This weekend was one that made me (repeatedly!) ask myself, "Could this get any better?"
Friday night Graden and I drove to Forrest City, IA (about 5 hrs from Lee's Summit) and stayed the night at his friend, Mike's house. We got up early Saturday morning (5:15am) and headed to St. Louis Park, MN for a fun filled (well, fishing for the boys!) weekend!
We got to the hotel, where our BFFs Chris and Jennifer, had arrived the day before. The boys immediately headed out for a day of fishing ... while Jennifer and I planned the details of the weekend. We decided we'd just play it by ear on Saturday and on Sunday we'd meet our friend, Kim, at the Mall of America. In anticipation of indulging in empty calories (mostly in the form of margaritas and the like!) we started the day off with some time on the treadmill and eliptical. After our workout, we headed back to the room, cleaned up and decided to indulge in the aforementioned margartias at a local Mexican restaurant! We enjoyed a great lunch, a great margarita .... and great company! We headed back to our room and then decided that a nap was in order!!
After we woke up from our nap, we headed across the street to TGIFridays and enjoyed a few beverages. Feeling "warm and fuzzy" we thought that a nice manicure and pedicure would top the afternoon off quite nicely! Across from our hotel we a little strip mall with a nail shoppe! Perfect! 
By the time we were done with our mani/pedi the boys had returned from their day of fishing and were ready for dinner! Graden had seen a restaurant close by, "Alaska", so we tried it out. It was delicious! ... a great night out with great friends. It was much later that the boys are used to staying out when fishing. We were bad influences!
The next morning, Sunday, the boys went fishing again and Jennifer and I slept in a bit ... then headed to the Mall of America to spend time with our friend Kim, and her daughter Riley. As always, it was great (and entertaining!) to see Kim! Never a dull moment when we're together! We spent less than 3 hours at the mall ... we just didn't have "it" in us to do much shopping. It's so huge, it is overwhelming, really.
After we were done shopping, Jennifer and I headed back to our hotel ... for a nap, of course! After we woke from our beauty sleep ... we headed to TGIFridays for some more beverages and snacks! The boys returned about 7pm and were ready to eat. They had their fill of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches over the past two days! We kept it a bit more simple Sunday night ... heading to a sports bar near by. Again, the girls kept the boys up way past their fishing bedtimes! We called it a night about 10:00 and Chris and Jen headed to TGIFriday's for a few drinks.
Monday came all too quick! The boys went out for one more fishing jaunt and Jen and I spent the morning being lazy ... but spent some time after checkout at a local sports bar and enjoyed our last few hours together! ... and found a new fun drink: Scooby Snack! We left St Louis Park, MN about 4:00 and started our 7 hour drive home ... making it a late night, but well worth it!
