Planning Tomorrow's Nap and other Weekend Adventures

So Duke got to come into our living room one last time as a resident.  He'll be back as a visitor.

 Leon loved him up good and said good bye.

Meri and I took off as soon as she got home from work on Friday with Duke in the kennel in the van.  He rode the six hours really well.  We stopped half way through at a spooky rest area (it was getting dark) and each of us took turns walking him while the other ran into the restrooms.  

I gave Meri the keys and she was able to drive through the big city with the quirky turns without any problems.  It helps to be 11 pm and minimal traffic...  We hit TONS on the way back through.

We got to Maddy and Matthew's around 12:30 and they had stayed up to greet us.  We got the dog walked and settled down for the night.  Matthew has never had a dog before so they've both been excited for their new addition.  

The next morning, Matthew had to work, so Maddy, Meri and I went up town to the local farmer's market where the girls admired this dog.  

We love their farmer's market.  

It stretches for a LOT of blocks with entertainers here and there.  Got some authentic tacos and some crazy flavored, frozen fruit pops.  YUM!

Then hit up the Dollar Tree for iron wreath frames and Hobby Lobby for flowers to put on them.  Maddy was on a decorative mission and we were her partners in crafting.  We also went to Ross Dress for Less.  We love that place!  Meri got lots of clothes and even a cat dress...

We spent most of the afternoon making the wreaths.  Meri and I each made one large one, but Maddy had four to make.  Oh shoot.  I didn't get a pic of her trio of smaller ones...  They were adorable!  Then a larger one for her kitchen.  It's in the kitchen pic further down where they're making bagels.

I had asked Maddy if she wanted some of the plants from my landscaping before I'd left home and she said YES PLEASE!  Two of each!  I dug up three black eyed susans, several clumps of basil and a few tender shoots of lemon balm.  I was surprised to find the lemon balm!  I thought the basil had overgrown the whole herb garden!  Love that stuff.  It smells so good.  

So I got out her gardening tools and got to work on the side garden.  Digging out weeds and planting things.  The black eyed susans went out front of the house.  

While I did that, the kids all took Duke for a walk.  They went a LONG ways and on the way back, Duke was tired.  He stopped at each house sidewalk and looked up at each house.  "Is THIS it??!... pant pant"  darn.  Next house, stop, "How about THIS one?  Can I be done yet? pant pant pant." shoot.

By the time they got back to their own yard, he had saliva dripping from his mouth and he was dog tired.  He crashed as soon as they got inside and napped a good long time.

He excels at napping.

While they were gone a neighbor across the street had come over to chat with me.  He hadn't met the new owners yet and thought I was them.  He brought me a rose from his garden...  He also knew the previous owner and informed me that I was planting things on top of some tulips.  hmm  I hadn't seen any evidence of that and told him what I was planting.  He heard basil and lemon balm and actually scoffed at me!  "You can't eat THAT!"  and proceeded to go get me some tomato plants that he'd been gifted and a 5 gallon pail of mulch.  So Maddy has a couple tomato plants now too!

Then the kids got back and after he was introduced to everyone and chit chatted a bit more, he went home.  Maddy brought me something cold to drink and the girls dragged around chairs to sit in and helped me out.  It all got done and I hope the plants all survived the trip.  They looked pretty bedraggled.

I played a two player board game with the girls that afternoon.  What a fun game!  Klask.  We're going to have to invest in that one for home...

and Maddy and Matthew played with Duke a lot.  

Matthew was determined to get Duke to use the new dog bed they'd gotten for him, but Duke would rather just lay on the hard wood floors.  It's probably cooler...  

Matthew got him to "stay" but when we left him alone out of our sight, he went back to the floor.  They'll figure it out.

Maddy had burgers in mind for dinner so we all participated in the prep and made "juicy lucys"...  I'd never heard of them either, but you put a piece of cheese inside the hamburger before broiling.  Wow, was that good!  Also on the menu was grape salad, a favorite.

After supper was cleared away, they pulled out some board games and we had a great time playing Bears vs Babies and Exploding Kittens.  I'd never played the Bears one, but it was a riot!  And I'm terrible at it.  But I'll get better...  Meri has it at home too so we'll get some practice in.

We also walked a few blocks away to a wonderful little musically themed ice cream parlor and got their musical flavor of the day.  I don't remember the name of the one that we got, but Meri got the Elvis, which was a peanut butter ice cream.  Oh dear, that was good!  But I think she left the leftovers of it in Maddy's freezer...

After we got back to the house, Maddy wanted to make onion bagels for breakfast and a late night snack.  I sauteed the onions 

and the girls worked on the dough.

I'll post the recipe another day.  It was 10pm by the time the dough had risen enough to form the actual bagels and I was exhausted so I bowed out and went to bed.  They promised they'd wake me up for a fresh warm bagel, but they didn't!  Meri said she talked to me when she came to bed, but I don't remember that either, so maybe they DID offer me one...  Oh well.  We had them for breakfast and they were SO yummy.  Maddy had made bagels for a 4H fair project years ago and that knowledge has paid off!

On Sunday, after church, Meri and I headed for home, and I only took a wrong turn once!  Apparently we'd been talking and suddenly we're in a city with stop lights... I don't remember this from the way out.... Dig out the GPS quick!  We had to backtrack five miles.  Then Meri drove and we took a couple more wrong turns, but she's blaming my navigational skills of not repeating what the GPS says.  I'm blaming her for not listening to me or looking at the signs...  We got over it and enjoyed the rest of trip. Once we knew where we were...

We got back home JUST in time for a birthday party for Jen and Ryan.  Robb had knocked himself out cooking all the sides, making the cake and grilling.  The massive amount of dishes used just got done getting cleaned up this morning. 

Ryan and Jen's birthdays are just a couple days apart.  No photos were allowed, but I got one of the cake a split second after they blew it out together.

All in all, it was a good but bittersweet weekend.  Meri was pretty emotional at parts but is happy that Duke will be well taken care of.  

She's planning a friend's trip out there soon for a another weekend to see Duke again and of course Maddy and Matthew.  

They're well settled in their house by now and Maddy is having a great time with the decorating.  Owning is so much more fun than renting!  

Until you have to kill spiders or mow.