Weekend Dichotomy

This is Pete's annual ATF weekend with his college friends, so off they've all trekked into the mountains of North Carolina.  Steve and Bryan flew into Charlotte so I got a quick picture of 1/3 of the group before they left... and an ATF-wannabe who insisted on being in the picture.

 Pete's brother-in-law Al found the shirt Pete is wearing at the Mall of America -- it's pretty perfect for this group! 

While it may sound like a rhetorical question, the answer for this weekend anyway, was "Dave!"

So they're roughing it hanging out in a very nice place for 4 days. (Their cabin has a hot tub for crying out loud.  The older the guys get, the more comfy the places get.)  As I've heard it, they've hiked, played football... and sat in the hot tub, in addition to their regular looooong conversations.  Nine strongly opinionated men... I sure would love to be a fly in that cabin.

Meanwhile, as Pete is enjoying his second vacation in two weeks (not that I'm counting or anything), I have been enjoying some quality time with the kids.  Our time together has included the requisite minor crises:  an ant invasion, a child with a fever, a power outage with no phones and no working flashlights (thankfully the outage was very brief), broken glass all over the kitchen floor, kids waking up in the middle of the night --and way too early in the morning, etc.

The highlight of the weekend, though, was taking the kids to meet Gracie -- their 4-footed new... aunt?  My parents have adopted a new baby, I mean, golden retriever puppy, and she is the cutest little thing!  We all had fun visiting with her...

Added bonus:  getting to visit with Mom and Dad and little cousin Titus, too!  He's quite the cool dude these days!

So it's been a good weekend here overall.... although probably not as interesting or adventurous as Pete's.  We'll look forward to hearing all about it when he comes home tomorrow!