The I-35W bridge is back open and it is nice to have it back! Man, traffic patterns are totally different now that the bridge is back open, much less traffic on Washington now that people don't have to exit there. I have used it three times now and it has made it so much nicer to go to the grocery store, Target, etc.
Man, I am glad to have it back!
It may not be me but the 2 boys of the house are in it ...
With a little help from Curtis (ok, a lot), we picked up the couch that we have been waiting on since February!! Now we have a nice, comfortable couch for people like Mike, Curtis and Kaleb to crash on! Not to mention that it looks MUCH better than the old gray one.
We have that old thing relegated to our bedroom for now, but it is destined to make it to Craigslist where we might just make some more friends! If no one bites on it there, we just might have to hold on to the world's most uncomfortable couch, Little Boy will not be upset if that is the way it goes...
We have that old thing relegated to our bedroom for now, but it is destined to make it to Craigslist where we might just make some more friends! If no one bites on it there, we just might have to hold on to the world's most uncomfortable couch, Little Boy will not be upset if that is the way it goes...
The rents were up here this weekend and we took them out for some good old Minnesota fun! We went to the State Fair, someone else's family reunion, IKEA, and Stillwater.
When mom and dad showed up, we treated them to a few drinks and the hospitality of a few of our friends. We discovered that mom is pretty fond of the Sailor Jerry rum and Coke and that Minnesota has a ton of fried food on the menu. We both had an idea that there was a lot of fried food up here, but it was really cemented when mom and dad were here. We went over to Grumpy's and after looking at the menu for a few minutes, determined that there is absolutely nothing on the menu that is even remotely good for you.
We carried this theme over to a trip to the State Fair on Saturday morning where we started the morning off right with a mexican burrito and a malt. By 10:30 we were all pretty well full and dad was just hitting his stride as we got to the farm equipment. Dad was scoping out the tractors while mom, Erin and I were scoping out the new 2009 F-150 at the Ford booth. Given the interest that all parties had in an F-150, it didn't take long for us to scope it out. We wandered about until E declared that she wanted to check out the plants in the plant area (don't know what it's called, it's a vegetarian thing...). Thankfully, they had a HUGE section about honey and I was able to pick up some honey-lemonade, my new favorite drink. We finished off our trip to the fair by picking up a bucket of chocolate chip cookies and heading on down to the all-you-can-drink milk hut to have ourselves some cookies and milk!
We waddled our way on back to the car where we poured ourselves into the seats for the long 15-minute ride home. I think everyone passed out pretty quickly once we got back to the house. It was seriously naptime, a food coma if you will. This would be the first of many food comas over the weekend.
We went up to Psycho Suzies for dinner to get some pizza and to show mom and dad what a cool place it is. We rode the bikes (ok scooter) up there and on returning found that the RNC media party was in full swing and cops working security at all the streets around. Since the party was at the Guthrie, there was a concern about getting back into our place because neither E nor I have updated our licenses with our new address and we didn't have anything to prove that we lived there other than our keys that would open the doors. We ended up having to drive around until we found an open road that we could use to get to our garage. There was a small moment of frustration with security, but in the end it turned out ok.
This brings us to Sunday when we had breakfast at one of our favorite places, Yum! and then headed off to IKEA to peruse the massive amounts of products that they sell. E and I found a couple of really cool pendants for our bedroom and a whole bunch of other stuff that we decided we didn't need. Because we now had lights for the bedroom, we had to go ahead and install them as soon as we got home. 30 minutes and only one electroction later, the lights were up and we now have a more mild lighting package for our room! We didn't have long to wait before we had to motor on our to Lake Minnetonka to meet up with E's uncle Zoom and his in-laws at a small family event. It was really cool to get to see Zoom and Leigh and to introduce them to my parents so they could get to know him a bit. E came within a couple of inches of getting six-packed while sitting on the deck because of the people playing volleyball below, but all turned out well and she only had a minor headache as a result.
Monday morning mom and Erin made some raspberry pancakes from some produce that we had acquired at the farmers market at the Guthrie and then we were off to Stillwater for mom and E to peruse some antiques and check out some random stuff. We had a nice meal on the side of the St Croix river and just hung out for a bit. Pops got a nice little nap in on the way home while mom and E and I talked about random stuff and when we got home I got my birthday present, I got to watch Superbike and MotoGP before we went up to a great place called the Loring Pasta Bar over in Dinkytown near the U, it was a great meal with great ambience and a lot of great company. We finished off the last evening by going to Sebastien Joe's for some unique ice cream and then cruized on home to hang out and watch some the Dog Whisperer before heading off to bed.
It was a good time and we enjoyed having the parents up here to visit our new home and see what we have done with the place. Last time they were here, it was just an empty space that was not even really close to completion. It was also nice to be able to show them what the city is like when the weather is cooperative and demonstrate what we love so much about living in Minnesota.
E has photos, I'm sure she can't wait to get them up here!
When mom and dad showed up, we treated them to a few drinks and the hospitality of a few of our friends. We discovered that mom is pretty fond of the Sailor Jerry rum and Coke and that Minnesota has a ton of fried food on the menu. We both had an idea that there was a lot of fried food up here, but it was really cemented when mom and dad were here. We went over to Grumpy's and after looking at the menu for a few minutes, determined that there is absolutely nothing on the menu that is even remotely good for you.
We carried this theme over to a trip to the State Fair on Saturday morning where we started the morning off right with a mexican burrito and a malt. By 10:30 we were all pretty well full and dad was just hitting his stride as we got to the farm equipment. Dad was scoping out the tractors while mom, Erin and I were scoping out the new 2009 F-150 at the Ford booth. Given the interest that all parties had in an F-150, it didn't take long for us to scope it out. We wandered about until E declared that she wanted to check out the plants in the plant area (don't know what it's called, it's a vegetarian thing...). Thankfully, they had a HUGE section about honey and I was able to pick up some honey-lemonade, my new favorite drink. We finished off our trip to the fair by picking up a bucket of chocolate chip cookies and heading on down to the all-you-can-drink milk hut to have ourselves some cookies and milk!
We waddled our way on back to the car where we poured ourselves into the seats for the long 15-minute ride home. I think everyone passed out pretty quickly once we got back to the house. It was seriously naptime, a food coma if you will. This would be the first of many food comas over the weekend.
We went up to Psycho Suzies for dinner to get some pizza and to show mom and dad what a cool place it is. We rode the bikes (ok scooter) up there and on returning found that the RNC media party was in full swing and cops working security at all the streets around. Since the party was at the Guthrie, there was a concern about getting back into our place because neither E nor I have updated our licenses with our new address and we didn't have anything to prove that we lived there other than our keys that would open the doors. We ended up having to drive around until we found an open road that we could use to get to our garage. There was a small moment of frustration with security, but in the end it turned out ok.
This brings us to Sunday when we had breakfast at one of our favorite places, Yum! and then headed off to IKEA to peruse the massive amounts of products that they sell. E and I found a couple of really cool pendants for our bedroom and a whole bunch of other stuff that we decided we didn't need. Because we now had lights for the bedroom, we had to go ahead and install them as soon as we got home. 30 minutes and only one electroction later, the lights were up and we now have a more mild lighting package for our room! We didn't have long to wait before we had to motor on our to Lake Minnetonka to meet up with E's uncle Zoom and his in-laws at a small family event. It was really cool to get to see Zoom and Leigh and to introduce them to my parents so they could get to know him a bit. E came within a couple of inches of getting six-packed while sitting on the deck because of the people playing volleyball below, but all turned out well and she only had a minor headache as a result.
Monday morning mom and Erin made some raspberry pancakes from some produce that we had acquired at the farmers market at the Guthrie and then we were off to Stillwater for mom and E to peruse some antiques and check out some random stuff. We had a nice meal on the side of the St Croix river and just hung out for a bit. Pops got a nice little nap in on the way home while mom and E and I talked about random stuff and when we got home I got my birthday present, I got to watch Superbike and MotoGP before we went up to a great place called the Loring Pasta Bar over in Dinkytown near the U, it was a great meal with great ambience and a lot of great company. We finished off the last evening by going to Sebastien Joe's for some unique ice cream and then cruized on home to hang out and watch some the Dog Whisperer before heading off to bed.
It was a good time and we enjoyed having the parents up here to visit our new home and see what we have done with the place. Last time they were here, it was just an empty space that was not even really close to completion. It was also nice to be able to show them what the city is like when the weather is cooperative and demonstrate what we love so much about living in Minnesota.
E has photos, I'm sure she can't wait to get them up here!