Basketball, Beer, Birthdays and the superBowl

B was the letter of the weekend :) It started off with a very fierce Little Tikes Basketball competition on Friday night. S beat me in the tie breaker game of our "Downtown Long Shot" competition. Z played his own version and cheered for both teams as we would make these challenging baskets :)

Once the game was over we decided to celebrate S's victory by breaking open one of his first batch of Home Brew Beers :) This batch was an Irish Red and we couldn't wait to see how it turned out. It had been 4 weeks of waiting to taste this first batch and so we were filled with anticipation. We used all 5 senses while we enjoyed the first beer. It sounded like beer (it made that familiar hiss sound when S popped the tab), it looked like beer (nice red color with a good head), it smelled like beer (just like the beer from our local brewery), it felt like beer (okay we really didn't touch it but we had to get that sense in) and so it was up to the last sense...did it taste like beer? I have to be honest that the first one we opened didn't have much of a kick. It did taste like beer but didn't have that bite that I so love with a good beer. The second was MUCH better and with each day the beer seems to be getting better and better. It really is good and I am so proud of S for all of his hard work :)

On Saturday we were off to S's Grandmother's 88th Birthday! She was glowing as we walked in and couldn't understand why we would drive 2 hours in the "cold" to celebrate her birthday. We told her we would do anything to celebrate her :) She is such a special lady....so Amazing! There were 32 people there to celebrate Grandma and if the house had been bigger, I am sure 132 other people would have been there. Grandma is the type of person who makes everyone feel special and loved. She still gardens, does Yoga and LOVES living in her Retirement home. She says she feels like a school girl all over again. She loves getting together with the girls in the lobby and they chit chat all day. Grandma makes everyone feel welcome (does not believe in silly cliques) and was even crowned Queen of the Ball after only living at the home for a few months....she is the greatest!

Her birthday was celebrated in true Italian style (Grandma came over from Italy when she was 8 years old)....the food, the drink, the noise, the song, the endless desserts and of course the LOVE. It was the most perfect, chaotic birthday you could ask for :) Even Z warmed up to all of the crazy people and had a really good time.

Sunday was spent at S's parents farm. Z got to take a snowy walk to see the Bulldozer, tossed sticks in the stream and ate lots of Mimi's pancakes. It was a nice visit and we stopped on our way home to pick up some Superbowl treats that are native to S's homeland ;)

We got home, watched the end of the first half (Z loved it) and then put Z to bed during half-time (we did let him watch Bruce sing one song). We then cuddled up on the couch with two more of S's beers, our food and watched the third quarter. After that we decided to channel surf...we realized we really didn't care about the outcome of the game (sorry Steeler and Cardinal fans). We had had our food, seen a bit of the game and half-time and were ready to move on :)

It was a great weekend!