Opryland!

The trip stumbled a bit at the start -- wrong hotel, wishing I had rented a car, etc.  But in the end, the Opryland hotel was a delightful place for a work conference.  I enjoyed my time in Nashville and I had a great conference experience.

In my quest for social media fame and fortune, I was thrilled that my tweet made the "big board" at the conference.  Woo hoo!

first round of golf

T and I headed up to The Ponds on a sunny Sunday afternoon to play a round of golf.  The round started out great.  Then when we turned to tee 10, this loomed.

We finished hole 10 and turned to head for the clubhouse just as it started to rain.  The downpour hit as we entered the clubhouse.

Needless to say, we were rained out.  We will have to go back another day to finish the round :)

just because

Twins game #2

On the hottest day of the year so far (90 degrees!), T and I went to see another Twins game (another loss).  Oh, and it was fleece blanket night.  Ironic.

Race day.....

Way back in the dark of winter, three gals decided on a half marathon.  Heather, Nicole and I signed up for the Maple Grove half marathon on the day before Mother's day.  I was training somewhat reliably, so I thought I could run that far.  Nicole and Heather not so much.  So after bravely surviving a branch to the eye while putting up our back fence, we all agreed to run a shorter distance.  It was still fun to get to run with my gal pals.  Afterwards we got a great breakfast together too!

Maybe next year we will get a half in!

Mom's day.

H made me a sweet painting at school since she says "you are like a Mom most of the time".  Pretty sweet.

kids bdays part 3

Just when you thought the birthday fun was over, there was one more party to attend.

Kids bdays part 2

On Saturday the kids had friend parties -- Sully in the AM, Harper in the PM.  I made cakes for their friend parties.  ...and then helped with the logistics of getting the kids to and from.  T's sister Melanie, Brian and baby Abram arrived on Friday night to take part in the fun of birthday weekend.

While H was enjoying her puppy cupcake cake party, Sully enjoyed watching Rescuebots from the comfort of his new jeep.

Saturday night was early bedtime for all .....as another party was on tap for Sunday.

kid bdays part 1

My parents arrived on Thursday to experience a late season snow.  ....and to celebrate bdays with the kids.  Sully opened some gifts, as it was his actual bday.  Then we had dinner and went out for ice cream to mark the occasion.

Sully was not that interested in his new big boy bike, so Harper gave it a ride in the house...

other April stuff

Sully played with cars.  He created a massive traffic jam.

Jordy played with cars too.

T played with Jordy.

April trips...

A couple work trips in April mean the month went by pretty fast.

Atlanta -- a dolphin downtown and storms clouds on the way out.

Des Moines -- wind farm

Lots of winter weather in April

I seem to recall an unusually wintry April.  H was supposed to take a bike riding class, which was cancelled due to icy pavement.  We built a snowman.

And Jordy chased the snow from the snowblower.....

Aziz!

We went to see Aziz Ansari at the State Theater.  He did not disappoint.  I don't frequently attend comedy shows (although I did twice in April), but he was hilarious.  Hilarious.

He allowed the audience one 2 minute window to take photos.  Hence the rather blah photo there.  Then he said we had to sit back and pay attention.  Totally worth it.

who loves root beer floats?

It must have been a random warm day in early April.  Strange since the winter lasted through May.

Other random kids photos:

Harper proves she can fit in our big suitcase.  And suggested we pack her and take her on vacation with us.

Sully snuggles with Jordy.

Texas family vacation

Texas Hill Country.  

T and I arrived in San Antonio first.  We picked up the minivan and headed out to find a brewpub for lunch.  After several unsuccessful attempts, we found a place with both ice cold beer and food. Ah, vacation started.

We picked up the rest of the family at the airport upon arrival and headed out to hill country - somewhere between San Antonio and Austin.

Someone fit right in ....

Since it was a month or so ago, and I didn't write anything down, I may not accurately remember all the specifics.  I'll try my best.

The warmest weather was the first few days we were there, so naturally we spent some time at the pool.  The kids loved it ....I think the adults kind of did too, considering the winter we had.

Easter Sunday some of us golfed at a course nearby - Canyon Lake.  The condition of the course and rental clubs were questionable, but it was nice to be out on the course.

Most nights we had games of scratch, and some other normal activities ....like trying to balance a pineapple on your head.

Another nice day came along, so the guys decided to play golf at a nice course, The Bandit, while the gals explored a nearby town, Gruene.

Gruene is the home of the oldest dance hall in Texas.   And a super tasty restaurant, The Gristmill. Did I mention that I ate ALOT of BBQ while in Texas?

After lunch, we explored the town more.  It is clear that everything is bigger in Texas.

T looooves The Bandit.  We went back and played it again later in the week.

A rainy day came along so we decided to head to Austin.  But first we stopped for more BBQ at the world famous The Salt Lick BBQ.

With full bellies, we headed in to Austin.  We checked out the State Capital, both inside and out, where there was a Sea World exhibit.  Cool!  Then we headed over to 6th Street and saw all the music venues.

Another rainy day?  Another city to explore:  San Antonio.  The rain was really coming down, so we headed to lunch along the Riverwalk.  Luckily it let up a bit after lunch, so we headed to The Alamo and spent some more time along the Riverwalk before heading back home.

The last day, T and I golfed The Bandit (where I scored a 95) and the rest of the gang headed to Sea World.

....and that's all folks.  A great vacation in a pretty sweet spot.  There's definitely more to explore in those hills.