took Seb, Connor and Maci to see the movie Dogman.
• Once again, dinner snuck up on us and we went to The Mission in a different part of old town Scottsdale.  We did a little final shopping - good kid finds - before getting the buzz for dinner.  We loved our food with yummy margaritas (National Margarita Day) and Table side fresh made guacamole.  It was such good food.  After it ended, we went walking for a little more perusing.  We also walked by several bars but decided to pass and get home to rest.  We watched some SNL and relaxed in bed.
• Clint stayed out later than us by enjoying Margaritas at the Herness home.

Brunch~

Poolside Cocktails!

Pretty Ladies, Ready for the Town

Original Catholic Church and a Saturday night wedding occurred 

Pretty view of the Church & the Restaurant

While we waited for our table we FaceTimed with Neil - So Fun~

Fresh Guac - SO GOOD!

I liked the sign 

Sunday:

• Last Day ;-(
• We started the day with a quick coffee and then off to a hike before our afternoon flights home.  We went to Camelback and hiked the Cholla trail.  Well we didn’t realize this trail was “Extremely Difficult double black diamond, whatever that means in trails world. HA
• We asked someone on the way up if we were near the top and she said ummm 1/2 way.  So Christie and I went a little further before deciding to stop, take pics, call our families to show video and then climb back down.
• Thankfully we did b/c this allowed us time to head back to the hotel, eat a lunch by the pool and then head to the airport.  Soak as much Vitamin D as we can.  While getting to the airport, Connor headed over to his pal Channing’s and then Maci rode her bike up to Target with Kate before heading to 2 different soccer events - Training and regular Practice.
• Once practices end, I land and Clint plus the kids will come get me.  I am so excited to get home and hug my babies and Clint, even though I already miss Christie girl.

The bad idea but also glad we did it, hike

Ugh - goodbye sunshine, palm trees and pool

View from the plane

Thank goodness for clear skies and seeing the ground!

We hope you survived the worst of the cold.  We fortunately see 40 and 50s in the forecast this week.  Please stay spring, I am ready!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

Valentine's Day & an Awesome Weekend with Friends that are Like Family!

Weekdays:

• Monday - Maci had Infiniti training from 630-830p in the evening.  That girl sure puts in the work!
• Tuesday - Cleaning ladies come, love a day after the house has been cleaned!  It was my pal and co-worker Nicole's birthday which led to some fun text messages.  I had a long afternoon of financial meetings.  Clint ran Maci to her practice in the evening and I picked her up - so over winter cold!
• Wednesday - Connor had an awesome day, it was their 3rd grade field trip to go tubing!  That night Connor and Maci both had practices so we did a divide and conquer for the driving.
• Thursday - Last day of school before a long weekend for the kids.  Maci was so excited to take a gift for her "Valentine" Hans.  Poor thing ended up having a massive headache at school and puked in the bathroom.  She didnt get to exchange but he was super sweet and they both kept them in their lockers and will do so on Tuesday after the holiday weekend.  Clint brought her home and poor thing took a nap until Connor got home from school.  Connor got to have a fun Valentine's day.  His class still does all the valentine hand outs and candy/trinkets/Bingo with the teacher etc.  He said it was a great day!  That evening, Maci got her haircut at 5p - felt way better after the puking, nap and tylenol.  Then Clint and I ran up to Greenwood for Connor's conference.  He is having a great school year, super kind to friends, listening well and placing in the top 95th percentile for math and 70th for reading.  Go buddy!!

Friday:

• The kids had no school due to teacher/parent conferences.
• I got Connor a son/mother bead bracelet and some colored pencils while Clint got Maci a cute floral display that sits in a cupcake holder.  
• Rosie got groomed and they put a super cute Valentine's Day scarf on her.
• We had Maci's conference virtual and of course she continues to rock!
• Then Maci went up to a 2 hour soccer training due to no school.
• We all finished our days and then Clint and I were off to a Valentine's dinner at 6 smith.  Thanks to Pete who picked Connor up for basketball practice.  After dinner, Clint and I headed over to pick Connor up right before practice ended.

Saturday:

• Busy Saturday!  Started with Maci and I heading to her former Fusion team's soccer game - they pulled out a nice 2-2 tie.
• We were then off to Orono to watch Connor in game 1 of his tourney.  They were playing in an A & B combined tourney with Connor being on a B team so we knew it would be good competition.
• Game 1 was rough with a 9 year old who is 5'9" already!  We lost but only by 7.
• We watched another Wayzata team to kill the hour until our next game.  We played Minnetonka and this was a team we beat by less than 5 last time.  I think our boys were READY to beat someone b/c we ended up winning 45 to 21!!  They were on fire!!!
• We headed home for some naps and down time.
• Before we knew it, it was time to head up to Wayzata high school to watch our pal Emmitt play in his 6p tournament game.  It was a great game to win b/c they had a nice close win!
• Afterward, the Fikes and Cassems came over to our house.  We ordered a ton of tacos and queso/salsa/chips for a late dinner.  The kids all had a blast playing together and the moms caught up while the dads sampled bourbon in the basement.  I love when we can support each other!

Getting Ready for Game 2 - Locked In & Ready to Pounce

 

These Goofs

I loved that they both had the super tight under b-ball uni shirts on

Sunday:

• Another busy day!
• We started with a 9a basketball game for Connor and they pulled out another W by 2 points!
• We had to kill another hour so watched the A team lose a tough game by 2.
• We then went to our Championship for the consolation bracket but we played a TOUGH Chaska/Chan team and our boys all quit.  It was really tough to watch.  Connor even got benched towards the end b/c he was giving no effort and just clearly wanted to be done.  Ugh, there is next time and good learning moments!
• We came home and got Connor to nap, lots of emotions!
• While he napped, we had lunch, did laundry, ordered groceries etc.  All the things that hadn't been done yet for the weekend.
• Clint then ran Maci up to her soccer game for the warm up period at 230p.
• We all got up there around 315p for game time at 325p.  The Cassem's entire crew and Gena/Emmitt also came for the game.  Maci was beaming having this many fans!  She also got the start which was a big deal for her!!  She played really hard with a lot of shots on goal.  Then in the 2nd half, Savannah had a beauty of a cross to the center and BAM Maci put a one toucher right to the back of the net.  It was so awesome!  She was so excited, our crew went crazy for her!  They ended up winning 5-0 and she played with total swagger!  With not having family local, it is so nice to have friends that are like family and that show up for your people in their moments!  Maci has been on cloud nine all night!
• I am now wrapping all the to dos before the next week and kids are showering.

Our Team Afterward

5-0 W - They not like us

Maci and her “bonus” moms

Gena and Jacey

Friends since babies ❤

We decided we all want a Natalie cheering us on in life!

They get to enjoy the day off tomorrow!  Maci is coming to work with me, her request HA!  Connor is going to a movie and lunch with a friend from basketball.  Should be a good day for all and I am getting out of town to spend a long weekend with my bestie, Christie in Phoenix!  Yay warm weather!!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

Clint's Annual Snowmobile Guys Trip & Super Bowl Prep!

Weekdays:

• Monday - Maci had Infiniti training from 630-830p.  I got caught up on some work from the lobby while she put the work in.
• Tuesday - Clint got a windshield crack fixed in the Honda.  That night Clint drove Maci to practice for me while I stayed at work since her practice was closer to my work.  I cranked on to dos up until time to pick her up - 8p.  Work was super busy this week and getting caught up from being in DC last week.  Clint and Connor headed to basketball practice after dropping her off.
• Wednesday - Maci had practice in the evening but thankfully at Providence so an easy drop off and pick up for us.
• Thursday - Connor got to have an author come to his school and we ordered him a signed copy of the book - super fun!  I worked from home because Clint was leaving on his snow mobile trip and we wanted one of us here for when they get off the bus.  However, they ended up leaving later than planned so Clint kindly drove Connor to basketball practice so I could get some things done around here.  Then he was off around dinner time and I picked up Connor from practice at 730p.

Friday:

• Finally a quiet weekend!  We love our crazy times but it is nice to have a slow one here and there.
• I let us sleep in a bit and drove Connor to school vs taking the bus.
• Then I got cranking on work.  I was super productive before heading out to my Dysport apt at 11a.
• I grabbed a quick Chick Fil A lunch before coming back home for more productivity and 2 more calls.
• At 5p, Brooks (Connor's buddy came over) and Maci decided she didn't feel like doing the soccer open play.  So we ordered pizza, colored and watched Law and Order while the boys played.
• Brooks was picked up around 9p and then I crashed in bed with some TV and coloring.

Having a good time

Saturday:

• Clint is having a blast up north zipping around on his sled.
• I got up around 9a but then decided to go back to sleep until noon - it was amazing!
• We had zero plans all day!  Connor enjoyed resting, playing video games, watching TV etc.  Maci did go to her friend Harper's for a bit to hang out with Harper and Kate.  I got some to dos around the house done - laundry, groceries etc. BUT I also got plenty of couch time and R&R.
• I ended my night watching the TWolves pull of an impressive win over Portland Trailblazers.

The many poses for Rosie HAHA

Sunday:

• Another nice slow day!  We all slept in and ordered donuts for delivery.
• Clint took off from up north after breakfast and just got home a moment ago (early afternoon).
• Connor has nothing on the schedule today but is eager for a hopeful Eagles win tonight!
• I'm wrapping up my laundry and about to spend more couch time to end my lovely restful weekend!
• Maci has soccer practice, in the middle of the super bowl tonight 🙄 but Clint has agreed to drive her to and from (thankfully close by) since I was on full kid duty all weekend.
• We are going to enjoy our smoked buffalo dip, commercials and hopefully not hearing Patrick Mahomes brag on a threepeat.

We hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as we are!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C

Moms Week in DC & Crazy Busy Family Weekend!

Weekdays:

• Monday - Maci had Infiniti training from 630-830p in the evening and I helped with her while Connor and Clint had his practice from 730-9p.
• Tuesday - I worked from home so I could pack and take some calls before heading to the airport.  Clint drove me to the airport around 1p and I was on my flight to DC by 239p.  It was a smooth, easy on time flight.  I got to the hotel and ordered some room service for dinner before hopping on a call to learn about Middle School elective class requests.  Maci had a practice that Clint took her to and from in the evening.
• Wednesday - Good Day 1 of my executive training - I really am enjoying the people in my cohort from across UHG.  I had a quick dinner with 2 of my classmates in a hotel restaurant before chilling in my room.  However, shortly after getting to my room, I heard about the plane crash via Clint.  What a tragedy and right in the city I was in - So Sad!  While I was watching the news, Clint managed getting Connor and Maci both to their respective practices - Super Dad!
• Thursday - Another good day of training.  That night we had dinner as a cohort at an Italian restaurant.  Great food, wonderful convo, nice night out on the town!  Connor and Clint hit up his last hitting clinic of the session.

Quick picture of China Town on our way to Dinner

Friday : 

• Clint got the kids to the Dentist for their 6 month cleaning in the morning.  Thankfully no cavities but Connor got a nice lecture on brushing :)
• I had my final 1/2 day of training and then headed to the airport.  I had a nice lunch with one of my classmates and then our flight was slightly delayed.  It was super sad to see the Potomac search and rescue outside my plane window during the departure.  Then we hit some crazy turbulence, I was so grateful to finally land in Minneapolis.
• I took an Uber home as Clint and Connor were heading to his final Sandlot baseball camp.  Once home, Maci and I quickly got changed and headed up to Wayzata for the basketball game vs Tonka.  Clint and Connor met us 1/2 way into the 2nd quarter.  Unfortunately Wayzata couldn’t figure it out and lost to Tonka - boooo our rival!  
• We crashed afterward because we have a CRAZY busy weekend ahead!

Connor got his Creighton jersey signed by Jackson McAndrew #23

His dad took a pic of him signing it ❤

He just cracks us up!  Look at his legs, chilling at the dentist

Saturday:

• Woke up at 7a to get down to St Louis Park for the board I am on annual retreat/meeting at 815a.
• Clint also got up as he had his monthly massage at 8a.
• I was with the Board meeting until 1230p.
• Clint and Connor + Maci had headed to Maci’s soccer game that started at 1225.  I flew from my meeting to the game and watched them able to tie it 3-3 against MTA.
• Clint and Connor left right before I got there to get to his basketball games.  I ran Maci from the game to Natalie’s for her 12th birthday party and sleepover.
• I then hustled out to the basketball games to get there in the middle of the 2nd game.  They got 2 big Wins and Connor played like a little baller.  He was so happy to see me when I made it there for game 2.  Thankful for GameChanger where I can watch/listen to his games on my way driving all over the city.
• Clint left towards the end of the game b/c he had to be at home and ready to get picked up for Lexus seats at the Timberwolves game.
• I crashed that night and watched the game in bed.

Natalie’s 12th Spa Birthday Party

Our Magoo!

Sunday:

• No rest for the weary.  We were up again to a 730a alarm.
• Clint and Connor were off to his tournament in Roseville - we were playing up in a 4th grade tournament but C category.
• I ran and got Maci from the Cassem’s at 830a.
• Then we were off to the game too.
• They played hard but lost by 5 in game 1.
• Clint and Connor stayed to eat an early lunch in between games with the team while Maci and I ran home and got our nails done.
• We came back out for game 2 at 125p and our boys won it!
• Then Maci and I had to run again b/c she had Finishing Training from 330-430.  
• The game for 3rd or 4th place was at 335p so I had to watch from the Infusion soccer studio.  They pulled it off and we got 3rd place - dang if only they hadn’t lost game one by 5 we may have had first but they did great!!!
• I then ran Maci straight from training to her team practice at 5p
• The rest of my evening was getting all the weekend things done - groceries, laundry etc.
• Clint and I went to bed early as we were both dragging from that jam packed weekend.

3rd Place Studs!

Belated Birthday Cupcakes & Took One to the Face

Coach Julian is a GREAT Sport with these gals!

Lots of Love,

C, K, M & C