Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be a kickoff to summer, and I think this weekend kicked it off perfectly. The weather was gorgeous; nearly eighty degrees today. And we did just enough to keep from getting bored while still getting in just the right amount of rest and relaxation.
On Saturday morning we spent a couple of hours at the dog park with Brooskey where I fried the back of my neck. (Vixen can't go back to the park until her spay incision heals.) Then Abbie met us at the park to play with Brooskey and exchange gifts - we gave her the Disney animation cell we bought her for her first birthday, and she gave Brooskey the toy she bought him at Disney World. Abbie is growing up way too fast. She's about to take off walking by herself any time now. And she's been saying some words for a while, but Saturday was the first time we heard any of them. We got to hear her say "quack quack", "go go go", and "wow"!
That night, after Chris went to help a friend pick up a keg of beer for his cookout the next day, we went over to our best friends' house for a few drinks, and helped them brainstorm venue ideas for their wedding.
Sunday morning, since we had two parties to go to and would be gone most of the day, we decided to take Brooskey for a walk down to the Gaspee Days arts & crafts festival at the end of our street. We wanted to get him good and tired... unfortunately the plan backfired, as I was the one ready to crawl into his crate and go to sleep when we got back! I did end up bailing on the second party (the one with the aforementioned keg) early, and was in bed asleep earlier than I usually am on weekdays.
Yesterday (Monday) we woke up to absolutely beautiful weather. We hosed down the patio furniture - and the dogs, too, because they (Brooskey especially) love to jump into any kind of running water - and just sat out and enjoyed the sunshine for a while. Then our friends who hosted the second party the night before came over, and we all walked down to the arts & crafts festival again, dogless this time. We had some yummy carnival food: Italian sausage on torpedo rolls with onions and peppers, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. And we bought some dog bakery goodies for the "kids" and some fudge for ourselves. After the festival, we spent some more time out on the deck with Brooskey and Vixen, and just chilled and relaxed the rest of the day. We ended the night with a movie, Into the Wild.
The whole weekend was a nice little mini-vacation, and the first time in a long time that I've felt like I've had a real break. I think I can handle a month of work... and then I've decided to use some of my vacation days to take the week of the Fourth of July (my birthday), whether anybody comes to visit or not.
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