Weekend Fun!

Last weekend we had more visitors -- Becca stayed with us, and our friend Benjie (who was part of my San Francisco adventure during Becca's wedding weekend) was in town from NYC to stay with Adam (who I went to the Twins game with). It was both Becca and Benjie's first visit to Minneapolis. Becca and I took a few walks, did some shopping, and just hung out. It was nice to relax! We all had dinner together on Saturday, and Sarah Dahms came out with us too. Here we are at Masa - a mexican restaurant downtown.

Here we are at dinner: me, Sarah, Mike, Benjie, Becca and Adam.

Lots of travel in the next couple of weeks... but first, Jim and Carolyn come tomorrow!

Changing Leaves

The leaves say fall is in the air, but you would never know it based on the temperature! It is still in the low 80s here, and we hope this doesn't mean winter will last into summer. Just a few shots from around our neighborhood, we love the changing leaves. Time to make some butternut squash soup and visit a pumpkin patch!

Bath Time!

We are having special company over the next two weekends -- Becca is coming from LA this weekend, and Jim and Carolyn are coming next weekend. You know what that means: time to put on our Sunday best! Time for another trip to Bubbly Paws, the dog wash place that is in our neighborhood. This is also where we took Riley for a bubble bath party in August.

They offer self-service or full-service grooming. Usually, we opt do it on our own. They provide shampoo, conditioner, brushes, toothbrushes, ear cleaning supplies, and towels. Our new house doesn't have a stand-up shower like we used to -- just two bathtubs. So Bubbly Paws is a great convenience!

Riley is scared of the dryer in the drying room, so we just use towels. Though Riley really only prefers to shake off and roll around.

Feelin' clean and smellin' good! Ready for our guests!

Bridal Shower

After a week working in Columbus, I drove to the other Columbus (Ohio) to celebrate Emily and Jesse getting married at her bridal shower. Check out this cake:

Presents! Even though you know what you're getting... because you registered for it... who doesn't love presents?!

It gets confusing when there are two Jesses... here are girl Jesse and me with the bride (Emmo) and groom (boy Jesse):

Only a few short weeks until their wedding on November 12!

Last weekend, we also got to pick up our bridesmaid dresses. Here are a couple of pictures -- except ours are black instead of this cranberry color. I love them!

Reminiscing

Soo.... Ali's out of town.. which means Riley and I have had run of the house.. sooo it's time for a blog update from our 6 legs. With the fantastic surprise that we encountered last weekend Coo Coo!!!!! it brought back a lot of memories of our adventures in China earlier this year. I thought I'd share some photos which missed previous posts.

Here's Jordyn!

And her beautiful sister

don't forget about me!!

Pretty color.. isn't it. To the owner - i'm not touching it.. trick photography.

I was hoping to play some golf while I was there.. kept my eyes peeled for some good courses or.. a course.. was able to find this.

Hope they obtained the right to use St. Andrew's name.. 

Here's a picture of the Bund in Beijing.. 

and that wraps it up.. 

Happy Halloween month!!

Cookie Monster

While I was in Columbus last week, our special friend Herschel bought a clown cookie for Ethan, and asked me to give it to him. It looked delicious, and Ethan enjoyed it. He didn't offer to share any though! Meanwhile, the adults (Corey, Anne and me) filled up on take-out sushi.

Nothing like a playdate and a bedtime snack. Thanks Herschel!