Cottage Week

What a great week it was at the cottage. Evelyn and Erin especially lucked out with 7 full days of it. I had to work most of the week but at least spent almost every evening up there. Here are some of the good memories:

It was warm out and Evelyn decided she shouldn't wear a shirt most of the time. We decided she could win that battle.

We caught some turtles but Evie would not pet them.
Great family dinners on the deck.
My annual birthday cake for Erin. I actually ate a piece.
Awesome skiing and tubing aside from a burst eardrum.
A very rare family picture with everyone present.

Taking a boat ride to go get dessert. Evelyn volunteered to drive.

The Soper Wedding

We enjoyed another fun wedding last weekend. Evie was invited so I was looking forward to some good father daughter dancing. Evie had other ideas.

The wedding was at a beautiful golf course so we snagged some family pictures.

Evie was itching to dance. After patiently waiting with Sam through the bride and groom dances she burst out onto the floor and was a crazy girl.
She danced nicely with Max, Lydia, Sam, Elizabeth, and Grandma. Finally it was my time so I went out there and tried to dance with her. She ran away from me twice but I thought that was just part of her dancing. Finally when I tried to dance with her a third time she walked me over to a chair on the side of the dance floor, pointed, and said "daddy sit." Wow, that was some cruel rejection. Barely 2 and she's already turning me down :(

The Vyn Wedding

I was a groomsman for the 4th time last weekend. My good college friend Reuben tied the knot in Lacrosse Wisconsin.

It was an excellent few days and I was surprised by the scenery in western Wisconsin.

The rehearsal dinner was a river cruise.

The groomsmen played 9 holes on the morning of the wedding.
The wedding went off without incident...

and the after party was a blast! Eric, Rob, and I enjoyed midnight runs to Perkins every night to get our fill of eggs and bacon.

Calvin reunion.

Welcome to the gang Amanda!

Erin turns 30!

About 4 months ago Erin told me for her 30th birthday she wanted a surprise party and to go to Mexico. I knew her request was partially a joke, but I know there is some truth in all of Erin's jokes. So I started planning.

We decided to spend Erin's birthday weekend in Chicago. My surprise was to have 4 of Erin's Calvin friends meet us in Chicago and hang out with us for the weekend. As far as I know it was a complete surprise to Erin and she was very pleased.

We had a short, but great time downtown for the weekend. On Saturday night we dressed up and went to the Broadway show Billy Elliot, which was really good.

It felt like we spent most of the rest of our weekend in restaurants. We went to P.F. Chang's, Rock Bottom, a Mexican breakfast restaurant, and The Cheesecake Factory within a 20 hour span.

Erin received a very fitting Chinese word in her fortune cookie.

P.F. Chang's

It was a beautiful and warm Sunday to walk the Magnificent Mile. On the other side of the canal in the picture below they were filming scenes from Transformers 3.

I also fulfilled one of Erin's biggest birthday wishes...shopping at H&M. I was really glad Sarah and Berniz were there to shop with Erin.

The Cheesecake Factory!

So I think I made Erin's transition to 30 a pleasant one. Happy Birthday Erin!