A Fine Weekend

Once again, it was the "weekend of weekends" back in the G.F. area, in which everybody was invited back over to Robb and Jen's house for a fun-filled day of food, fun, laughter, and the all-famous parade.

This year, however, the skies were not threatening to unleash its fury on us like it did last year, complete with a downpour and lightning strikes so close that it made your hair stand on end. The temperature reached into the 90's with clear, blue skies above us. This day would make some pretty good memories.

I, for one, got to a late start on Saturday. I got up late from the night before as I golfed a full round of 18 at a nearby course, so was just a tic sore. Also, I had to get some of my clothes washed since I had nothing to wear, and then Dad was asking me to get some "brunch" ready so he could start grilling. I was under the gun, so to speak, as I was trying to get some chores done prior to getting to G.F.

I finally got ready and arrived at Robb's at around 12:45, just a few minutes before the parade was going to start. Luckily for me, there was food left over and Robb said I could help myself.

As the parade started, just sitting in your chair -- a person could already tell that he or she was going to get some sun. I already made the mistake of not wearing any headwear or not applying any sunscreen to my fair skin. The beers were flowing, the water fights continued (with actual parade members), and in the end, it was a pretty good parade.

After a little conversation and watching Robb's son Bryce run around naked for a while, we decided to pull out the all-important bean bag set. This was it, the culmination of our weekend ... who would dominate at this sport this time.

But Robb was all up on it! He actually ordered new bean bags from a web site claiming that it's the official source of your bean bag (or "cornhole") accesories. These bags were huge, weighing 1 pound each and filled with corn. After a while, it took some time to get used to (these bags, although heavy, bounced like a basketball off the board).

Robb and I teamed up early on. The general rule is that if you win, you keep playing until somebody knocks you out. If memory serves correctly, we lost our first game. But once we played again, Robb and I pulled off the impossible -- 11 straight victories. A few of those victories were by-way of a "skunk", in which it's like a run-rule. If one team scores 11 unanswered points, the game is over and it's considered to be a "skunk." We finally lost to the super-team of Jen and Lacey, who started a small streak of their own.

After that, the people started to file away while the beer kept flowing. I stuck around until just before 10:00 p.m. that night, although I had stopped drinking a few hours before. The sun had finally gotten to me, as my forehead and my arms had taken the brunt of the ultra-violet punishment. For I-don't-know-how-many-years-in-a-row, I didn't make the street dance next to the Minnesota River.

Overall, a great weekend put on my Robb and Jen. Can't wait 'til next year!