March 28th - March 30th Friends, Fun and a Drink Contest

This past weekend was so much fun! On Thursday, a good friend and her 3 year old son flew in to stay with us. It was wonderful to see her and get to hang out with her son. Having breakfast with a 3 year old each morning really brought a lot of joy to our days. And having the evenings to catch up was a good reminder that Facebook is not enough!! 

Saturday we had plans to participate in our community yard sale, but the rain kept us home. Sunday, we went to the Spring Fling Music Festival at Curtis Hixon Park. We had VIP tickets so we got a great umbrella table in the shade and got to listen to the bands. The weather was beautiful. 

 The big excitement of the weekend was at our friends' Vodka party. They had a brilliant idea to have a flavored Vodka party. It included a very serious drink making competition with judge, score sheets and a very serious trophy. Glenn decided on a whim to enter a Caramel Apple "Money Shot" - the garnish was a dollar bill!! It was the winner!!! He was so excited and surprised!

March 20 - March 23rd: Angie's Parents come to visit

We were very excited to welcome my parents the weekend of March 20th. They joined our trivia team on Thursday night. We placed SECOND! Our first placing in a long time. It was very exciting. 

Friday, we headed over to the casino. Glenn turned heads with his dessert waffle at the buffet. 

We had the best time! At one point, Glenn, my mom and I were sitting a bank of machines and hitting all the bonuses. It was so much fun! 

On Saturday, we hung out at home by the pool playing games. We used the occasion of their visit to taste some of the wines we'd been storing. 

Overall, a wonderful weekend. 

Glenn's Bucket List": Seeing Joan Rivers Live March 14, 2014

Glenn has very few things on his bucket list so I am so excited when we can cross one off. Joan Rivers came to town. 

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Funny Side Story: We went to the wrong theater and stumbled upon the L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Party - a huge gathering of Scientology. We knew we were in the wrong place when we saw the fancy outfits, the red carpets and the security men in suits. 

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Back to Joan -  After Glenn and I crammed ourselves into the teeny tiny seats of the mezzaine - Joan's opening act came out it. It was a live singer backed by a 5 piece band. He sang old favorites, jumped into the audience and kissed the hands of the lovely ladies. Both Glenn and I remarked that this must be what old Vegas was like. 

Then Joan came out and she was fabulous! We had to laugh a little that before the show, the stage hands came out and taped huge pieces of paper down with very large writing with her act outline on them. She told some old jokes in new ways. Overall it was a fantastic show! I am so glad we went. 

3.7.14 - 3.9.14 Spring Training and Camping at Myakka River State Park

Friday night we packed and headed down to Myakka River State Park. We left the house around 6:30 pm and had everything set up by 9:30 pm. We had a great campsite 13 in the quiet loop. Overnight it was pretty chilly, but we made it through. Saturday morning was gorgeous. We had a relaxing morning drinking coffee and reading by the fire. 

Around 11:30 am, we headed out to Sarasota for the Baltimore Orioles v. Boston Red Sox Spring Training game at Ed Smith Field. It was nice and sunny! 

The Red Sox had a rough day. We'll blame it on the Split Squad. 

After the game, we headed to a local bar call Beer Box. They had a row of Cigar City on tap and we were really impressed with the knowledgeable bartender. 

After happy hour - we headed to Venice to have dinner with my grandparents. We tried for Sharkey's but the line was 1 hour and a half long so we ended up at the Daiquiri Deck. The food was pretty good and the oysters were great. It was fun getting to see them. 

We headed back to the campsite for wine by the fire. It was a beautiful clear night so we got to see a lot of stars. 

Sunday morning we packed up and headed to Bradenton for the Pittsburgh Pirates v. Boston Red Sox Spring Training. Again, the day was gorgeous. Buckner was pitching so that was fun. We got to watch him warming up. 

The Park was pretty cool. It has a bar in the outfield. 

Overall, it was a terrific weekend! 

3.1.14 Color or Dye Run, Alton Brown and a Day at Disney World

We had a great busy weekend! We started Saturday morning with the Run or Dye 5K! It's a fun run where volunteers throw dyed cornstarch all over you as you run through the course.

 We had a blast and even managed to run a little here and there. We weren't as messy as I had anticipated and most of it came off. 

Glenn and I both have a couple of discolored spots, but nothing too noticeable. 

Saturday night, we went to Alton Brown's Edible Inevitable Tour. They asked us not to take picture so we only have the set up. It was an awesome show - over 2 and 1/2 hours. Alton sang a few songs about food, gave a short version of his speech "The 10 Things I am Pretty Sure I Know For Sure About Food",  but the best was his two inventions: a Mega Bake oven (based on the Easy Bake Oven), and a flash freeze ice cream maker made from fire extinguishers. He had audience volunteers for both and the audience member - Chrissy - for the Mega Bake was a little drunk so it was hilarious. We both really enjoyed - especially since we had no idea was the expect. 

Sunday morning we woke up early and knew it was going to be a gorgeous day so we wanted to get out and enjoy. Glenn threw out the idea of going to Disney World so off we went. We wanted to try using the new Fast Pass+ system, but that didn't work out so well. We were excited Club Cool had new soda flavors. Then we went to the Biergarten German buffet for lunch. It was really good. 

We enjoyed the food and the live band. After lunch, we went over to the Magic Kingdom to meet the talking Mickey. This is a new innovation that Mickey Mouse will speak to you. Usually, the characters are silent. It was pretty cool! 

We also got to see the Celebration Block Party. 

Overall, a very fun weekend!