This was a very full, very long weekend.
We spent all of Friday driving and just collapsed in our hotel when we got to East Lansing.
Saturday we slept late, then went out to lunch at
El Azteco, my favorite mexican restaurant. After that we wandered around downtown for a couple of hours and bought some odds'n'ends at
Flat, Black and Circular,
Curious Books, and a
yarn store that wasn't there last time I visited. Then we went back to the hotel for a little while before heading to Dad's for my step-mother's surprise birthday party. Nancy was expecting the Beard kids, spouses, and grandkids, and her two local-ish daughters and grandkids. But, Dad decided to also invite her brothers and their families. Nancy was blown away. The party was a lot of fun overall, if very loud and crowded. The food and conversation were good and the wine flowed freely. What more can you ask?
Sunday we went for a little walk near the hotel and otherwise goofed off in the morning, then drove out to Grand Ledge for Grandma's party. All 27 (I think) of us went to the decent Chinese place in town, and then back to Grandma's house to hang out for the rest of the day. Again, good food and conversation add up to a good party. We also went back to Dad's after leaving that party and hung out with him, Nancy, KC, and Erin for a couple more hours before going back to the hotel. We stayed up a little late watching some mindless TV, and then passed out.
Monday we forced ourselves to get up early and then drove back to Grand Ledge to pick up my 18 year old sister, who was riding back with us. We had breakfast with Grandma, Mom, and the kids, then hit the road. The only really memorable part about the drive home was the call Tom got from the repair guy about my car. It turns out I need a new transmission. That will be expensive enough that we're trying to decide if we should have it repaired/replaced, or just get a new car. Blah.
And then we got home and passed out.