sweet weekend and the season of music on the patio

We had such a nice weekend. Saturday morning, I woke up early and went with Ella to drive a golf cart in the July 4th parade. Our parade in St. Peter draws a crowd of 10,000 people. It is the biggest parade around and I love it because everyone gets in the spirit with red, white, and blue costumes, hats, sunglasses...even the babies and dogs are costumed!

It's followed by a big party in the park with grilled chicken and hot dogs and beer, live music, our friend, Michael Callahan, as the master of ceremonies, and much entertainment. I didn't partake of that this year, having been over-stimulated by the parade. Regis and I went to Betty and Tom's where we enjoyed an afternoon and evening of sipping cold beers and partaking of fine food and the telling of many stories. Much laughter ensued.

Elliot joined us on the patio for the evening and we stayed up long enough to watch the fireworks. You have to see fireworks with small children. They are awed by the spectacle and it's fun to see it through their eyes.

Sunday was the 63rd birthday of the patriarch of our family, Regis. His boys came over to stand around on the driveway while they drank coffee and did some kind of auto project. You know, pawing the ground, snorting , and fixing stuff.

When they left, we drove to Mankato to pick up the birthday gift of a new, red Kamado grill. It's like the green egg grills only cheaper. I'm trying to sell the old one on an online garage sale site which is such a pain in the ass it makes me wish I had just put it on the curb.

We sat on the patio for a while in the afternoon, then joined my friend Kathryn and her daughters at Hobber's for a cold beer and some live music from Turpentine and Wine. Then we drifted over to Patrick's on Third for some Frye. (They used to call themselves Fish Fry but when people came and found out it was a band and not a fish fry, they were angry. Only in Minnesota.) I loved their versions of a few songs more than I liked the originals. Chuck E's in Love, for example, a song I used to loathe. I love their version. Here's a sample of their work, Blister in the Sun. Stop at the end of that tune, though...I still hate Squeeze Box. 

We danced, we laughed, we reveled in the summer sun. Such a beautiful day.