Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tailgates, Wedding Mints, Fun Runs, and Small Town Parades

They may call it Labor Day Weekend, but it was more like a Labor-less Day Weekend on Easy Street. 

We tailgated and watched the U team win on Saturday.  The tailgate menu:  pulled pork sandwiches, chips and salsa, veggie and fruit plates, and pretzel M&M's.  We didn't need the grill which made it even better. 

Since it was mid 80's, even the temperatures weren't too bad.  Some of us could have used a bit more sunscreen.  OK.  So I'm the only one who used enough sunscreen.  K and L now sport interesting tan lines, thanks to the face tattoos.  *sigh*
But they looked really cute, so I guess it was worth it.  Can you tell they love their Dad?!!
Which one is the 53 year old who is concerned about the sun and wrinkles?  Oh, that would be the one in the hat!  Cute isn't exactly a priority for her these days.

Both girls got up early on Sunday morning to make the mints for the wedding reception.  Four hours later, we had about 800+ mints.  You are supposed to make two mints per person, but K loves them so much she decided on four mints per person.  L and I were fairly wiped out, but they are done!
The mint recipe:  4 oz. cream cheese, 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp. of flavoring, and a few drops of food color.  You hand mix those: as in knead them with your hands. Then you roll small balls, cover the balls in granulated sugar, and press them into molds. You pop them out onto wax paper, let them set up for awhile, and then freeze them.

We made pink (of course), cream, and green.  Some were flavored with peppermint extract, while the rest are almond flavored.  One more thing to check off the to-do list. 

On Monday, the Mr. and I got up early and left for his hometown Fun Run.  The wind was blowing about 60 mph.  (That is a bit of an exaggeration, but it was windy!)  The course is flat and just an out-and-back run.  The trouble is I had to run straight into that headwind for the first mile. 

Thankfully, that same wind pushed me back to the finish line.  My time was a bit better than the last time I ran this race, but it was still S-L-O-W!!  In spite of that, I took 2nd in my age group.  Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing you are.  There had to be only two of us in my age group!  Proudest moment:  I beat all the walkers and a few other runners!  Ta-da!!

We hurried back to Tiny Town and had missed the frog races.  Darn it!  We did have a chance to see a lot of former students and then watched the traditional parade.
Some of our favorite parade watchers were the kids of former students.  When the candy started flying, one of these twins was yelling "Trick or Treat."  Absolutely adorable.
The candy and the cute kids were in abundance! 

Sometimes we need weekends like these:  fun, family, and hometowns.  Throw in the nice weather, and it doesn't get much better!

6 comments:

margie said...

nothing delights me more than football season. i lament all the time that i no longer have a son playing high school ball.

Kim said...

I'm with K: I love almond-flavored cream cheese mints, too. What a great weekend!

Katie (Can't Get There) said...

I miss parades! We used to go to all of the small town parades back home - I had forgotten that they threw candy at the little kids! It seems like parades are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Sad, really - what a sense of community they bring.

Mary said...

Almond flavored mints... I've never heard of them!
Those twins are adorable! Looks like a good time was had by all!

holybovine said...

I'm with K. Two mints per person?!? OK, if they're ping pong ball sized. BTW - I mix mine in the KitchenAide mixer. Works like a charm.

Dandy said...

My comment keeps getting wiped out.

You have a super adorable family, all of you are adorable.

I need to make those mints.

What a fun weekend!