Anniversay Weekend

Well as you probably guessed from the pictures I posted previously, Lisa and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary last weekend with a quick overnight trip to Frankenmuth and Birch Run, MI.  We ended up taking the day off on Friday and headed up to the Birch Run Outlet Mall for a little shopping.  We ended up purchasing quite a bit more than we typically do when we go on our shopping expeditions; probably since there was a pretty good Memorial Day sidewalk sale going on all weekend.  We wandered through stores for about 5 hours or so and then headed to Frankenmuth.  It was just a really lazy, relaxing trip.  No agenda, not time restraints and nothing we had to do.  It was really nice getting away for the day. 

Frankenmuth was filled with people over the weekend but Friday seemed to be the right day to visit.  There was a dog show, a hot air balloon competition and bike race among other activities going on all weekend.  The only thing we had to contend with on Friday was the hot air balloons and the colder than ideal temperatures.  We ended up having eating the family style chicken dinner at The Bavarian Inn not because the food is good but because that's what you do when you're in Frankenmuth.  The hot air balloon teams put on an exhibition on Friday evening as well.  All the teams blew up their balloons and you could wander around, look and ask questions. 

Saturday was spent driving home after another quick walk around Frankenmuth and a stop at one of the outlet stores to make a purchase we forgot about on Friday.  We then headed into Ann Arbor for a quick stop at the mall and then home to get ready to attend a wedding reception of a co-worker. 

Sunday, summer arrived and me being a genius (pun intended) thought it was a good idea to wake up at 3am to put a whole pork shoulder picnic roast in the smoker then spend all day trying to keep cool.  It took about 14 hours to fully smoke the 10 pound beast.  I'm not sure why I decided to smoke that large of a roast when I'm watching my food intake but I did.  Needless to say, we had abundant amounts of pork to eat and we did so on Sunday, Monday and still have a couple of pounds that I will need to pitch tonight.  The picnic was very good though and I would do it again.  The meat was tender, held the smoke flavor well and cheap.  The 10 pounds of meat was about $14.50!  

I did manage to do some yard work and finish up on the flower bed I put in on the side of the house.  I will post pictures of the flower bed later; I haven't taken pictures of the final results yet. 

Nothing really planned for this weekend at all.  I can't believe that Shawn only has 4 more days of school for the year! 

Bavarian Inn

Lisa and her dork husband having a beer and taking self pictures

Anniversary present we bought (the clock)

Smoker in action...I love smoked meat!