I love spring!

This weekend, Spring treated us like kings and queens with tons of bright sunshine and unbelievably warm temps.

We kicked it off right with time out in the backyard, building a shed while Smokey played with the neighbor pooch, Bailey for 4 hours. (no, the shed wouldn't have taken that long to build if Home Depot had given us all the parts to begin with)

After the sunburn started to set it, we grabbed Wheels and Chucker and headed out to Salem Hills for some quality time in the dirt. The boys led it out and pushed me to the limits from the beginning. With mountain biking on the brain for the last couple months, I was ready! I felt awesome out there and would have just kept going if time, commitments, and physical limitations didn't pull rank and the afternoon slipped away.

It was awesome!

Come Sunday, we got out the road bikes and met up with the Hellians for some quality road riding out near Diamond Bluff, WI. The sun was high, wind mild, and the ride was great. Sure, any sort of climb hurts at this time of year, but we were having too much fun riding together again to worry to much about it. Thanks, chicas!!!

Getting ready to get ridin,
Kristy Kreme

Adventures of S-WooD: the Gentle Dogs

As we have for years, Hwood and I ventured to our Greg & Jodi's for some riding, dining, laughing and hanging over Easter weekend. Lucky for us, their super dog lovers, so Smokey got to participate in all the fun.

Greg & Jodi raise Bluetick coonhounds, so the dogs were all instant friends - the only difference was the length of their legs. Add that to a great, spacious yard and wonderful spring weather, and we had a ton of fun entertainment to relax to as the sun neared the horizon.

Smokey, the ever sweet baby, was happy to submit to the three larger hounds - Sailor being the closest in age at 10 mo. old. Sailor, just a large puppy, loved to run from Smokey to keep the fun going.



Then, once the ladies joined in the afternoon fun, all four dogs romped in the yard as we bathed in the sun.



After we tucked the dogs in for dinner, we enjoyed a great meal at Meister's on the lake. We returned to G&J's for some dessert and bevies after dinner, and snuggled up with the puppies until bedtime.

Once dawn broke, Greg, Jay and I were on our bikes headed for Jodi's mom's house for Easter lunch, 40 miles away. The boys rode me into the ground, but I got my coming-out-of-hibernation drafting as if your life depended on it crash course on. There was a couple times the glue started to melt, but we made it there in less than 2 hours with 10-20 mph head/cross winds.

Jodi, Smokey, the rest of the fam & tables of food awaited our arrival and kept the beautiful day going at full speed. It was awesome! Can't wait til the next slumber party!

After lunch, we skipped town and headed to my dad's house to help write thank you cards to all those who came to show their sympathies for my grandmother. Though a somber whisper hovered around the room, it was wonderful to see everyone and to be their to support my family. I love you!

Thanks for another great Easter Greg & Jodi!
Kristy

Smokey thinks he's a big dog

Jay and I spent a week out in Iowa just a couple of weeks ago, visiting his parents, bro and our fave Iowan friends. Though the wind was a min. of 20mph each day, we made sure to treat our bikes to some spring lovin' outside.

One of the best parts was being hosted by Ken and Lou! They set us up in their spare bedroom for the week, so we had all the comforts of home. To top it off, they had 3 huge dogs for Smokey to play with! Did he really know he was 115 pounds smaller than them? Nah! But didn't matter... he had a blast. Ridley loved playing with Smokey so much, we had to give Smokey a bath each night just to wash off the slobber before he crawled into bed each night.

On the 2nd night we were down, Ken & Lou hosted their Chili Cook-off, and we had the awesome fortune to attend. The best was the 'dog-fight' in the garage! [NO - I don't condone dog fighting - as you'll see, they're having fun]. Though a number of people worried about the size difference, Smokey was having a ball. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a big dog too!



And what better way to come up with dozens of "Weiner" t-shirt ideas than by mixing adults with home-brew and chili?! Some of my faves (which you should be able to hear on the vid..)
"See my weiner? It gets bigger"
"Want to touch my weiner?"
"The ladies love my weiner"
"I've got a 6 lb. weiner"
yeah, it was a good time. Abby, you missed John's awesome Weiner monologue!

Thanks Ken, Lou, and the rest of Iowa for such a damn good time!

Party on, can't wait to you make it to our house!
Kristy Kreme, Smokey & Hwood