Calm Before the Storm

What an immensely fun, full weekend! First, I had two Chicago friends come visit on Friday night, one of whom had never been to Iowa. I didn’t have to think too hard about where to take them. Azteca it was for dinner, with lots of margaritas. Then we met up with Jord and my parents at 11th Street Precinct for a few drinks. These are my go-to places for out of town guests!

Saturday morning I took them over to my parents to enjoy Happy Joe’s breakfast pizza and give them a chance to meet Luke. I also let them steal a look at the float since they won’t be around to see the parade. As they left town midday, the Strangs arrived on their heels as we had more float preparations to attend to. We got as much done as possible before we had to get ready for the St. Patrick Society's ‘Sweet Molley Trolley’ party bus. This was the society’s second year to do this in order to drum up some memberships and excitement for the Grand Parade festivities.

Luke helping "The Fun Girls" with float decorations

After the Strangs left Davenport on Sunday morning, after a few hours of crafting for the float, I had just enough time to tidy up before some cousins from my mom’s side of the family arrived. They were in town to visit Grandma and see our new house. We ate a delicious lunch from Harris Pizza and visited for awhile. Off they went, and my parents, Tricia and I spent the afternoon finishing up the float. We concluded the weekend with a delicious enchilada dinner at Jord’s mom’s house.

Whew! You’d think I would have laid low this weekend to rest up for the coming hectic week. We have lots of last minute preparations before the big weekend – making playlists, buying booze, cleaning. And of course the kitchen tiling is yet to be complete. This week will be interesting, that’s for sure!