Monday, June 23, 2008

Baptism Weekend!

I am in the process of recovering from Emilie and Abigail's BAPTISM WEEKEND! It started Friday morning when Amy arrived from Sheboygan. She got in around 7:30 a.m., and, by 9:00 we were all loaded in the Pilot, and headed for the Minnesota Zoo (in Apple Valley). Hadn't been there for YEARS, so it was a FABULOUS day of seeing the old, and the new (the new Grizzly exhibit is AMAZING!).


One of the bears in the exhibit.


Abigail, me, and Emilie in one of the "tunnels" in the Grizzly Coast exhibit.


Me with one of the "photo op" chickens at the "Farm at the Zoo".



Amy with one of the "photo op" chickens in the "Farm at the Zoo" exhibit.


Me and mom during the "sunny part of the day" on the back patio.


Abigail after being baptized!


Emilie being baptized!!



The Nordhues after the baptism!

After a STEAMY day there (summer decided to arrive in a blaze of heat, sun, and humidity!), we headed back to Robin and Dave's to await the arrival of mom and dad, and Dave's parents. They all got there, and we spent a LOVELY evening catching up. Robin and Dave painted the lawn furniture in the back yard, and got outdoor cushions for everything, as well as pulled all the weeds in the patio and cleaned up the backyard, so we spent LOTS of time out there this weekend enjoying the fresh air.

Mom and dad stayed with me, so I got to spend Friday and Saturday night tossing and turning on my sofa. I've started to learn to swing dance with Pat S. (my roller blading "coach"), so have been down in the back all weekend, and the nights on the sofa haven't helped ONE BIT!.

Saturday, we got up, and headed to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. Hadn't been there for awhile, so it was nice to get back there too! We bought some rhubarb, so that we could make a rhubarb cake, and a pie, but, the rhubarb cake was such a hit, that we made two...so didn't get to the pie at all (maybe next weekend?!). We also had breakfast sausages at "our" grilling vendor, and Amy tried fish tacos for the first time!

After the farmer's market, we went back to Robin and Dave's to "regroup", then headed out for some shopping. Dad and the girls and I got to spend some time at JoAnn, etc. while the "women" shopped for "unmentionables", and then we TRIED to go to Barnes & Noble at the Galleria, but they were having a power outage, so we ended up going back to the house, and then heading to the B&N at the Mall of America. CRAZY to try to do ANYTHING at the Mall of America on a Saturday, but it was "relatively" painless!

Saturday night, we had Fat Lorenzo's Pizza (to DIE for!), and spent the evening at the house...just "hanging out" for the evening...nice and relaxing! We spent more time on the "patio", and it was LOVELY to be outside...not too hot...not too sticky! We also had the opportunity to view a slideshow of Robin and Dave's trip through Greece and Italy...every SINGLE picture. Robin warned us that there were A BUNCH (approximately 1,000!). I recommend EDITING the slides before showing them to people in the future...it took awhile to get through them!

Sunday morning we got up, got ready, went to City Church, and then headed to Lake Harriet for Emilie and Abigail's baptisms. There were NINE people from City Church who got baptized, and it was a nice service. The girls were going to get baptized LAST summer, but something came up, and they had to postpone until this year. We took our blankets and lawn chairs, and all sat on the beach to watch...it was very cool!

After the baptism, we went back to the house for awhile, had lunch, and decided that "low key" was a good thing. Mom and dad, and Dave's parents left after a BBQ lunch, and Amy, Dave, Robin, and I decided to lay around and watch a movie. We saw "The Holiday" with Kate Winslett, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law. It was REALLY good! I'm going to have to add it to my DVD collection!
After the movie, we hung out for awhile, then I went downtown to meet Janet to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Guthrie (see previous blog entry). What can I say...it was AMAZING! The actors were brilliant, the sets were stunning, the costumes were ethereal...there were fairies flying in from all corners of the theater and through the ceiling, the "players" (Bottom and his crew) were FABULOUS (and that's saying something since that's the part of the show that I usually dislike the most!), the staging was amazing, and I was enthralled for the entire time I was there. Wish I could say GO SEE IT, but, last night was the closing performance...too bad...it really WAS a "must see"!

Now it's Monday. My back is still KILLING ME. I've done TONS of laundry. I'm trying to straighten up this PIG STY of an apartment. I'm PACKING boxes, and going through things to get rid of stuff I don't need, and I'm getting ready for NEXT weekend, when my cousin Kim and her daughter Ashley are supposed to come up for a visit. I hope it works out...we haven't had much luck in the last couple of years with the "getting together" thing.

Hope YOU had a fabulous weekend as well!

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