Birthday Weekends

The last 2 weekends for us have been excellent. The weekend of April 25th, my youngest brother Andrew turned 21. The whole family went out for dinner at Ike's (home of the $14.00 hamburger). The burgers were good, but come on, $14.00. They also charge $14.00 for a glass of Cabernet for Nicole and it was a wine I never heard of and I like to think I am an educated oenophile. Other than being expensive, we had a great time. There were 10 of us including Andy, Brianne, Nicole, Jason, Ryan, Kari, Carlyn, Chad, Vid, and Mom! After Ike's Mom, Brianne, and Carlyn headed home and the rest of us worked our way to some cool bars downtown. We started at Brit's Pub, which was busy, but the lawn bowling was not open. We then went to the Living Room at the W Hotel which was very happening and packed. I think Andy liked this place the best, mostly because they made a mistake on his Mojito order and gave him 2 for the price of 1.
We then went up 27 floors to Prohibition which is a great bar (my favorite) that has great views of the city. It too was packed and didn't allow a group our size a spot to sit. So we stood and visitied for a while before finishing the night off at Chambers' 5th floor lounge called, "The Red, White and !@#$king Blue Lounge! It was very loud but did give some neat photo ops of Hennepin Avenue. At the Living Room we met up with my boss and friend Mark Schultz and his wife Karen. They were celebrating their 17th Anniversary and were staying at the W. This meant more free drinks for Andrew! Overall, we had a blast of an evening, but I'll say this: I'm too old to close the bars down and didn't get to bed until 3:30. The weekend of May 3rd we had 2 more birthdays to celebrate. Nicole's youngest sister Allison also turned 21. They came out to our home in Hudson in the morning before spending a beautiful day at Billy's on Grand Ave. May 3rd also marked the 34th birthday of our friend Jeb Wilson. You all know Jeb (Jeb, is that a good thing that everyone knows you)?
We played golf on Saturday to celebrate Jeb's birthday with 7 friends and then had 16people over to our home afterwards for brats and porketta (trying to increase demand for pork after the H1N1 flu debachle).
Also on Sunday May 3rd we had our 1st tournament of the year at Troy Burne. It was a 2-man Best Ball tournament and I'm not so proud to say that my partner and friend Matt Layman finished last. We both had off days, really off days. I shot 91, my highest round in the last 2 years. It's time to get serious! My friend Tom Kingsley and his partner Scott Nelson won the tournament. Tom shot his career round at Troy Burne, a 71. This is no small feat in itself and especially with the wind conditions we played in on Sunday, wow, very impressive.
Nicole and I are back on the range this week trying to decide on which job offer is the best for her. She had another interview yesterday in New Brighton, and has her last one next week.
We'll be heading to Springfield this coming weekend for Mother's Day!

This is my brother Ryan buying Andy his 1st beer (Leinie's Honey Weiss). I think Ryan looks surprised by the $7.00 price tag for a Leinie's.

The Birthday Group
Andy getting carded for his beer purchase!

Andy and his girlfriend Brianne
Andy and I on the deck at Chambers Hotel