What I did over the weekend...

Gus & I took Riley to our local arboretum last weekend. They have great paved (and unpaved) trails for walking & biking - and pets are welcome! It's really pretty, too. They also have several ball fields, tennis courts, a huge playground, & some picnic shelters. But we just go there to walk.  :-)

Festa Italiana 2011

Last weekend, Gus and I made our annual visit to the Italian Festival. The weather was gorgeous - sunny with a nice breeze - and it wasn't too crowded. When we arrived, a band was playing the Tarantella:

There were a couple of new restaurants this year, but I wasn't overly impressed with their offerings. What did impress me was a delicious prime rib cannelloni!! Delizioso!! Seriously melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The frozen margaritas weren't bad either. Wait - margaritas. Those aren't Italian...oh, well...

And of course, the cannoli. Mmmmmmm!!! I managed somehow to limit myself to just one small one...but I admit, I did have two margaritas, LOL!

And here's Gus & me enjoying the beautiful weather...

Taste of the Levee

I've been a slacker this past week. Sorry! I was under the weather all week, blah, blah, blah. I promise to be better about blogging!!

Last weekend, Gus, Buddy, & I went to "Taste of the Levee" - it's the usual "taste" event - there were booths set up by all of the establishments that serve food/drinks at the Levee. Although there are several restaurants that I like here, I was not overly impressed by their offerings that day. I tried a pulled pork slider, grilled shrimp (spicy & yummy - hot off the grill!), fish taco, cheese curds (ick!), and bread pudding. I was most impressed by the blackberry wine offered by StoneBrook Winery - I wonder what that says about me?  :-)

We really like the Levee - the view is fantastic and there are a lot of fun things to do. It's a neat place to hang out - have a few drinks, dinner, see a movie - or do a pub crawl.  :-)

Take me out to the ballgame...

We have an independent minor league baseball team in our area, but we had never been to a game until last Friday night. We went to show support for a very special young lady who sang the national anthem. She's just 14 years old, but she is very talented - and just happens to be the daughter of Gus's former boss.

Buddy, Lulu, & CW joined us - and we had a great time. It was a lot more fun than I expected, not being a baseball fan, LOL. It's great for families - especially ones with young kids. They have a really nice playground and lots of activities for the kids. Ticket prices are very reasonable, too.

Our seats were overlooking third base, so we had an excellent view of the fireworks after the game. I think the fireworks were Gus's favorite part. I'm pretty sure he would buy tickets to every Friday night game ($10) just to watch the fireworks.

This thing was HUGE! But it was more like sausage - and I wanted a ballpark hot dog!

Liberty - one of the mascots - the kids loved him!

Wally the Water Tower - have you seen the Florence Y'all tower?

Lulu & CW

Buddy - just a little too close to the camera, LOL!

Gus & me - not the most flattering picture of me, but it was 96 degrees! LOL!

Yay! We won with a walk-off homerun!

Gus's favorite part

more fireworks

video of some of the fireworks

If you have a local minor league team, I really recommend going to a game. It's a great way to spend some time with the family without breaking the bank. And if it's like it is here - there is more than enough to keep the kids busy. They even have an area for birthday parties. You can even sign up to run out onto the field with the players when they're introduced. Each player was accompanied by 3 kids - and then the player autographed a baseball for each kid. Pretty cool!!