A Full Week of Fun...

I have been so busy that I haven't even been able to blog about how busy I am. Now, don't get me wrong, being busy can be a lot of fun. I had planned on attending the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Louisville last week, but, plans changed and my crazy life made it very tricky for me to go. So as to not completely bail out on my friends that planned to travel with me, I decided that I should still sneak away for a couple days and spend some time with my adoption buddies in beautiful Door County Wisconsin.

Four of us headed north to do some shopping, eating, relaxing, and trying to solve the global orphan crisis (at least talking about our big dreams of how we are going to help). It was a VERY fun get away and a much needed break from laundry, car pooling, and day to day stress.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we were able to spend a little time outside enjoying the scenery.

We also spent time shopping...there are so many great little shops and specialty stores in Door County. We made a stop at an antique store and my friend Dawn and I were excited to see the EXACT Barbie Townhouse for sale that we had when we were little girls....wait...that's sounds weird...OUR toys are now antiques? Freaky.

I arrived back home after my two day get-away only to re-pack, give my kids a hug and head out for another night away. It was another fun mother/daughter outing for Alyssa and I. She and a few friends were chosen to do a presentation at our state capital. The presentation was on banning cell phone use while driving- (a recent law passed here in Wisconsin bans texting while driving, but you can still talk, check email, and surf the internet while driving....). Alyssa and her group presented their proposal (to ban all cell phone use while driving) to some big wigs in Madison (attorneys, legislators, senators, etc.). I was so impressed. The kids did their presentation, answered tons of questions by a panel of judges, and did an impressive job of explaining the importance of banning cell phone use while driving. I was so proud of them!

Enjoying a night out in Madison before the big presentation.

A highlight...meeting Chief Justice Abrahamson. It was great for the kids to meet her and listen to her speak. She was the first woman on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She still serves and had a lot of valuable advice to share with our kids. I loved having them meet such a strong, trail blazing woman who is still so passionate about democracy. My favorite quote of hers from the day was that "The bigger the problem, the more solutions there are to solve the problem." I couldn't help but think of the orphan crisis and the many ideas that my Door County buddies and I were chatting about a couple of days before!

Another highlight....shopping on State St. The girls (and moms) had a great time shopping and hanging out in our state capital. Madison has a unique feel to it and it was a lot of fun to chill out for the afternoon before heading back to reality.

(By the way, notice the rally going on in front of the capital building...that was pretty cool to see as well)

So...long story short, this is how I feel right about now....sleepy.

Hopefully, things will slow down a little bit this week and I will get to hang out like Bryce.

I'm looking forward to spending some time at home this week. Every year I forget how crazy the month of May is. Between dance competitions, recitals, baseball practices and games, field trips, end of the school year activities and every day life, things get wild. The kids are counting down until school is out for the year. I am counting down to when I will get to relax in my own backyard and enjoy some sunshine...