Closing Time

Had a heavy dose of winter shock yesterday after work.  We had a nice day in the upper 70s with abundant sunshine.  On the way home from work I drove by the lake to see boaters enjoying the first sun filled days of fall.  Yes, it's autumn, officially (9/22).  Before bonfire season starts in earnest we had to go through the logical step of closing the pool. In my ever flowing optimistic state I some how convinced myself there would be plenty of swimming opportunities well into October.  Mother nature vehemently disagreed with me slapping us with mid-30s over the weekend.  After receiving the utility bills for heating the pool it was decided it's closing time.  Nothing like a financial jolt to get rid of that optimism and send you back into that blissful pessimistic state we all love.  When I drove up to our vacation home in the north and saw the dark green cover firmly attached, covering the pool it was like seeing a blizzard for the first time.  There is shock, followed by awe, followed by depression when you realize you have to start shoveling.  I changed into shorts, sat in a recliner conveniently placed in the middle of the driveway (a whole other posting) and enjoyed a comfortable evening cocktail staring in disbelief at where my gorgeous turquoise water once laid only hours before. 

As one activity comes to a close others will surely take their place and fall weddings is one.  The family was fortunate to be close enough to attend a cousin's wedding in Iowa this past weekend so we packed up the family wagon, grabbed the pooch and headed west (over the river {literally} and through the woods to Grandma's house we went).  We decided on a midnight road trip and drove through the night.  Eventually the boys went to sleep and even the Stinks rested his furry little head and got some shut eye.  Meanwhile Carrie and I were discussing Romney's three wives and driving through a hail storm.  We had no damage but even if there was I know a great insurance guy.  After roughly four hours we solved the world's financial crisis, won a heated game of "I spy" and arrived at Grandma's house.

We attended the wedding Saturday afternoon while the dismal Hawkeyes blew a game on the gridiron and the keep it close with poor teams Badgers narrowly pulled out a win against UTEP, yes that football powerhouse UTEP.  We had a delicious lunch at the Getaway Bar and Grill, which was one ginormous basket of everything fried; mini-tacos, cheese curds, jalapeno poppers, mushrooms and mozzarella sticks to name a few and picked up the kids for the reception, which was at the same location as our very own wedding reception.  We sang, we danced, we ate cake and my poor child was body slammed to the dance floor by some mean, mean girls.  See video. 

Here my kid is doing his best impression of front man Agnes Young of AC/DC rocking out and making the rounds on the dance floor when out of nowhere a pack of girls conspired to use the momentum of both of them to take out my unsuspecting, song loving, wedding rocking, dancing with the stars champion, which plastered him to the parquet floor.  After his up close and personal view of the floor Gavin officially retired for the evening after sobbing uncontrollably for ten minutes he decided to call it an evening and promptly fell asleep.  It was closing time.