Friends, Grandmas, Birthdays, Fathers

I had been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time because I had so many fun things planned. The weekend kicked off Friday evening with a nice evening for a 6:15 softball game - we won 10-0 by 10-run, which is always nice! After a little bit of hanging out and enjoying the weather and playing pretend baseball with Declan (he always scores a run, sometime multiple runs on one hit), it was over to friends Ryan & Shelley for some grilled dinner and catching up with the gang. Then I stopped back to Brothers to catch up with the softball team (Brothers is our sponsor, and many of them had stayed at the field for another hour to watch a 7:15 game so they were just in the middle of the festivities). Around 10:30 we all decided to call it good and I headed home to enjoy a FULL night's sleep (the past few days I didn't get one!)

Saturday morning I was up and at 'em at 7am, planning to leave by 8:30 (I almost did!) so I could meet up with my friend Raquel in St. Paul at 10 for coffee. I haven't seen here for awhile, and we went to a neat little coffee shop called "Nina's" in St. Paul.

I have to give a shout out to my cousin Chad for yesterday, as he completed his second Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, and beat his previous time. I ran Grandma's with Chad in 2006. I wasn't there yesterday but was there in spirit!

On to my sister's house where everyone was gathered for Keagann's 5-year-old birthday party. Keagann's birthdays are always a very lively affair, and this year was no exception. Food, sprinklers, water balloons, a Dora the Explorer pinata (I'm still wondering if it was "ok" for 5-year-olds to be bashing Dora with a baseball bat), Care Bear cake, lots of presents, and just lots of fun. I got to spend a lot of time with the girls afterwards too, and that's when Laynie isn't so shy - when there's only a few people in the house.

I stayed at mom's, and finally got her DTV converter box hooked up - the switchover date was June 12th so it really hadn't been that long. She was surprised that she now gets 10 channels over the air, all in crystal-clear digital quality, instead of the 3-5 fuzzy analog ones she used to get. I know she doesn't watch much TV but this might make it more enjoyable.

Sunday morning, Erin, mom, and I played some of the special music at mom's church for her pastor's last Sunday there. We have our "regular" trio song we have played forever and ever, and Erin and mom played another nice song. As we all had things to do that day, I stopped off at the Northern Lights coffee shop in North Branch, picked up some "Grogg" (their special house blend of coffee that's really good) and headed home. My loop-driving disease is reaching new heights - instead of taking 35E like I would normally do (which is the shortest and most obvious route) I took 35W, knowing it was longer, and there was construction going on, just to see the progress. I get this explorer-driving thing from my dad - the main difference is that I only do it by myself :) (just kidding dad!)

And last but not least, speaking of dads, a happy Father's Day to my dad and to all the dads out there! I was blessed with a great dad and two terrific grandpas (rest in peace). Sister Erin also decided that uncles should be included on Father's Day since there's no uncle's day, and gave Erin and I a nifty little card from the girls.