Rachel called a moratorium on accidents for Saturday, so thankfully no one got hurt then or yesterday. Originally Rachel was going to work on Saturday, but her urgent care doc said no way Jose. So we got an extra day with Rachel – woohoo!

Amy made a nice breakfast for everyone (which was a second breakfast for the parents who have free breakfast at the hotel) which included sour dough coffeecake, scrambled eggs, and really yummy hashbrowned potatoes. Actually, it was all really yummy.

We decided that after the leisure lunch, we’d go see a movie. Although I’d seen Inception already, I was willing to see it again (it’s a fun movie) and everyone else was eager to see it. Amy drove us to a neat theater in a part of town I’ve not been before (can’t recall the name offhand) and we shared popcorn & watched the flick. I think everyone enjoyed it.

Amy drove us to Punch (think clowns) after the movie and we split some pizzas and a salad and an item they call the Pulcinella: a salad stuffed into a pizza crust that has bubbled up. It was all very tasty. We left Rachel playing Tetris on my phone in the restaurant while the four of us went to the liquor store nearby. I picked out an assortment of dessert items in the liquor store’s cheese shop while dad, mom, and Amy bought wine & beer & tonic water.

We returned home for some napping and then gameplay. Dad read while the rest of us played two games of Ingenious. Rachel won the first & I won the second. A fun game. We also ate the desserts I had bought, which were quite yummy.

The folks returned to their hotel (they’re experts at bus travel now) and we went to bed.

Sunday was to be Dim Sum & Winery day. We got up at a decent hour and had intended to be at Mandarin Kitchen before 10:30, but we got there at 10:30. The place was packed (literally – I felt like a sardine waiting to hear our name called) but we were seated in half an hour. The joint didn’t have an atmosphere so much as a cacophony (as dad noted). But the food was tasty and the five of us ate for $77 incl. tip. It was dad’s first Dim Sum experience and he wasn’t wowed by the food. But the rest of us enjoyed ourselves, despite the din.

Amy then drove us to Hastings, MN to the Alexis Bailly Vineyard. They have wine tastings for $5, and they give you a lot of wine for that fiver. They had 4 whites, 2 reds, a rose, sangria, and several dessert wines. There were actually a couple of wines that I liked (one even reminding me of the Granello I had in Italy that I liked). The folks who own the winery are very friendly and the place would be ideal for picnicking, if it hadn’t been so bloody hot that day.

In the gift shop, the girls bought two bottles of wine and I bought a baguette, a really nice Gran Queso (from Wisconsin), and some cheddar cheese curds (also from Wis). We returned to the house for some resting.

Since there was a heat index of around 100F, Amy decided to grill some veggies for our wine time. Apparently she didn’t need to salt anything, her sweat did the work. (No, not really, but damn was it hot). I was working on A & R’s computers to get my To Do list whittled down and got quite a few things accomplished. I may get it all done before I go – woohoo!

Wine time was wonderful – lots of yummy grilled veggies, cheese, beer bread & baguette slices, all of it tasty. While we were eating a cold front moved through, so we sat outside for awhile, until it threatened to rain. The folks returned to their hotel and the girls and I sat in the living room and looked up pets on adoption sites. Then it was bedtime (actually, past bedtime).

We’re all up now and getting ready. Looks like we’re going to Hell’s Kitchen for breakfast. The girls assure me that the homemade peanut butter is excellent, so maybe I’ll buy some for home. Gonna go brush my teeth now, then I’ll be good to go.

The folks and I are visiting Amy & Rachel this week. It’s been a fun, albeit interesting, trip thus far.

Amy’s 15 year old cat (which she’d had for 9 years) had been very sick and not eating. She and Rachel made the difficult decision on Tuesday to call the traveling vet to have him put down. Very sad. So after the folks and I arrived on Wednesday, I stayed with the girls & the folks checked into their hotel room. The vet was supposed to get there at 4:30pm. So we were all sitting with Fruvous upstairs in their bedroom. But she called at 4 to say she wouldn’t be able to make it until 6:30. Gah.

The girls decided to nap, so they napped and Fuvous slept with them. (Very cute – I got a photo.) After a bit he decided to wander. He wound up downstairs by the back door, so the girls decided he should have some outdoor time. So we spent the next hour or so following Fruvous around the yard. He wound up in front of the house, just resting & watching people go by. Around 6, Rachel carried him back into the house and he decided to sit in the basement for a bit. The vet didn’t show up at 6:30, however.

Fru returned to the main floor after a bit, and eventually back up to their bedroom. The vet arrived shortly before 7:30. She apologized for the lateness and removed the housecall charge from their final bill. She was very respectful of Amy & Rachel and Fruvous. The process went by pretty painlessly for Fruvous and the girls. They got to say their farewells and pet him during the process. He was a good cat.

We decided to get out of the house, so Rachel drove us to mom & dad’s hotel to pick them up, then took us to the Birchwood Cafe for a late supper. I had the Heirloom Tomato BLT, which was very tasty. The folks were returned to the hotel and we girls headed home.

Yesterday, like today, I had a blueberry bagel w/ cream cheese and a glass of milk for breakfast. Then Amy dropped me off at the hotel on her way to work. I spent the day with the parental units, having a working lunch with one of dad’s friends from Westar where I pitched using Drupal for Westar’s website to make it more immediate & interactive. We ate at Brit’s Pub, where I had very tasty fish & chips.

Amy was done with work around 4:30 and picked us up soon after. We then spent the evening at their house, having wine time in the kitchen and ice cream on their back deck. A very fun night. The folks then took the bus back to the hotel (successfully, on their own!)

Today started out nicely, except that Rachel had to go to a meeting, then work on a cover letter & update her resume. The folks made it back to the house via bus (but had to wait over 40 minutes for said bus) and then Amy took us off to Grumpy’s where Summit Brewery was having a cask of their beer for folks to try. Not being a regular beer fan (unless it’s beer bread, beer soup, or beer batter), I had a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. But the other’s tried this triple fermented beer (a golden ale, I think they called it) and seemed to enjoy it. Rachel was able to join us afterward, eating a little something from each of our plates (we all had far too much food) and having the Summit beer. She then rode her bike on home to finish up her typing and we went to Home Depot for a new faucet and then to Magers & Quinn bookstore.

It wasn’t until we were nearly to the bookstore that Amy remembered the Uptown Art Fair. But she found a place to park despite all the people there and we went to the bookstore. I picked up two books and met the folks perusing the fair. We were all a bit tired and headed back home.

After some napping, Dad decided to start working on Amy’s shelves in the basement. Amy joined him soon after, then later Rachel bounded down the steps – only to miss the last step. She fell & twisted her ankle, badly. Poor Rachel! After awhile, she was well enough to scoot backward up the steps and Amy drove her to Urgent Care. So the folks and I worked on those shelves, getting them completed only to find out they STILL weren’t stable when built. Dad declared them unsafe, so we took them apart and have since recommended to Amy to take ’em back.

Mom and I made beer bread (which by the end of the evening we were calling Brother Bob’s buttless bitter bundt beer bread) which we wound up putting in a bundt pan when we couldn’t find a bread pan. Then we had wine time from last night’s leftovers. The girls got back from Urgent Care around 9pm and had some beer bread, cheese, and ice cream. Then the folks took the bus back to their hotel. The girls and I chatted some, deciding that despite the twisted ankle, we’d had a good day, and headed for bed.

Here’s hoping tomorrow will be less eventful.