New Year, New Adventures.
Claire, Joslin and KC, are roommates at one of Balance’s Adult Family Homes. Photo courtesy of DSP Kelli.
Photo courtesy of DSP Kelli
Photo courtesy of DSP Kelli
Photo courtesy of DSP Kelli
Happy hiking selfie taken at Lion’s Den! Photo courtesy of AFH resident Claire.
Written by Claire D.
Ahhh! January 1st 2024 on a Monday. We, houses in Balance, love those days where it’s a holiday and it lands on the weekday so we get to sleep in, stay in our pj’s until 11 am, and don’t have to brush our teeth until 9am.
I woke up at 7ish on New Year's Day. It was a nice feeling not to force yourself out of the bed and just lay there for a few minutes. I’m always the last roommate up so I was in the kitchen seeing Joslin watching Leave It To Beaver, KC still in her pj’s reading, and the awesome staff, Cindy, sitting at the table. But this wasn’t a stay-in-house day! We’ve planned a fun day for us. Starting with buying a cup of hot joe at a coffee shop in Port Washington.
Kelli, the day staff, came in at 8am bringing her boots and was wearing leggings and a typical sweatshirt. We decided that day to wear pajamas all day, however hiking through Lions Den wouldn’t be appropriate. We were wearing our sweats instead with a New Year’s headband and hat through the whole day. It was Kelli’s tradition that her family went to the Lion’s Den every new year day. We are a part of Kelli’s family now.
KC thought of a coffee shop we haven’t been to before. As of this new year, we are critiquing the coffee shops we go to. We’ve critiqued Java House and Banjole’s Brew.
As Kelli was driving to the coffee shop she said, “Happy new year,” to about six people walking! There were no cars that morning, so in the middle of the main street in Port Washington I stopped to do a little dance and said loudly, “Happy new year!” It made an echo! It was fun at Banjole’s Brew but fancy Fransee gals came from an adventure.
When Kelli parked our car at Lion's Den Gorge, we walked on the creaky wood boards while sipping the rest of our drinks as it led us to the path. I was excited when I saw Lake Michigan from afar, but when we got to the first bluff, I felt like I was falling! A million feet away from the ground! From the waves! The water looked beautiful! Teal blue then navy blue further off in the distance. We imagined KC reading a book up there on a bench and myself drawing.
I started to run when I saw the stairs down to Lake Michigan! I LOVE those stairs! We all took a brief pause to stare down at mother nature’s beautiful glory. My inner child started to come out! I took many pictures and then a video to show the world I was and how I was feeling; thrilled.
We all were gathering rocks to paint back at the Fransee home. Not only did we find beautiful rocks, we found some interesting ones too. Kelli found the biggest rock that looked like it could be one of the ten commandments where the dude was writing on the rock. KC and I were curious, raising our eyebrow when she found that rock, running over to her to see what she found. It is undecided what we are going to do with that massive rock, but we have some ideas. Unfortunately, walking up the stairs and back to the car, it made Kelli‘s coat full of mud while holding it.
Hungry and a bit tired, we went home to have a bunch load of snacks. Shrimp, buffalo dip, guacamole, salsa, pineapple, grapes, apples with caramel, chips, kielbasa, and a personal dessert. Drinking sparkling cider and non alcoholic wine in our new fancy, glitter glass.
Oh my gosh! Next, we played Wisconsin-opoly. It was so fun! Kind of the same as Monopoly. Joslin loved when Kelli would read off the back of the property cards. As if she was a game show narrator. Joslin would giggle.
And then there was KC and I looking up Apostle Island and Frank Lloyd Wright on Google. With my brain searching for words, I said some words wrong which made my girls laugh.
The day ended with the four of us texting each other in a group chat, WHEN WE WERE 2 YARDS APART, making Joslin laugh so hard her face was turning red! She couldn’t breathe! All because of our silly, individual ringtones. That day was great fun! The three of us are full of ideas on what we should do next. Till our next trip!
