Weekend Round-Up

I had such an amazing weekend; one I wish would have never ended.

I met up with my best friend Ashley and her husband Neal on Friday after work. They came into town to host a baby shower for our little Tory girl and spend the weekend with us. Friday night Ash and Neal, our friends Val and Brionn, and Andi and I went to the Twins baseball game downtown. The weather was sort of cold and crummy but we had a great time spending the evening in downtown Minneapolis (something we never do)! Last year when Ashley and Neal were in town visiting, we went to a Twins game at Target Field during its inaugural season so it's become sort of a tradition for us to hit up a game when their in town. Plus, those two love baseball so it's the perfect social activity for all of us. I think we are getting old though; instead of hitting the bars afterwards, we went home because Ashley and Val still had lots of preparation to do for the baby shower on Saturday and I'm, well, pregnant and can't drink anyway.

Val, Ashley and I at the Twins Game

My charming hubby and I

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early for baby Tory's very first baby shower! I was so excited for this day and Ashley and Val went to so much trouble to make it perfect. The girls hosted the shower at my house (Ashley lives in Nebraska and Val's living room would have been a tad too small to hold all the guests) and I was perfectly happy to utilize my pad -- that way everyone came to me PLUS I didn't have to lug any of the presents home afterwards! Ashley and Val arrived early in the morning to start decorating and preparing food, while the boys (Andi, Neal, Brionn and Baby Kasen) drove up to the cabin early. In the meantime, my sister-in-law Lindsay came over to whisk me out of the house; we went for coffee and ran a few errands around town before the shower began.

When I arrived home, my house was transformed into this beautiful lavender baby shower setting. I was so impressed! Click here to jump over to Baby In My Bubble and read more about the shower.

After the shower wrapped, we quickly cleaned up the party and jumped on the road to the cabin. I was so excited to show Ashley and Neal the cabin because it's such a special place for us and they never got to see our little piece of paradise last year. We arrived around 4:30pm or so and spent the rest of the evening lounging around, grilling steaks and playing cards. The weather was rainy and cold, but the boys managed to go ATVing around the cabin trails and us girls hung out and relaxed.

Val, Ashley and me

Val and Baby Kasen

Neal and Kasen

Holy pregnant lady, Batman!
Ashley, Val and I

Momma and her Chloe girl

Ashley playing 6-5-4

On Sunday, the weather was much nicer - sunny but windy. After breakfast in the morning, we lounged around the backyard deck and read magazines, grilled burgers and brats, sat in the hot tub and watched the boys tool around with the boat, their fishing poles, the lawn mower, etc. Somehow we all managed to get a sunburn even though the weather wasn't all that great. We never did put the boat into the water because of all the rain and wind over the weekend, so I guess we'll save our first boat ride of the summer for Memorial Day weekend.

Derrick and Ellie

Derrick
A man and his fishing pole

Last night, we treated ourselves to dinner at The County Line Bar just down from our cabin. We desperately want to make this our "go to summer bar" since it's so close to our cabin, but every time we've eaten there the service has been sub-par and the food mediocre. Service was better last night (although our teenage waitress outwardly blurted out to us it was only her third day and she really had no idea what the menu offered - hey, at least she was honest and not mean). I find it funny JUST HOW MUCH Andi wants to get to know the bar staff there; he always introduces himself and our group but the workers just don't seem to care. We'll win them over yet, honey!

And that was our weekend! An awesome mix of busy activities in the Cities and relaxing down-time at the cabin. I'm sad Ashley and Neal's summer visit is already over, but looking forward to having her stay again when Baby Tory arrives this fall. Now it's back to the work week; Monday's are always such a buzz kill after awesome weekends.