A cool weekend

Well, we kept the house cool at least - outside the temps hovered between 90-100 degrees as we had the visit from our dear friends from Chicagoland, Bailey and Tyler, and their mom Kari. They came on Thursday... and we had all manner of adventures:

Friday, I played hookey after 2pm and we went to the Mall of America - all of the kids rode in the Mini (I had flashes of being crammed into the back of my dad's Porsche at age 13 for a road trip to Colorado as I saw Bailey's lanky 14 year old legs near her ears in the back on the Mini...). They love to come up here and shop for school clothes, enjoying the no-tax-in-MN-on-clothes thing. They shopped at Abercrombie, Aeropostale, Hollister, and PacSun... and I'm going to show that I'm an OLD MAN here: I could not tell the difference in the merchandise offered between the stores, save the logos proferred. BUT DON'T TELL THEM. I don't want them to think I lack discernment and distinction. ;->

Into the evening it was Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Tyler gravitated toward the guitar, and Bailey to the Dancing, but to be fair, they both did VERY well in both games. The keyboard game proved inpenetrable, so we left that alone. I think it has a massive ramp-up time (like 10 rounds) before you can even be mildly effective in it, and with other fun games on tap why bother?

Saturday was hot and lazy... In the afternoon we ran off to watch Superman (my second time - everyone else's first). We agreed - there was much to love (including Parker Posey's every screen second) - but there was one fight scene that took it a bit too far. In the evening, we watched X2 for more Brian Singer-y goodness. I can see why Alan Cumming didn't return for X3 - that makeup looked nightmarish to apply - I think he should have just pulled a Gollum and been all CGI.

Sunday was out by the pool all stinking day. We had the neighborhood over in the late afternoon, and had sandwiches while the kids frolicked in the heat with sprinklers and kiddie pools and lots of sunscreen. Everybody slept well. And today I had to go to work!!! The Chicagoans took off around noon, and made it home safely. A good time was had by all - and I loved having them here!

Oh, and one of the surprises was that I had got the NEW Lego Robots kit (NXT), with the advanced brain and better software (from what I had used when I betatested the original kit 5+ years ago). Ty and I had fun building and programming and troubleshooting. Also, the whole gang got into my Brain Age software for Nintendo - small puzzles meant to increase your brain acuity. My most recent test showed me to be... my age.... But I can see getting down to 20-year old level soon!

And that's the big update from the weekend!