Rocking in the USA

Hey Blog Readers,

I have no doubt in my mind that you have been waiting for the latest post with as much anticipation as the release of the Anthony Wiener Doll.  Since this new fascination of tweeting inappropriate pictures of oneself seems to have only afflicted politicans or "senior" level people, I have closed Ann's "Sr. Director" Twitter account access.  She is going to hit me for that line;)

What a week we had back in the States.  From the moment that I touched down in Milwaukee last Saturday night at 9:30pm, it was non-stop action and excitement.  After 24 hours of traveling due to some delays in London and Chicago, the on-demand video system not working on my overseas flight, and not having closed my eyes the entire trip, I was completely exhausted.  Since I did not have a working cell phone either, it was quite difficult to communicate my delays to Ann and her family about when I was landing and how I was getting to Fondy. To my incredible surprise, the whole Berenz family was awaiting me in a stretch Escalade limo, fully stocked, at the Milwaukee airport.  I was so delirious at the time that I thought they had just sent a car service to pick me up and he happened to be driving a stretch Escalade.  What a surprise when I opened that door.  I could not have imagined a better homecoming and my fatigue was quickly extinguished with ice cold bud lights.  I also had a lot of catching up to do as they clearly had been doing some bar hopping while my flight continued to be delayed.  We had some great laughs all of the way back to Fondy, and of course, we took it to the Press Box(Fondy Bar).  Unbelievably, I ended up awake until 4am on Sunday morning, just a mere 30+ hours since I had awoken in London the day before.

As if Day 1 could not have been outdone, it just got better and better.  First, the weather was absolutely perfect.  It was in the low to mid 90's almost our entire time.  We got incredibly lucky.  We spent some time out on Jane and Chad's pontoon boat on Lake Winnebago in Fondy on Sunday.  Senior, Tom, Jeff, Joe and I played 36 holes of golf on Monday while the girls lounged at the pool.  If you play any golf, you know that 36 holes on your first outing of the entire year is a little rough.  I could barely grip the club with my left hand the last 9, and it was hovering around 95 degrees, but I still had the biggest smile on my face!!!  On Tuesday morning, Senior, Cathy, Tom, Joe, Ann and I headed up to the cottage.  The cottage is an incredibly special place and it was something that Ann and I had been looking forward to for a long time.  As always, it did not fail to treat us perfectly.  We tubed and wakeboarded and took evening pontoon cruises.  We played a lot of yard games and ate incredible food.  We rebuilt the bonfire pit and were able to christen that.  Tom and I smoked two Pork butts for 8 hours on Wednesday for brisket.  To top off the few days at the cottage, we went to a great towny bar and played bingo on Thursday night.  The Bingo MC was an absolute classic.  This guy had us rolling.

Friday brought us to the 3rd and final phase of our trip, and that was Ann's college friend Anna's wedding in Appleton, WI.  It was so much fun to see all of Ann's UW LAX girlfriends(Trish, Ann, Anna and Kylie).  I know for Ann how much it meant to be back together with all of her college roommates.  To be quite honest, I know that they were a little more excited to see me(avid blog followers), but we still have to share the love with Ann;)  It was a great rehearsal dinner on Friday night.  The girls had to check it in early due to the early start on Saturday morning, but Justin and I took it deep at the hotel bar and then somehow managed partying in the best man's room who we had not met until a few minutes before that.  It was a beautiful wedding on Saturday out at a Country Club on Lake Winnebago, and Anna and Cody were an amazing bride and groom.  I also have to give a shout out to Sean Regan, Shaun Shraeder, and Rob Prosser.  Those UW LAX boys know how to do it right.  We are sadly going to miss Rob and Amanda's wedding in November, but I am still not ruling out a bachelor party appearance in August in the Dells!!!  There were a few glimpses of Wedding Ann as well, but overall, she kept it a lot calmer than she displayed at Will and Kate's wedding in May.  Speaking of Will and Kate, it is unfortunate that we are missing our new neighbors(Kensington Palace) first official visit to the US this coming week, but with us just being there, we had to tell them no when they asked.

So, that about wraps up our first official trip back to the States.  We had time on Sunday to make it back to Fondy to say our goodbyes to Ann's family before heading back to the airport.  We were also so excited to hear that Cathy, Jane, and Jobina are coming to visit us in August.  We can't wait for that.  We landed back in London safely on Monday and have been getting ourselves back into the London routine this week.  We have a quiet weekend this weekend and then Ann is off to Rome next week for work, and then my Aunt Melissa and cousin Sarah and one of her friends arrive next Saturday to spend a week in London, so we are super excited for that.  No big trips on the horizon until the 3rd week of July when we are flying to Florida for the Knapp family summer vacation.  Can't wait to see all of my fam.  I guess that is all I got.

Cheers
Kevin