The Weekend

So much activity...where to start?

On Friday night, I finally got to meet Melissa's sister Rhonda, who is visiting from Arkansas. We did meet briefly when Melissa and I graduated from SDSU - gasp! - 13 years ago, but this was our first chance to spend time together. She and Melissa are very close and I really enjoyed our evening.

We had dinner at Campiello in Uptown. The serve "rustic" Italian and I daringly ordered braised rabbit legs. I know what you're thinking - Peter Cottontail, Bugs Bunny, Jennifer's a horrible person - but seriously, if you ever have the chance to try well-prepared rabbit, it will change your life, just as our waiter promised. You'll also understand Elmer Fudd's persistence.

After dinner, we stopped at a nearby bar for a couple of drinks. We saw fewer baseball caps than last week, but I think we may have to venture downtown to find a more upscale hangout that meets newly-single Melissa's standards.

On Saturday, Chris and I headed to Bonnie and Duane's for Angie and Cam's graduation party. Amber's got some great pictures on her blog. It was a beautiful day - perfect for an outdoor gathering.

In addition to the delicious food and lively conversation, we managed a game of "corn hole" (which is not the term generally used in this part of the country to describe "bean bags," but is common elsewhere and I'm trying to start the trend here, if only to see the looks on peoples' faces when I say corn hole). Whatever you call it, Chris and I beat Jon and Amber handily!

Eventually, we made our way back to Minneapolis. Jon and Amber surprised us with a shared birthday gift - a gas grill! Jon, with some help from Chris and Trevor while Dad supervised, quickly assembled the grill and Amber and I cooked up some salmon, potatoes and corn bread. It was a pretty early night for all of us.

Chad, Kristina, Sophia and Brennan came over for brunch on Sunday. It was the first time our visitors saw Brennan and he was very patient as we all took turns holding him. Sophia and Trevor had fun coloring. I realized that if I'm going to have these kids visiting often (which I hope I do!) that I will have to get some more things for them to play with!

After everyone left, I decided to take my bike out for a spin. You may have noticed Amber's photo of me on her blog. My bike is probably older than I am and weighs at least half as much. I didn't realize the drawback to a heavy bike until I tried to ride it up hill. Luckily, the hills between my house and 43rd & Upton aren't too steep, but I also came to recognize that I'm terribly out of shape. This 2+ mile ride with a break for shopping really wore me out, but at least I look good on my super cool bike!