Closing Ceremonies

I don't know about you, but I feel like my weekend needs a Closing Ceremony!

Things kicked off on Friday morning. Amy and I headed to the Pierce County Fair in Ellsworth, WI (you remember - the Cheese Curd Capital....of Wisconsin). Let's just say it was an incredibly successful day, full of blue ribbons, purple ribbons, a plaque, and big smiles.....oh, and lots of poop. Good God, those giant animals sure do poop a lot. It's actually quite overwhelming. And the smells....oh God....the smells. It's not pretty.

On the way home, we stopped at Morelli's on St Paul's east side. Morelli's is an old school Italian market - kind of a cross between a liquor store and a butcher shop. Among the things we picked up were 2 gorgeous New York Strips.....and we capped the day off by grilling those beauties for dinner.

Then on Saturday, we headed to the Irish Fest near downtown St Paul. Ok - this might be a good time to admit that I'm not sure which is right - Irish Fest or Irish Fair......oh well, you get the idea. Anyway, we had a blast watching a few kids we know dance with their respective dance schools. Two of those kids are going into kindergarten this fall, so watching them 'dance' was full of lots of cheers and clapping.....and laughter. I mean, really - they were hysterically fun to watch. After the dancing ended, we walked around, ate some food, and watched some people. It was an excellent day.

And then this morning, we headed to Red Wing, MN with a couple of friends.....spent some time shopping, and then made our way to a winery for some wine tasting and lunch. The views were spectacular, the food tasty, the wine wonderful, and the company perfect. It was a fantastic day!

But the piece that made the weekend absolutely perfect was having Amy at my side for all of it. I continue to be amazed at the good things in my life, and she is at the top of that list. I don't know what I did to deserve her, but I intend to spend the rest of my life paying the universe back for this gift.