Will Work for Big Wheel

Shaun and I were busy this weekend with baby shower preparations. The mother-to-be is the sister of one of Shaun's college friends, and we got involved because Shaun's friend (and party planner) lived out of town and needed some help. I'm not really a baby shower fan, but I do enjoy a good floral arranging project.

The theme was Born to Be Wild, including hot pink and zebra print decorations. After much planning and searching for just the right flowers at several Peoria grocery stores on Friday evening, here is how they turned out.

Super adorable. The animals are puzzle pieces from a Melissa and Doug puzzle, and the vases are fabric-covered orange juice containers. Our reward for all of our hard work? A big wheel from Kroger (delicious cookie ice cream sandwich), purchased with the last of our flowers. Totally worth it! The roses and daisies came from Fresh Market. They were really beautiful and very reasonably priced. The filler flowers all came from Kroger. A very fun project, indeed.

Labor Day 2010

Labor Day festivities were once again held at Grandma Norma's and Grandpa Joe's. This has become quite the tradition in the family and is always enjoyed by about 30 people. This year a few changes were in order, including smoked meat exchanged for a crab boil. The crab boil included about 25 pounds of food in a 60 quart pot. Joshua, Ryan, Dad, and Grandpa took charge of the fire and boiling, and I held the beer. In less than an hour and a half we were dumping the mountain of food onto the table. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, and the process was a new experience. Other activities for the day included the annual rolle bolle tournament, shooting clay pigeons, watching the many babies, and taking many pictures, both professional and for fun. Here are a few...

More weekend updates as time allows.

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Notes for next year, not exciting to read now, but so helpful later.

- Crab boil ingredient included 6 pounds of shrimp, 6 pounds of crab, 4 pounds of mild Polish sausage, 10 pounds of red potatoes (get smaller next year), 8 corn ears (do more next year), 4 boxes of Zatarain's seasoning, 2 onions, 3 lemons, 1/2 cup of salt, 7 gallons of water with 2 extras. Perfect amount to serve 26 people with minimal leftovers. Only bring one loaf of bread next year, thinly sliced. Butter, cocktail sause, hot sauce, and sour cream on the side.

- Consider rolle bolle teams of 4 to allow for a shorter double elimination tournament. Single elimination was too short, but the double elimination with teams of three was too long.

- 2 pounds of chicken for the non-seafood lovers. Cooking them in the oven in a foil pan worked great.

- Note to Shaun: don't defrost the shrimp in the refrigerator overnight.

- We love Ove Glove!

A Lovely Wedding

Joshua and I drove to Monticello for Betsy and Adam's wedding this morning. They got married in Allerton Park at 10. It was already quite hot, but it was a beautiful day. Betsy looked beautiful and happy, and I was quite jealous of the no-frills, relaxed theme of the entire event. The ceremony lasted less than 10 minutes, followed by enjoying a small cake, and then snapping a few pictures. Many years of happiness to Betsy and Adam!

Enjoying the Weekend

After a full week back at school with students, I was really in the mood to have a fun weekend. Last night Shaun and I visited the Erin Feis festival down by the river. Before making it to the festival, we hit up Billy's Phillys for dinner with Crack Shack ice cream for dessert. Both were delicious. Other stops of the evening included Junction City for art on the boardwalk and another craft fair near the river. Here are a couple pictures from the evening.

Tomorrow we're headed to Monticello for Betsy's wedding. It should be a pretty casual affair, which I think will be nice. The last fun news for this weekend was the delivery of our crab boil pot. Next weekend we'll be making crab, shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes for 30 people, which requires a very large pot. So fun! (Silly, I know, but I just couldn't resist climbing in.)

Back to Work I Go

I'm headed back to school today. Summer vacation is ended, and that's okay. It's time to get back into a routine. Students don't arrive until Wednesday, so two days of meetings to enjoy.

Back from Vacation

We had beautiful weather and lots of fun on our Wisconsin trip this year. Here are a few highlights.

We took the scenic route on the way up and stopped along the way to see the sights.
The Uff-da-Mart in Westby has always intrigued me. It turns out that it's not very exciting afterall, but still a worthwhile stop.

This makes me smile.

A large Catholic church in Dickeyville that has interesting shrines, a gift shop, and a year round basement sale.

Finally in at our destination, with plenty of time on the lake and in Hayward visiting some memorable places.

Going on Vacation

Tomorrow we're leaving for a week of vacation at Joshua's grandparents' house in Wisconsin. This has become a yearly tradition for me, and has always been part of Joshua's life. Lots of time in the sun and on the water await us, so it should be a fun time. Hopefully I'll do a better job of taking pictures this year, so I'll have them to share in a week.

In other news, today I started knitting. I woke up and said, "I'm going to knit!" After a trip to Michael's, I had a beginner's booklet, some yarn, and needles, and I was ready to begin. Several hours of practice later, I think I'm ready to start on a scarf. Not exactly what I had in mind in my knitting dreams, but it seems that lovely sweaters like this one are a bit challenging to begin with. Maybe someday...