The Weekender

 I spent most of last week in MN at our corporate HQ. We're gearing up to celebrate our Centennial this year. There's a cool old tractor sitting in the main hallway there.

No trip to The Cities would be complete without a stopover at Ike's in the airport for their meal in a glass. I need to find a source for jalabeanos.

Babysitting the Boys Next Door

This weekend we're babysitting the neighbors' dogs. When you look up the definition of "lap dog", these guys show up. Hard to believe such cute dogs will shred a new leash and collar within minutes.

No Mom

While JP was in FL, we had fun here. Tater tots and fish sticks for most meals.

We took advantage of the 2-for-1 fish & chips coupon I had for the Tilted Kilt. The boy's love that place.

We turned up the amps and rocked out to Rocksmith for a while, too. CP is really getting good on the bass.

JP in FL

JP went to FL for her BFF's B-Day. The two of them planned to lounge on the beach, but it was winter in FL, and they stayed bundled up the whole time. The sand on Clearwater Beach is almost as nice as Siesta Key.

On their last night there, the clouds finally broke and the sun exposed itself to them.

Country Estate

Our ex-neighbors moved into their new country estate. They hosted the superbowl party for the remaining neighbors. Can't wait for their pool to warm up!

More Cowbell!

I used my birthday cash (Thanks everyone!) to get a cowbell (and cymbal and tambourine) for the drum set. Gotta have a cowbell! The boys were very excited - the first song we played on Rockband 3 was Don't Fear the Reaper. It's amazing how much louder real percussion instruments are compared to rubber ones.

New Rug

For my b-day, we went on an adventure to Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha. Our mission: find a rug for the living room. Not only did we find one, but we were able to stuff it in JP's car and take it home with us.

The animals all lent a paw to help us unroll and position it.

Vitamin D Production in January

We have been blessed with some excellent weather this winter. Most of the storms have passed by us to the East and left us with sunshine and blue skies. There's nothing like soaking in some warmth and taking a nap in the blazing sun.

The animals are no different. L follows spots of sun throughout the day.

60 degrees in January!! Love it!

January Birthdays

January is Birthday Month for us. Three out of four of us celebrate growing older in the first month of the new year. This year for BG's special day, we hit a new Italian place by Menard's where Bennigan's used to be. Very tasty!

For JP's day, we hit the Cracker Barrel. The boys love the portion sizes there. GP is into biscuits and gravy now. It's amazing how good some foods taste once you try them.

For my special day, we stopped off at Granite City in Omaha. The boys don't eat from the kids' menu anymore.

Respect the Keytar

One of our musical X-Mas gifts was Rockband 3 with a Keytar. The boys have seen keytars in old 80s videos, but were clueless about how they work. Now they know. It's a bit more tricky to play than the plastic guitars with four buttons. I'm looking forward to jamming along with some fun tunes.