The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Laura is at a sleepover, so Andy and I took John to the pool for a bit of relaxation time. Not a bad way to spend a late Saturday afternoon.

Andy and I went to the Les Bourgeois Bistro for an impromptu date night. It was a beautiful night to sit outside and enjoy the time together.

Dinner was pretty fabulous too. We shared a bottle of Dry Vignoles and I had the salmon and fried polenta cakes.

Andy had the ribeye and succotash.

After dessert, we wandered down by the water to just enjoy the view. It was a great night with my love.

The Mid-Mo Stars played two great games tonight. They won the first 14-2 and the second 11-3.

John is improving and gaining confidence every week. Tonight, he only made one mistake in both games. He is hitting and fielding well and he is really fitting in well on this team. It is very exciting to see! It is amazing what the right coaches and a good amount of game play does for a kid.

The Green & Black Ride ended with sprinkles just as everyone got back to Shakespeare’s. Within about five minutes, the skies opened up and it rained extremely hard for more than an hour. So, a lot of people were “stuck” at Shakespeare’s for quite a while. At least there is beer!

I finally remembered to download photos from the team photo shoot. The photographer did a great job! This one is my favorite.

I love this silly one of the entire team.

He also took some very nice action shots. I love this one of John running while the team practiced rundowns.

Then, there was John at batting practice.

Now, to make John a collage of these and more for his bedroom.

Watching these four this past weekend makes my heart full.

Avry is one amazing young lady. She hangs out with the “littles” and loves every minute of it. My only regret from this past weekend is not being able to watch Will and Elliotte graduate. Congratulations to all the graduates! We couldn’t see all of you, but you were in my thoughts all weekend. My husband and his brothers didn’t have the easiest life growing up, but it is amazing being part of this family. To watch their kids makes me smile.

To my nieces and nephews, good luck in the next part of your lives. Aunt Erica is always here. Pick up that phone and call me because I will listen.

P.S. I respond to texts too, BUT I’m calling you back!

We made a stop in our old college town on the way home from Belvidere. A lot has changed in 25 years like the new Sigma Chi house.

Some things never change like the Rocky statues are never purple and gold. This one is painted like the solar system?!?

The campus looks a lot the same, but you can tell that it has been hit hard with budget issues. It is sad to see because some of my best times in life were there. May WIU figure out a way to turn it around.