So, I am pretty popular. Which keeps me pretty busy. Too busy, in fact, to write timely updates about what’s going on in my world.

Last weekend was my mom’s 51^st birthday and, to celebrate, she and my dad traveled up to the Cities for the weekend. On Friday night we went to Axel’s Restaurant in Chanhassen.

I am pretty resistant to Chanhassen (and most other third-tier suburbs of the Twin Cities, too) so I’m not sure I would go to this location again, but the food was pretty tasty. I had some giant scallops wrapped in bacon. Everyone else had some sort of seafood, too. My dad and Karyn got the “land and lake” which was walleye and steak — that looked pretty delicious! Our waitress brought a giant piece of cake for Mom’s birthday that we all shared, and we were thoroughly stuffed. Bryan even felt ill because he was so full!

Towards the end of the dinner, Hannie was getting a little punchy. She thought the ceiling fan was hil-a-rious and she was splashing herself with water from her sippy cup. She’s such a silly kid!

Afterward I decided to go see a rock show at First Avenue — it was a benefit show for the Electric Fetus, which had recently been damaged by a tornado. I finally got to see a little bit of Cloud Cult, which was super. They put on a very energetic show!

I had to leave pretty early, unfortunately. I had a 5-hour drive to Vermillion to begin around 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.

It was a pretty easy drive. There was no snow or flurries or rain… so I was able to make it to Vermillion in time to have lunch at the Silk Road with Bridget and Lindy, run around town to find a surprise birthday gift to leave at home for my mom, then join the festivities of Kelsey’s baby shower in the early afternoon.

Kelsey is due on March 27^th! I’m hoping Baby Girl Collier-Wise is available for an interview and photo shoot just after Easter, which is the next time I’ll be in Vermillion. 🙂

When Royce walked into the party, all of the women applauded (which was sort of a strange reaction). He had come to see his family and helped Kelsey open some of the gifts.

It was a pretty crowded party, so we stuck to our corner table through most of the shower.

I wish I had eaten about five more pieces of this super yummy cake — made by Monica, I think.

Kelsey’s knitting group got together and made this lovely blanket. I knew someone would have the knitted gift covered! I’ll have to find another occasion to make something special for Baby Girl.

After the shower, I joined Kelsey, her family, and a few other friends for dinner at Mexico Viejo. I tried something that Royce recommended (very tasty), ordered a sangria because Cait got one and it sounded super (it was), and tried some queso because Christina told me to (must get more next time). It was so nice to hang out with the clan; I don’t get to see these folks nearly as often as I would like.

An impromptu game night at Kelsey and Royce’s followed. We played Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, and Catch Phrase.

It was a pretty wonderful day to be in Vermillion and I’m so glad I got to spend time with some of the town’s most awesome residents! The following morning I puttered around my parent’s house a little bit, then got on the road back to Minneapolis around 11 a.m. — a short trip, but a sweet one!