Food + Friends = Fun

It was an unusually busy weekend for us, but it was a lot of fun. Friday night we met Valerie and Kevin at [Hickok’s](http://www.hickokssteakhouse.com/) for drinks and appetizers before heading across the street to the new Blue Plate Diner for dinner. Our neighbors Eric and Julie own Blue Plate and Kevin and Valerie had never been. The food was good – although not really healthy – but we had a great time. Shortly after we sat down, Sarah and Matt showed up for dinner and joined our table. Since Matt, Sarah, Steve and Kevin all wanted to talk about Triathelons, Valerie and I amused ourselves at our end of the table.

Saturday offered a rare treat with a visit from my good friend [Cindy](http://herethereandback.blogspot.com/) and her family. It was good to see them as it had been three years since we’d been together. Unfortunately, the time to chat was too short since we were due at Sarah and Dennis’ for dinner! I did enjoy catching up with Cindy and seeing Gary and the girls. It’s amazing how grown up they are! Alison will be 16 this year. All of them are so beautiful and sweet. Sylvia and Madeleine enjoyed the cats, but Alison excused herself to go outside and continue reading her new Harry Potter book. Can’t say that I blame her for wanting to read it!

Once the Gerlach/Muller clan left we jumped in the car and headed to Sarah and Dennis’. Sarah, again, cooked a great dinner and we had a blast. Dennis had bought a box full of old letter tiles, similar to Scrabble, and had invented a word game combining Scrabble and Boggle so the four of us played that after dinner. It was really fun despite the fact I normally hate games. Around 11:00 we were getting tired so it was time to head home. Sarah and Steve planned a bike ride Sunday morning so I knew Steve needed to get some sleep.

Sunday morning Sarah arrived around 8 and she and Steve took off on their ride. I enjoyed the cool morning with my coffee and paper on my porch swing. Luckily, I wasn’t attacked my mosquitoes; they saved me for later. Steve called to say he was heading back and I started working in the yard. This has become a weekend project for us. We’ve been trying to work a few hours on the yard to keep it looking nice and to get some exercise. I wasn’t planning on a full-fledged yard day, but that’s what I ended up doing. Steve returned and started mowing the lawn and I became obsessed with trimming the hedges. Several hours later we were hot, sweaty and tired, but the yard looked great.

Sunday evening we rolled the grill onto the driveway and had a cookout to say farewell to neighbors Mick and Carrie. They’re only moving about three blocks away, but we’ll miss them! They currently live in a house across the street with the same floor plan as ours. Eric, Julie and Eva came out and the seven of us had a great time. Everyone brought something to add to dinner and we enjoyed fresh grilled corn, avocado salad, burgers, brats, and yummy strawberry shortcake. Once we were all full and the mess was cleaned up, it was time to relax and read Harry Potter. Eric and I were re-reading #6 while Steve and Carrie enjoyed #7. Mick, who hadn’t gotten on the HP Bandwagon, was trying to catch up by starting #2. It was a funny sight to see all of us lounging on the driveway with books in hands. Steve stayed up late and finished #7 so I need to get #6 done soon!

What a weekend! This sounds like my mom’s social schedule!