Easter

I woke up on Easter morning and made some homemade candy for the family get-together later in the day at my aunt's house in Somerset, WI. I had white chocolate and thought I could use pastel food coloring to make different colors but instead it was turning the chocolate into a frosting consistency and so I had to throw some of it out. The result was chocolates only in the colors of white, red and pink. More on the chocolate later.

The Easter Bunny had stopped by the house and lazily left a basket, which happened to be my Easter basket from the first year M and I were together, on the kitchen table for M. Included in the basket were some lackluster items; Gatorade, 2 cookies from a local bakery, a pack of gum, Weight Watchers chocolate candies, an 8-pack of fun-sized Three Musketeers, gourmet gingerbread pancake mix and a bottle of pure maple syrup. M enjoyed all of his treats. I didn't take a picture because it wasn't much to look at but here's a picture of one of the cookies.

About 45 minutes after M discovered his basket, he told me that he thought the Easter Bunny had stopped at the house for me too. This Easter Bunny was not lazy. He hid my basket and I had to look around the house for it. When you are a kid, it's fun. When you are an adult, it's not that fun. I didn't even know where or how to look for a basket anymore and I had a feeling that the Easter Bunny wouldn't have made it that difficult to find. After 7 minutes or so, I found the basket. Again, this Easter Bunny put more thought into my basket and I was so overwhelmed that I started crying. It doesn't take much, people. Here's my basket:

Here's what was in my basket; A Twins baseball cap, four little planters to Grow Your Own Zinnia, Grass, Sunflower and Tree, a Salted Nut Roll, a pair of Mary Jane socks, a candle, an aluminum water bottle with butterflies on it, car air fresheners, Coleman glow sticks in four different colors, a tube of Reese Peanut Butter cups and a package of orange Peeps. The Easter Bunny was right on with everything I like, except for the Peeps, which the Easter Bunny knows I don't like them but bought them anyways because they are orange, my favorite color. See, all that would make a girl cry if they knew that their Easter Bunny did that for them.

I hopped (get it, hopped, like as in a bunny?) into my car and headed to Somerset sans M. Our family functions mostly always start at the same time and instead of going to one and then another, we usually just go separately to our functions. The weather was fantastic for an early April Easter in Minnesota, er, I guess Wisconsin. The sun was shining heavily into my car all the way to my aunt's house. As I was bringing in the tray of candy, I noticed that the sun had melted a portion of the chocolate and it was mess all over the tray as shown below. I didn't take a picture of the candy until hours after I was already there so the candy doesn't look as pretty or complete since people actually did eat some. The rest went home to my mom who wasn't able to make it because she's had some pretty severe back pain.

We spent the majority of the day outside watching the kids play and talking with the adults. The food and company was fantastic and it turned out to be one of my favorite Easter's.

My happy cousin Jake and no-so-happy nephew Keith

Keith loving his picture taken

Ok, here he does when it's on his own terms and giving his mom bunny ears. Can't really tell that Jamie is pregnant here. She's around 4 months.

The unmelted candy

This kid's name was Zhylin, which I'm sure I'm not spelling correctly but he was so cute trying to kiss the dogs.

The dogs, Mosley and Rosey which my aunt and uncle adopted last year.

Me and Rosey- I fell in love with these dogs.

I hope you had a great Easter too!

Nature Walk

On Saturday, I decided to take a nature walk in the afternoon. M and I ride the motorcycle through the one-way street that goes through Vadnais Lake but at the end of the street is a trail, which I had never taken before.

It wasn't the warmest of days, compared to what we've already had this spring but it was sunny and almost 60 degrees. The sky was so blue that it looked like it had been photoshopped. You could hear the sound of the wind blowing through the tall treetops and when it would gust, the creaking of the trees as they gently swayed back and forth. The sound of the birds were familiar, yet I couldn't identify the birds themselves, except for that distinct woodpecker. As I continued to walk on the other side of Vadnais Lake, St. Paul's water source, I heard some rustling in the woods. I couldn't see anything except for a small patch of red. It was a wild turkey. After just standing there watching him for awhile, I realized there were about seven of them. One did cross about 20 feet in front of me and I just stood there, taking pictures of him while crossed. I just love those turkeys. I only passed a few people on my afternoon journey, which was nice. My walk gave me the perfect solitude that I needed for the day. It almost felt as though I was hundreds of miles away from any city until I was reminded by a honk of a horn or the revving of an engine. I could have walked longer on the trail but I turned around at about the 1.25 mile point to head back to my car. I saw what I think is a butterfly but could have been a very pretty moth fluttering through the sky and being pushed through the wind before it landed in the grass. The butterfly let me get very close to him so I could take some pictures of him. What a great nature day!

Hanging with the Gang

I normally blog in the order of events that happen but I forgot that I met up with most of the Alphabet Gang last Wednesday. Instead of our usually monthly Happy Hour, we went over to Aaron's apartment in downtown St. Paul instead. Beth wasn't able to join us this time but we hung outside on the rooftop patio for a little bit since it was 80 degrees that day and then we just all sat and talked in Aaron's apartment until it was time to go. Thanks for having us over, Aaron. It's nice that you now only share your apartment with just the cats!

The views of Aaron's 28th floor apartment balcony overlooking St. Paul and the Mississippi River

View from one of the rooftop patios

Catha, I decided not to go with the "Lurker" photo :)

Greg's 50th Birthday

After the game on Friday night, we rushed home and went out again up to Stella's in Forest Lake to celebrate M's BIL, Greg's 50th birthday, which was April Fool's Day. There was a good group of people there but the majority of them were leaving shortly after we got there so just spent a short period of time there. By the looks of it, Greg had lots of fun and he from what I hear, he paid for it the next day. Thanks for the memories, Greg. Even though you probably don't remember what we talked about, it was fun to reminisce about some times we've all had together!

I wish I could remember what Greg said but obviously it was funny.

Greg and M's sister Kim. Greg kept moving around so it was impossible to take a picture of him.

Twins First Game at Target Field

The game itself didn't matter in terms of team records because it was an exhibition game but it definitely counted for a lot of different reasons. On Friday night, the Minnesota Twins hosted the St. Louis Cardinals for the very first game the Twins would have in their new home, Target Field and M and I were there to experience it.

We took the light rail to the stadium, which is the very last stop on the Hiawatha Line, which drops you off right at the gate. It rained throughout the afternoon but the skies opened up and cleared with beautiful sunshine about an hour before the game and there would not be a hint of rain for the duration of the game.

We had a beer at Town Ball Tavern before the game.

Shave that beard!

The view of where the train drops you off in relation to the stadium. We are looking down from Town Ball Tavern.

We walked a little bit around the stadium and got in our seats for the National Anthem.

It was very windy in the stadium and if I hadn't been to Wrigley Field in Chicago four times during May and September, I probably wouldn't have been as prepared weather-wise. It did get cold at times but I had multiple layers on under my hoodie.

We were both excited to see who would be the first Twin to get a hit or possibly even a home run. Denard Span started things off for the Twins with a triple and it was so exciting. He was the first Twin to score. On his next at bat, he was also the first Twin to hit a home run! Again, it was exciting to see the first home run ever! Unfortunately, we saw multiple home runs from the Cardinals and our 2-0 lead quickly became 3-2 after back-to-back home runs. The final score would be 8-4 before it was all said and done but it didn't matter.

We took a picture of the trees to document what they look like now and how much they'll grow over the years.

The Twins lineup. The videoboard is crystal clear.

The reflection of the sun on the skyline was beautiful.

What a perfect Minnesota Twins baseball debut it was!