I know you were all DYING to know what I did this weekend...

Ok - where to begin! So much to talk about. Let's start with late Wednesday night and the arrival of my parentals. We haven't seen them since Christmas, so it was pretty exciting waiting for them to get here. I'm not sure when, but sometime ago my parents made the change from my "parents" (said in a booming voice of doom) to my friends. Gotta say, I like it. Anywho, they got here fine and Thursday I ended up having thing after thing pop up at work and I just couldn't get the flock out of there!! Argh!! So I finally got home and we had a fun dinner out with Leigh. Friday I told myself that no matter what, I was done working after 10:30. And I was. I brought home fresh donuts from the bakery in town and finally got a chance to sit down and relax with my houseguests. Cole spent the better part of the day fishing with Grampa at the lake (he caught like 25 fish) and mom and I kept Abbey up at the house or in the back yard. Mom's still gimping around on her foot, so we weren't able to do anything that involved lots of walking.

Scott ditched us for his buddies Friday night, but that was just fine. After the kids got in bed, mom and I opened up our laptops in tandem and got to planning what we were going to do while in port on our upcoming Alaskan cruise. We pretty much got the entire thing mapped out - mom even made up a lovely spreadsheet/itinerary. She even has penciled in what we're eating - ie, "Skagway, Lunch, Sweet Tooth Cafe - Hamburgers." I wonder, what if I don't want hamburgers? Will she have to re-do her itinerary?? Will this make our trip spin out of organized control?? Hmmm, maybe I'll just shut up and eat the hamburger just to keep things calm and collected.

Saturday morning we woke up and ate a yummy breakfast at Crack In The Barrel - aka Cracker Barrel. Then it was down to Dallas to watch Disney on Ice! The kids had a ball dancing and clapping. I paid a whopping $25 each for their silly light up toys to flash when the lights were down - and Abbey was waving hers around like a majorette on crack, all the while barely missing the back of the woman's head right in front of her. I kept grabbing her Princess Ariel weapon and telling her to be careful, be careful. I finally grabbed her hand and whispered, "You HAVE to be careful! You're going to hit that lady in the head!" To which she matter-of-factly replied, "I already did."

Saturday evening all of our friends came over - with the exception of two (I know you're reading this) who decided to skip MY dinner party in honor of my 'rents so that they could visit a little town called Boston for the first time. Perhaps you've heard of it? I'm sure they're having a dull time and wish they would have stayed for our BBQ....Suuuuure. Anyway, I got some fresh burgers smooshed together at the local meat market, some hot dogs, and a baked potato salad (sort of like German potato salad, mom said...never had it, but I'll take her word for it). Holli brought over some yummy chips and salsa that went rather quickly and Gayle brought over Scott's favorite, key lime pie, along with a chocolate sundae pie. Mmmmmm....pie. Everyone had a great time laughing and talking. I was glad that my parents got a chance to get to know my peeps!

Sunday came all too fast. Time for them to head home. We just stayed around the house, Cole and Grampa fished again and mom and I tied up the loose ends of the cast in stone itinerary. It's always sad saying bye, but we've got the cruise to look forward to in just 10 short weeks. Now that's exciting!!

On a side note - My brother in law turned the big 3-0 last week on the 18th! Happy Birthday Zac!!! I couldn't have hand picked a better guy for Laurie and I'm so glad that you're ours!! In honor of his birthday, Scott and I surprised him with this....

Happy birthday, old man!! Welcome to the Third Decade Club!