I'm back at work after a truly amazing weekend with Shannon and her family in Colfax. The weather was hot and the small talk was plentiful but we both still had such a great time.
We took off late Thursday night and arrived about 1:30am. We crashed and got to spend Friday laying around the house in the air conditioning watching cheesy movies. It was Marlys' birthday so we bought her lunch and later made her a cake. We did nothing for the actual holiday at all. We could see some very small fireworks from the porch but that was it.
Then Saturday we visited Marge and her family and Jeannie and Doug at the campgrounds at Rock Creek. It was hot and sunny and I couldn't let Max roam or swim or anything. Car and RV camping are definately not how I like to enjoy the out of doors, but Marge and James and Jeannie and Doug were really cute together, playing cards, grilling outside and Derrick got to ride his bike around by himself. We grabbed some dinner and then headed over to the track with Marlys to watch the races and play the slots. Shannon and I had a great time with our nickel slots. Shannon won like $20. Then we betted on some horses and watched them race. Shannon won like $15 here. We crashed once we got home...
But then had to wake up very early to go out to brunch. Mmm... buffet... and more gambling. This time we didn't win but spent all the winnings from the day before. We kept getting carded in the casino because we were like 20 years younger than most of the folks there. Next we headed over to Virginia's and talked to her for awhile. She's like the best grandma ever. Last we went to Libby's party, a huge production with family and friends and half the town. It was hot and I didn't know anyone. That's about how exciting it was. Finally we headed over to Doug and Jeannie's for Sunday dinner. It went really well. We brought salad with Marlys' homegrown lettuce and the rest of her birthday cake. The boys were fairly well behaved. They were all so much bigger than at Christmas, especially Rayna. She's totally a teenager now, very quiet and aloof, with a cute short haircut. Derrick and Clay are much less cuddly. Doug and I bonded over home improvement shows. He's a hilarious old crouch. Shannon had to drag me away from the cable.
Monday we washed Virginia's windows and chatted some more. Then we packed up the car and the dog, said goodbye to Marlys and Mark, and hit the road. Shannon read Harry Potter the whole way while I drove. The book is getting so good. We are about 2/3 of the way through. Once we returned, Shannon had to go to the Wildlife Rescue Center. I played with the cats and cleaned up the house a bit, gave myself a haircut and caught up on my magazines. After Shannon got back we drove into to uptown to get my keys from Andy and grab some food at Sawatdee's. Yum. We stayed up too late sitting outside at the restaurant, smoking and chatting.
Shannon and I talked the whole weekend about all sorts of things. Wisconsin's vet school is back on the top of the list I think. It's good to be so close to family.
