Great Weekend @ MindSay

   We had another enjoyable weekend at home this past weekend. Saturday, we got together with the family including our Great-Nieces and Nephews from South Carolina. We played with the horses, played chess and basketball, and fixed homemade pizza for dinner. Here is a picture of our future Rock Star, Great-Nephew, Nolan.

Sunday, we went to our friends, Sandy and Shila's house and decorated pumpkins. We had the news turned on and they were reporting on all of the negative campaigning, and our pumpkin got a little sick of it.

Before we left home yesterday, we stopped by the early polls and voted. Here is the new video from Andy, Opie, and Fonzie.

Yeah!  Yesterday was the Second weekend of the Texas Renaissance Festival and the theme was 1001 Dreams.  That is the Fairy weekend.  There are alway fairys, pirates and barbarians at every Fest weekend but 1001 Dreams abounds with fairys.  That is of course my preferred costume (obviously) because I can just go all out and have tons of fun with it.

I took my car and Myclette, Environgirl and her friend M rode with me.  As many of you already know we met up with CallmeRoger and Uykou met us there as well and we all hung out for the day.  I had a great time with all my friends but the day ended too quickly!  RawJah and his lady got there earlier than us but we made it about 11am.  Just in time to catch the Other Brothers show.  I always try to catch them.  They are a juggling act that is always there.  They are funny!  Egirl decided not to wear the sleeves of her costume or the wings but we managed to nail her down for a picture with it all on before we went in...

After that we met up with RawJah and visited.  We saw lots of great costumes, lots of great food and lots of great drinks! LOL!

Everybody flipped out over my eyelashes this year.  They are these great big green feathers.  I had lots of people stop me and want to take a picture with me.  That's pretty unusual for me.  The always want pictures of Egirl and not me. 

PS... wow, I couldn't see anything!  LOL

Here's a great one of Mycki!

and here's RawJah doint his steriotypical asian photographer!  He was super funny.  Everytime anyone asian passed him he would bow and say Moshi Moshi!  It was super Nerdy!  LOL

And isn't ukyou toooo adorable???

They are such a cute couple...

This is a random couple I got to pose for me... Their costumes were awesome.  Aren't her wings super?

AND NOW... I think we all know what time it is now!  Barbarians galore!  Lot's of super cool dudes in super cool costumes...

Here's a rockin' Centuar.

Here's a really cool leather clad warrior.

Rockin' warrior chick on REALLY big horse.

OK... These German guys are funny... (and apparently they could get "lost in there" ALL day!)  LOL

Egirl and Myckie and fun with them too!

I've had one with this Conan style dude before!

Towards the end of the day we went into the Hookah bar and had a little sumthin'!  LOL... Chocolate Mint!

We followed this with a little shopping and Fireworks before heading home.

I'll probably do another picture post with some cute shots.  I thought this was Long enough for now! LOL

May I just say .. you look absolutely stunning today!!

I'm sure you had a splended weekend AND I know for a fact that this week is going to be uber great for you too.

Talk to you soon :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :) :D :)

Despite rain on Thursday and Friday, this was a great weekend for camping.  Chris and I went out to High Falls State Park on Thursday evening and set up.  It lightly rained on and off all evening, but thanks to a dining fly I borrowed from my Scout troop, we sat in a dry area, enjoying a tasty beverage or two, and watching our fire despite the precipitation.  We also enjoyed a magnificent grilled salmon dinner with sweet potatoes and steamed veggies.  Eating like kings really helps to alleviate any frustration with Mother Nature.

Unfortunately, we found out my new tent leaked, so we had large drops of water bombarding us throughout the night.  We still managed, and while a bit groggy in the morning, eggs with tortillas and salsa helped us wake up.  I tend to remember great trips based on the meals I eat, and I really enjoy cooking and eating while I'm out camping or vacationing.  Friday was a quiet day, as it continued to drizzle on and off.  We did a lot of sitting around and relaxing, and also took a short hike to the ranger station after the ranger came by and yelled at us for not having checked in yet.  We didn't have our pink "reserved" tag up, and apparently that upset the ranger.  Funny thing is, we had until 10:00 p.m. according to the instructions, and he yelled at us at 2:00 p.m.  Even stranger since he wasn't at his station the night before when we arrived at 5:00.

Jamie, Bryan and Marsha arrived about 6:30 p.m. that night.  We set to dinner early so we had some daylight left as we got things ready.  I had prepared a chili and then baked some cornbread to go with it, which made a wonderful warm dinner with the drizzle still going.  We topped it off with Russian Cherry Delight, which meant we all ate much more than we needed, but it tasted great!

Chris and I had set another tarp over the tent, which fixed the rain problem.  In addition, Marsha and Bryan just set up their mattress on a tarp underneath the dining fly and slept outside.  They got a little wet, but had a good time.  We could tell by their laughter and giggling.  To make up for them getting wet, we had pancakes and maple sausage in the morning.  I think nearly everyone fell back into a food coma, and most took short naps to allow breakfast a chance to prepare for lunch.  Jamie and Marsha each read a little bit, while Bryan and I threw some fishing lures in the water.  For the record, the water won, but we won't tell anyone that.  We would say we caught these magnificent fish, but at the very last second, the line broke, because they were much larger fish than our 4lb and 6lb line could handle.  Sure, that's the story.

The planned lunch was forgone as Bryan pulled out some MREs which gave us something to snack on, along with some reheated chili.  After lunch we opted to get out and finally do something.  The weather had let up, although it was still partly cloudy.  We left the campsite and went out to Dauset Trails Nature Center.  Chris had been mountain biking there before, and he and I stopped by on Friday as he was showing me where the trails were.  None of us had ever looked around though, so we walked the animal trail and found a real gem of a destination in middle Georgia.  I plan to take the Boy Scouts back there sometime to hike on some of the trails as we get ready to hopefully go to Double-H, a Boy Scout High Adventure Camp next summer.

We stayed at Dauset until they closed at 5:00.  They have a wonderful selection of wildlife including a bald eagle and a black bear which were great to see in a more natural setting than any zoo I have visited.  We left the center and headed back to camp.  While not everyone was hungry, the girls didn't want to wait until late to eat, so we started up a campfire and prepared dinner while playing a bit of Texas Hold 'Em at the same time.  Dinner consisted of steak, sweet potatoes (except for Bryan who had a baked potato), corn, Vidalia onions all cooked over the fire along with rolls warmed in a box oven.  It was delicious and again more than enough food.  I was accused multiple times of planning too much food, but I firmly believe that one thing you should not be while camping is hungry.  You may be cold and damp, but at least eat well!

Jamie led dessert making with banana boats and s'mores, while I drank my dessert.  We all turned in early, and were able to throw off the (ineffective - but I think I'm fixing that) rainfly and look up at the stars.  It was a beautiful night... until I head a dog and something else down in the river at 4:30 in the morning.  I don't know what it was, but it sure sounded strange.  It woke Jamie too, but no one else.  Never saw any signs of what it could have been in the end though.

Low cloud cover rolled back in sometime between 4:30 and 7:30, and it was a gray morning.  Chris went back to Dauset Trails for a few hours of biking while the rest of us at french toast, bacon and honeydew and then slowly took down camp.  We burned the last of the wood and sat around long enough to eat turkey quesadillas with Chris when he got back, before we all went home to clean up and recover.

Today has been more cleaning and recovery, since it is a federal holiday and I don't have to work.  It was a great weekend, despite the dampness, in my opinion, and the best part is Jamie and I are going camping again next weekend.  Next weekend we're joining my sister Erin and her fiancé Brody at a park up near Nashville.  I asked Jamie what she wanted to eat, and she said pancakes for breakfast and steak dinner, just like this weekend.  I guess that makes it easy, since I know what I have to buy and how to cook it all.  Hopefully next time we'll broaden our horizons some more with new variety.  I'll just keep planning until then!