A Little Bit of Chicken Fried
“Salute the ones who died.. And the ones that gave their lives so we don’t have to sacrifice
-Zac Brown Band
”
I'd like to start off by saying thank you to all of the men and women who serve this country everyday and risk their lives for our freedom and to the ones that gave their lives fighting for our freedom.
I'd also like to say thank you to all of our friends and family that made this weekend amazing. We made sure it was jammed packed with everything from DIY to Rock and Roll, road trips to boat rides, from movie watching to bag throwing, from beer drinking to coffee sipping, from dog parks to beaches. We were free to do whatever we wanted when we wanted, that's how we celebrated our veterans and our country.
The festivities began on Friday. We drove out to Hudson to get the boat ready. She needed a good cleaning but it was raining all day, so instead we tackled a different project. One I should've gotten a photo of because I am (currently) very proud of it. The boat cover utilizes a pole to create a vault that prevents water from pooling when it rains. The old pole was made of cheaper plastic and had seen it's last day. I used PVC to encase the previous pole and screwed the base in through the PVC into the old pole, helping create a solid base. Fingers crossed that the PVC provides the needed support.
Friday night we went and watched the Alley Ratz play at the VFW in South Saint Paul. There's nothing like classic rock and cold beers! We played Big Buck hunter and gobbled down fresh popcorn.
Saturday we woke at the break of dawn to drive up to see my grandma at the lake. It was great to see my siblings, my aunts, and my grandma. We got to grill some burgers and talk about the summer plans.
Saturday night we went to the Zac Brown Band concert. They played at the Target Field and our tickets were in the Legends Club. We got to go with a great group of family and friends! It was a great show, the seats were perfect and the music was awesome!
Sunday we got up early and got out on the boat. Spent the day on the beach playing shoes and drinking beers. I got to tool around in the boat, testing out the prop since it's been re-finished. Cedar and Birch had an extremely good time, playing in the water and sprinting up and down the beach. Birch and Cedar both got some great swimming in, wading out and floating around.
Monday was beautiful. We took all the mutts to the Minnehaha Off-Leash Dog park. We joined up with a friend who got one of our foster ACDs, Grizzly, and walked over 3 miles! The dogs got to play in the river, run over trees and through the creek.
Then, later that afternoon, we had friends over, we grilled brats and played bags. The sun was out and the tired pups got to lounge around. After dinner we lit a bonfire and roasted some s'mores. We had a brilliant idea to add some Oreos to the mix, adding a little chocolatey crunch, YUM!. It was the perfect end to a great weekend. Best friends, good food, and cold beers.