Last of the Vacaticans

Back to reality on Monday morning. More about that to come...

But first: what a great last few days of vacation! I got to really enjoy 2 weeks of spring. The highlights are as follows....

- Royals v. Twins for Monica's birthday. Went out to the K with TGO and a whole bunch of friends. Despite the slight drizzle and slightly chilly temperatures, it was a ton of fun to get out and watch some ball.

- Lots of Pete time. Between long walks, Shawnee Mission Park and Lake Quivira, Pete and I had some serious quality time together enjoying the sun. I swear, watching him chase a tennis ball out in the lake is pretty impressive. My dog swims better than Michael Phelps' dog that's for sure. He'll even dive off the docks to retrieve his beloved yellow ball.

- Trip to Minnesota-yah you betcha with Mam and Dad to see Gramma and the family. We even went to the store to get Coke and have them put it in a beg for us. (It's funny if you read this with a MN accent, I promise. We'll at least its funny to me.) It was great to see a good chunk of the family and spend some QT with my 87 year old grandmother, Aunt Kerri and Uncle T. The highlight (or maybe I should say Lowlight) of the trip? When Gramma asked for sugar cookies and complained about not being able to bake in her apartment (they live in memory care and the stove/oven are turned off for safety's sake), I offered to bake with her in the main living room. After getting the break and bake dough from the store, Gramma had no interest in baking with me. So I took them down, set the timer and returned on time to take them out. However, the cookies were still doughy in the middle so I let them bake another 90 seconds or so. When I took them out, the smoke escaped from the oven, setting off the fire alarms. The staff at Croixdale sure responded quickly! Luckily the residents couldn't hear the alarm (that's what happens when you're pushing 90) and the Bayport FD was on its way. No real fire, just burnt cookies... and the worst part? Not that I didn't get to meet the cute firefighters, although that too is a tragedy... the cookies still weren't done in the middle, just burnt to a crisp on the bottom!

- Totally booked social calendar for the rest of the weekend. The KC Multisport Wine Tasting at the Cellar Rat was Friday night. Tons of fun and a great chance to catch up with all my swim-bike-run buddies. Saturday, we went to TGO's friends' BBQ, my friend's BBQ, to Tanners to meet one of his buddies and to a bar to celebrate his sister's birthday. And we still made it home by 11! Sunday Funday brought a Reedy family picnic at Lake Quivira, where Pete again got to swim, play tennis and basketball (yes, he played all three sports better than most of us humans!) and we all enjoyed Johnny C's pizza and cupcakes. Afterwards we toured the Boulevard Brewery and completed the day with cocktails and dinner on the rooftop at The Well. And we topped it off with gelato from The Sweet Guy. I don't think the day could have been any better!