This is coming a day later than I typically like to post
weekly roundups, but things have been a little crazy in the Pihl household.
My parents visited from a Wednesday to a Wednesday, I went back to work Thursday, and we had a new set of house guests arrive last night.
I don't know whether to scratch my watch or wind my butt.
Name that movie!
Ahem. Well, in the spirit of moving on, here are photos from my folks' visit. Pardon the frequent food photos. Looking back, I now understand why I went UP a pant size this week.
Lawrence, Kansas
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| This place is a MUST if you visit Lawrence. Amazing beer, great grub, and references to historic events (Bleeding Kansas, hence the name "Free State") all over the place. My kind of brewery, man. |
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| 9.5% ABV? Umm... yeah! |
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| Hello, Kimono. |
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| My madre and I split/shared the Chicken Flautas... |
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| ...and the Chopped Salad Verde. I HIGHLY recommend the salad. Ohmygosh, it was DELICIOUS. My poor mother hardly got a bite from our "split". |
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| View of the bar and brew area from above. |
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| When it comes to accessing air conditioning, my dad doesn't mess around. |
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| Early mascot. |
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| We like information. It's what we live for. |
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| Original (if I remember correctly) basketball floor. |
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| Wanna feel like a small spec? Compare your hands and feet to those of KU's athletes. |
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| Entering the stadium. |
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| Massive is it's name-o. (Not really) |
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| Our guide informed us of a few fun facts about the arena even my alumnus husband didn't know. |
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| Heya, Dad! |
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| In a nutshell, "Phog" Allen is is the namesake for KU's basketball arena, and you can read more about him, KU basketball, and that crazy shower curtain in this photo HERE. |
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| After all that touring we headed over to Sylas & Maddy's consume insane amounts of homemade ice cream. I was in dessert heaven. |
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| My favorite flavor is "Maddy's Mud" but they were out. I seriously almost cried. Don't judge. I have dessert issues. |
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| This handsome fella was happy, though. |
Back Home(ish)
Kubb, Ol Stuga, and Races
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| We taught my parents how to play kubb. My mom was a rockstar. |
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| Dad wasn't half bad, either, but he was on the other team. My competitive roots were showing that day. |
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| Introduced my mom to the joys of the Ol'Stuga (an institution in our town). |
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| HIL-arious. Ha! |
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| The crew. |
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| We ended the night at the Salina Speedway races to cheer on two Pihl's, one Knoell, and one Ginest (who is dating a Pihl). |
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| Saturday was lake day at my favorite Kansas water spot. Dad got to play on the jet ski. |
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| And I managed to get my mom on! Yay! She even rode solo for a bit! |
Home(ish)
My Father-In-Law's 60th Birthday Celebration
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| Happy 60th, Ron! |
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| We celebrated my father-in-law's 60th at the pond (same location as our Independence Day shindig). it was so windy, I only used 1/5th of the decorations we purchased. |
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| The spot is so pretty, though, additional decor isn't really necessary! |
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| Fathers bonding over fishing. |
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| And, we have a fish! |
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| Yowza. |
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| Family functions mean that I get to see my nephew. He's so cute it hurts. Every time I see him he's doing something new! Exhibit A: He's currently enamored with toothbrushes. (Don't worry, they're CLEAN) |
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| Stop it. I just can't handle it. The cuteness. |
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| We brought our kubb set out for some good old fashioned Swedish birthday fun. |
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| And I got to spend some quality time with my in-law's dog Cecil. He's my favorite. |
Abilene, Kansas
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| We toured Eisenhower's childhood home first. |
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| Photo of Dwight's mamma. My father thought it was Dwight in drag. |
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| Most attractive admission tickets I've ever laid eyes on. |
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| Blurry mural at the entrance to the museum. I think I snapped this mid-stride because I'm the anti-Ansel. |
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| Girl power. |
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| There the is! |
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| Oh, the possibilities. |
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| Heya! |
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| Assessing the options. |
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| In the end, Mom went for a scoop of vanilla. |
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| Dad and I went for their trademark "Green River" Ice Cream Soda. |
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| It comes from this guy, and is sweet, delicious, and tastes like limes. Our server said that it's their trademark flavor and folks come in just for it. Pops and I knew we had to join the club. |
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| Heet vas goooood. |
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| See? |
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| Oh, the goodness. And the stickiness. Also known as sticky goodness. |
Yoder and Hutchinson, Kansas
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| Carriage Crossing is a Mennonite restaurant and is a MUST if you visit the area. Down home food at its best, though it's the OPPOSITE of diet-friendly. |
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| See? |
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| They're happy because they know pie is in their future. |
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| I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak. YUM is all there is to it. |
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| Holy cats, how can anyone choose? |
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| I ended up going with the Blackberry. |
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| Dad got Dutch Apple. |
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| Mom went for Blueberry. |
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| I inhaled mine. And it was GOOD. |
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| They have a darling gift shop attached to the restaurant. |
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| Mmmmm..... |
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| I have a blackberry problem, having nothing to do with phones. |
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| We waddled in after our massive lunch. |
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| Yikes. |
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| That guy in the red? My pops. That thing above him? A massive SR-71 Blackbird Jet. |
See what I mean when I say we've been busy?
I had a marvelous time with my fam-bam, and I can't wait to see them in San Diego in November for my
3 Day Walk!
You picked the very best sites to take them to! You're a great tour guide!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Adam. We had a WONDERFUL time! Thanks so much!!!
ReplyDelete