Matt and I made a quick trip to Iowa this past weekend to help Henry celebrate his 7th birthday and Olivia help celebrate her 4th birthday. After getting to Kathy's late Friday night, we did what sisters do and talked until 2am. This made for an early morning when Henry jumped on our bed at 6:30am! But, it's the best way to wake up. :) Henry was excited to see Uncle Matt and they immediately started playing games on Matt's tablet. I'm not ashamed to admit that Henry is much better at me so I'm sure Matt liked the increased competition!
At 11am, Henry's friends arrived and we all took off for Denison for a birthday party at the hospital. Yes, hospital. We were skeptical too, but it ended up being a blast! They had pizza and drinks ready for us when we got there. Then we went outside for games that included a pinata, scavenger hunt, frisbee throw, and shoe kicking contest. The kids were excited because their goodie bags were full of goodies by the end of the games! After cake and ice cream, the kids went to see the ambulance and had a lot of fun honking the horn and turning on the lights and sirens.
We made it back to Kathy's around 3pm and immediately went to prepping for Olivia's party. Her friends showed up at 4pm and the next two hours were filled with tiara making, bracelet assembly, decorating papers with stamps, frosting their own cupcakes, and a lot of playing outside. Everyone had a blast and took home a purse full of goodie bags. (Kudos to Kathy for making the purses from scratch - she has more crafting talent in her little finger than I do in my entire body!)
Since it was nice day out, Kathy and Jordan invited some friends over to grill out for dinner. I'm counting that as our third party for the day since that's when Henry and Olivia opened presents from the family.
I got talked into sleeping with Henry in the top bunk. I wasn't going to (because I don't think the bed is very comfortable), but then he threw out "Auntie Kristin did!". I couldn't let Auntie Kristin be a cooler aunt that me. :)
Mom and Dad came over for breakfast so we had a great family breakfast. Matt and I had a 1pm flight, so we took off for Omaha when the rest left for church. We both took naps when we got home (3 parties in one day is a lot), but then had a relaxing evening by grilling out with Naomi and Ryan. We all hit the hot tub for a half hour to top off the night.
It was so much fun to be in Iowa - even if only for a short time. I can't wait until the summer when I can spend a longer time there!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Guys & Girls weekends
Karla's Weekend
I had planned a weekend in Austin with Menko for a while. We headed there Friday afternoon, checked into the loft we rented, and then hit the town! Our first stop was Guero's for some good TexMex and margaritas. We followed that up by drinks at Hotel San Jose. We were walking toward the lake and figured we were right on time to watch the bats. There's a bridge over the lake that houses over a million bats that fly out at dusk. It's amazing - the string of bats just never ends! We then walked to Rainey street for some drinks and a late night snack from a food truck.
On Saturday morning we walked to get in line for Franklin's barbecue. We had heard it was the best and were willing to get there at 8:45am to wait in line for the 11am opening. We were lucky enough to get some chairs and made friends with the guys next to us. The CVS next door made good money off of us since our group ended up buying 3 bottles of champagne and a bottle of orange juice! The brisket, pork ribs, and pulled pork was well worth the wait! The ribs were fall of the bone tender and the brisket was melt in your mouth yummy. After eating, we took ourselves on a walking tour of Austin checking out the capitol area and 6th Street on our way back home. After a mid-afternoon nap, we headed down to the 2nd Street area and went boutique shopping and hung out at a wine bar for dinner and drinks. We finished up the night at a place on 4th Street and made its own ice cream and had some adult milkshakes!
Sunday morning was sleeping in, brunch on South Congress, a little more shopping and then off to the airport. A really fun and much needed girls' weekend!
Matt's Weekend
I, on the other hand, planned a last minute trip to Chicago. In part to meet with a realtor to look at selling our condo, but also to hang with the guys, Patrick & Gil. After the awesomeness that was bow tie night at Jason's wedding, it was determined that the bowties had to make a comeback. A night of steaks, booze and bowtie ensued. I had gotten up at 3:30am on saturday for a 6:15 flight, and didn't get to sleep till well after 1am the next day. It was a fun and exhausting weekend.
I had planned a weekend in Austin with Menko for a while. We headed there Friday afternoon, checked into the loft we rented, and then hit the town! Our first stop was Guero's for some good TexMex and margaritas. We followed that up by drinks at Hotel San Jose. We were walking toward the lake and figured we were right on time to watch the bats. There's a bridge over the lake that houses over a million bats that fly out at dusk. It's amazing - the string of bats just never ends! We then walked to Rainey street for some drinks and a late night snack from a food truck.
On Saturday morning we walked to get in line for Franklin's barbecue. We had heard it was the best and were willing to get there at 8:45am to wait in line for the 11am opening. We were lucky enough to get some chairs and made friends with the guys next to us. The CVS next door made good money off of us since our group ended up buying 3 bottles of champagne and a bottle of orange juice! The brisket, pork ribs, and pulled pork was well worth the wait! The ribs were fall of the bone tender and the brisket was melt in your mouth yummy. After eating, we took ourselves on a walking tour of Austin checking out the capitol area and 6th Street on our way back home. After a mid-afternoon nap, we headed down to the 2nd Street area and went boutique shopping and hung out at a wine bar for dinner and drinks. We finished up the night at a place on 4th Street and made its own ice cream and had some adult milkshakes!
Sunday morning was sleeping in, brunch on South Congress, a little more shopping and then off to the airport. A really fun and much needed girls' weekend!
Matt's Weekend
I, on the other hand, planned a last minute trip to Chicago. In part to meet with a realtor to look at selling our condo, but also to hang with the guys, Patrick & Gil. After the awesomeness that was bow tie night at Jason's wedding, it was determined that the bowties had to make a comeback. A night of steaks, booze and bowtie ensued. I had gotten up at 3:30am on saturday for a 6:15 flight, and didn't get to sleep till well after 1am the next day. It was a fun and exhausting weekend.
Matt fishing with Clint
A few weeks ago I went camping and fishing with my long time friend Clint. The plan was to camp in 11 Mile State Park, and then get up and go fishing in the reservoir and the Platte river along 11 mile canyon and into Deckers. We made it to the state park fine, but the reservoir was still frozen over! It was cold and windy, and we decided to hike 10-15 minutes from the car around a cove and to a sheltered campsite with some trees. On our way there we saw a sign that said 'beware of mountain lions'. We also looked down and saw what we believed as fresh mountain lion tracks. needless to say we were a bit more alert at night sounds than we usually are. After some beverages and quick campfire activities we crashed and hunkered in for the cold night. We definitely won the polar bear camping award for that night.
The next day we made our way to the canyon, which is a part of the Platte river. The location was great, but I was ill equipped with my fishing gear to really catch anything. I had a spin cast rod with bass bait, in a river that is made for fly fishing for trout. Clint on the other hand looked like Orvis threw up on him. he had every piece of fly fishing attire and accessories you would ever want. He did not catch anything. We made our way up to Deckers, a 'town' that consisted of a bait shop and a liquor store. I got some trout bait, and actually had more fun fishing there for the 45 minutes we were there. We made it back to the city around dinner time and called it a productive scouting trip for when we go down next time!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Low Key Weekend
After traveling last weekend, we decided to take this weekend to relax. Friday night we tried a new sushi restaurat in Lo Do, Aoba, and really liked it! Saturday morning we broke out our bikes for the first time this year. It was a perfect day for a ride and we ended up going 15 miles, which isn't too bad for the first time out. Naomi and Ryan came over Saturday night to play some Carbles, watch some basketball, and drink some wine. Sunday was a super chill day - went for a walk, took a drive in the suburbs, watched Skyfall.
While we love traveling and seeing family, we also love relaxing weekends like these!
While we love traveling and seeing family, we also love relaxing weekends like these!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)