Memorial day

It was a good, long weekend.


Friday: Arrived at cabin in the early evening. Dinner. Brewer's game on TV. Relax time. Jennie and the girls arrived late.

Saturday: Breakfast at Koni K's. Relaxing on the deck while Dad, Mom and the girls went fishing on the boat. Jennie worked a bit. Go-cart. Some rain. Monopoly. Ice Cream. Camp fire which got rained out.

Sunday: Breakfast at Koni K's. Beach. Mom and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary.

Monday: 4 wheeler rides. Spotted porcupine in tree. Fishing. Then home.

because dog pictures are always good

Jordy has learned the "sleep on shoes" technique from Jackson.

Rain!

Finally I have a rain barrel. And it is already full, thanks to storms yesterday. H's Kindergarten class decorated it.

re-decorating...

Finally the Mpls Marathon poster was hung. It looks superb.

Mother's Day weekend

It was a good one. Busy.

Friday 5/11
Arrived back in Fdl. Jackson and I chilled out until everyone else got home.

Saturday 5/12 - Picture day!
We arranged for family pictures, which took place at Mom and Dads. The weather was good. Not too hot, nice sunlight. Lots of photos were taken. We all played outside for a while after that. Sydney was quite a helper. She assisted Mom and Betty in making not one, but TWO pies.

After lunch, we met up with Karen B at Lakeside park so the kids could have some play time.

In the evening, we headed over to the cousins. Lots of soccer, washers, volleyball and all around fun.

Sunday 5/13 - Mother's day
Another sunny, warm day. Bocce ball, lunch with the family and then a long drive home.

long run. in pictures.

I often dread the long run. Once I get going though, it is pretty good. Mostly because I realize how fortunate I am to have great running trails and such right out my back door. It is a great city. I love it.

Here is what it looked like on Friday -- 11 miles.

The trail is less of a trail and more of a bank here.

Still on the trail - heading downhill, dodging roots.

Construction at Lyndale bridge.

Oh, the Lyndale hill. It doesn't look that menacing here, but it never fails to offer a challenge - on foot or bike.

One of the water fountains that kept me going. ....this is Lake Harriet. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to the water stop at Portland (about 9 miles in)

I think this explains itself. Or maybe not.

Lentil goodness

I made this lentil, sausage, mushroom concoction. It was so super tasty.

I based the recipe on one from leitesculinaria.com. I cut the recipe in half, which made more than enough. I also added some stuff and deleted some stuff. Here is my version, as I remember it:

Warm Lentil Goodness "Salad"

1/2 cup brown lentils
2 cups vegetable stock

Cover lentils with stock in small pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until desired tenderness ~ 35 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2 Tbsp butter (the good stuff, if you have it)
1 package of mushrooms, quartered

Saute mushrooms in butter. Remove from pan and set aside.

Olive oil
Bacon drippings
4 pearl onions, chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Salt and pepper
3 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1 chicken andouille sausage, chopped

Heat swig of olive oil and bacon drippings over medium high heat. Saute onion until transparent (or caramelized if you like). Add garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add bacon and sausage; cook 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and toss together for a bit. Add this mixture to the lentils and mix well.

Drizzle with (2 Tbsp?) balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

attitude

I still don't like Vegas, but ....

.... I did manage to have some fun.

Arrived late Friday. Mr. T met up with his brother (who drove over from Cali) for an all night cards extravaganza. I went to sleep (smart).

Saturday. Met up with the boys for breakfast and some pool time. The rest of the day was a bit of a blur of food, sun, casino and relaxing. It was an early night since the boys were up all night the previous night. They got pretty tired around dinner time, as evidenced below.

After being in Vegas for all of about 2 hours, we were on the search for some good beer sampling. Luckily we found Public House. The bartender was a beer lover, so we chatted with him for a while. He suggested several IPAs for us to try.....

Sunday I got the best pool spot. I ran into some friends from work, so it was great to relax and catch up. I also was reading "The Magicians" - I thought it would be good to have a old-school book to bring to the pool vs an ebook.

The three of us grabbed a superb lunch at BLT Burger in the Mirage. Of course I had the BBQ Brisket. Yum!

Late afternoon and evening I ran into handfuls of people attending the conference that I haven't seen in ages. I caught up with lots of folks over a beer while the boys gambled gambled gambled.

Monday = work. Except dinner. Mr. T and I had dinner at Dal Toro at the Palazzo -- fabulous calamari and bolgnese.

We had a prime patio table that allowed us a good view of the pirate show at Treasure Island. The sunset as we filled our bellies. So we called it an early night. Of course I had to get up early for work again on Tuesday!

Tuesday = work. Conference day. Happy Hour with the team at St. Mark's Square. Then dinner with Mr. T and my buddy Frank at Sushi Roku at Caesar's Palace. The food was ok. The company was outstanding. And the view was good too!

After dinner, we bid adieu to Frank. Mr. T and I walked up to the Bellagio to see the fountain show. The show started just after we arrived. It was short, but cool.

Wednesday we were up early, off to the airport and back in Minneapolis before we knew it.

spring

I am pretty sure this is what spring looks like in full swing. If only there were a gin and tonic next to it.

puppies

just feet. he played like that for a while. i worked.