Fun up North!

It's been a few days since Marianne, Quentin, Sierra, and I returned from Minneapolis and I'm still recovering! What a fun trip - with a great party, family, friends, great beer, a few projects, and even a new bird! The main reason for the visit, of course, was Karen's graduation party. The gathering was incredible - a really laid back, fun party with tons of good food and drink, some fun games, darts... all-in-all a great time. The great food included some awesome cupcakes that were enjoyed by everyone.



Nate did a great job of cooking out - various vegie burgers, brats, and we even cooked some elk steak that Karen's Dad, Jack, brought. The weather was a bit iffy, but we managed to have quite a bit of time on the newly refinished deck.

The elk steaks were quite a hit and even some of the (mostly) vegetarians enjoyed it. Yes, that is elk meat in Marianne's mouth!


Bruno was, of course, the most popular dog at the party. He was really well-behaved, and when he wasn't able to be outside with everyone, he would hang out at his favorite perch on the upper step and look out the window! It was really funny - he looked like a person sitting up there, with one leg down on the next step. He did well with all the hubub and excitement.

We also celebrated Mother's Day together. We went out to a great Irish restaurant "the Local" for their famous creamy hash browns. And the restaurant even gave Marianne a rose for Mother's Day. And the kids got Mar a very beautiful corsage. A wonderful Mother's Day!

Other highlights of the weekend included a great May Day parade at Powderhorn Park, getting to see a lot of the Chicago gang, a visit to Surly's Brewery, getting to know Minneapolis better, cheese curds at the Mall of America, a ride on the light rail, and , as Nate mentioned in his post, learning about and then building a rain garden. But the pix of that will have to await a post by Karen!

And last, but certainly not least, was a true highlight of the week for me - a new bird. I went out three different mornings, and one day I spotted the beautiful blue-winged warbler - number 515 for me in North America.

Three words sum up the visit. Best. Family. Ever.