Monday, August 4, 2014

Weekend Replay

I'm all for a quiet weekend at home, but given the option I'd choose fun and friends any day!  Who's with me?!?

After work we loaded up the car and hit the road south bound for Missouri.  Matt and I were both anxious to see our college pals and the four hour road trip was the only thing standing in our way!


Thankfully, the trip down was pretty uneventful.  We dealt with a little rain and some traffic around St. Louis, but nothing too terrible.  Come to find out, we timed everything just right and missed all the Cardinal baseball traffic as we went through!



When we got to Eric and Jamie's the party was already in full swing.  The bonfire was blazing, the beer was flowing and as predicted, so were the stories!!  Honestly, those stories may be old and tired, but they still bring a smile to my face!  

Saturday morning came a little too early for some, but for the most part we were all up and at 'em in pretty good time (and shape)!  After lighting a fire under the slower movers, we lit out to meet the company we rent the canoes from.  

I've only ever floated/canoed with this company, but how they typically organize everything generally goes like this:
1. Pay for your group.
2. Drive down the hill and park vehicles where we will finish on the canoes.
3. Load coolers and people into a large wagon and ride down to the river.
4. Organize canoes and float off.

This year we had a bit of a snafu between 3 and 4.  

Everything was all fine and dandy.  We had loaded the excessive amount of beer all our coolers and were on the way to the river.

 
When there was a bit of a problem... 

Now, you can't convince me that the hitch broke just because of the weight of 17 people and all those frickin coolers, but it sure didn't help!  And it makes for another funny story that will be told for years to come.  

We finally managed to make it to the river.  Hallelujah!


This year, Matt and I decided to shake things up and not be each others partners.  Sometimes it's just for the best.  Jamie and I decided that we were going to pair up and the husbands could be partners.  Best. Decision. Ever.  

Laughing at you and your partners mistakes is WAY more fun that being PO'd at the end of the day because you (or your significant other) did something dumb.  And this way, Jamie and I could chit-chat and gossip for the next six hours!  It worked out perfectly.  Jamie and I had a blast and I was still speaking to Matt by the time we were done!  

Being the lone 'girls only' canoe you can also get away with certain things too!!  

"Paddle boys, paddle!"

After countless laughs, multiple cans of beer and several miles spent on the river, a few of us took the lazy way out and fast-tracked to the finish. 

 

In our defense, there is always an amazing spread of food waiting for us back at the house.  That and a hot shower!  After we got back, cleaned up and our bellies were full of food most of us retreated to the bonfire and you guessed it... more old stories resurfaced!  And because it's what Illinois men do when they get together, there was also euchre into the wee hours of the night.


By 9 o'clock Sunday morning, everyone had packed up and headed for home, but it's tradition for us to stick around and have brunch with Jamie, Eric and his parents.  Mostly we relive the float trip and make notes for next year (t-shirts and music on the river!), share what's new or swap recipes.  This year, I came home with a new recipe for pasta sauce that I'm anxious to try!  And since there's 30 tomato plants in our garden, I think we will have an opportunity to make something new this year!

On our way home, we stopped at our friend's house for their daughter's 1st birthday party.  Jill out did herself decorating and everything looked spectacular!  Even more exciting than the decorations, Adelynn's last gift that she opened announced that she would be getting a new baby BROTHER in December!  The family is obviously excited, but I think John is super stoked for a boy to even up the score at home.  


So tell me, did you go-go-go this weekend or did you recharge your batteries?  

Linking up with Biana and Meghan.











5 comments:

  1. We went-went-went! We traveled to my husband's parent's place. But we got to see a hot air balloon race, so it was all worth it!!

    Looks like you had a great weekend. I have been DYING to go to the river lately. Maybe we will, soon.

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  2. Weekends with college friends are the best!! I'm so looking forward to a girls weekend I have planned at the end of the month!

    Paige
    tomatoesforcucumbers.com

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  3. Myla,
    There is something to be said for getting together with good friends. The ole college stories are still fun and some we still laugh until we cry tears of "how did we survive that?"

    Glad you had a fabulous weekend!

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  4. Sounds like you had a fabulous weekend! I love love love that you have an annual get-together with your college friends! We've always had weddings or some other major event to get us all together at least once per year, but now that we're all kind of settled into our lives, we're going to have to make a little more effort to actually plan an annual "reunion!"

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  5. That sounds like an awesome weekend even if you had a little hiccup at the start! I would love to do a float trip with a bunch of friends. Such a fun idea!

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