Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of Preston’s first New Years Eve here
LOL!!!
We debated a few times whether or not to go out this year being that Preston is so young. Alisha really needed to get out of the house after being kept in for the past two weeks. This turned out to be a day of firsts for little Preston.
We headed out to get some things done and headed down to Alpharetta to join and do some shopping at Costco. That place was a total MADHOUSE! It was insane! You literally could barely walk in there. After leaving Costco without buying a single thing (just not worth the lines) we headed off to Walmart (the nice one off of exit 12) but not before stopping at the Phillidelphia Pretzel Company for some delicious soft pretzels!! mmmmmm! We then headed off to Bobby’s house to check out his new tile backsplash in the kitchen and take Preston to another first – Taco Mac!!! We sat down and had two beers before heading up to Danny’s house to bring in the New Year.
Danny, Kelly, Bobby, their parents, a couple from Chicago, Hector, Reagan, Geni and Edwin were all there. It was a nice chill night with good food and family. We had a few beers and some great times.
You may have noticed that we stopped playing BINGO quite some time ago. I think everyone got a little tired of the food and we all got busy for a few weeks in a row and BAM! no more BINGO on Wednesdays. Well, Alisha and I got bored and missed everyone so we decided that it would be a perfect time to get everyone back together for a hump day dinner.
I sent out an email to everyone and we got a ton of positive responses. We initially wanted to do dinner at Chepe’s, a Mexican restaurant in the area but they could not accommodate the reservation so we moved it to Jim and Nick’s BBQ. We had a huge table!!! It was Joe, Carol, Dan, Hector, Reagan, Geni, Edwin, Danny, Kelly, mom, dad, Zach, AJ, Chris, Patti, Dave, Cookie, Frankie, Alisha and I.
We had a great time getting everyone back together. We love our family and our family friends. They are great and make for a fun time. We laughed, drank, and joked and just had a hell of a time. It was so great to see everyone again! We will need to do it more often for SURE!
On Sunday morning, I woke up early to start brewing a beer that I have been dying to do. It is a Banana Cream Ale!! It is a medium bodied beer that after fermenting will sit on 5 lbs of bananas for about 2 weeks. I cannot wait to taste this! It will have lactose added to it for a creamy mouthfeel and a hint of vanilla. Should be a hit just as my Caramel Vanilla Cream Ale was. I spent about 4 hours cleaning everything and getting it all brewed up outside on the back patio. It was nice to brew again. Yeah it takes some time, but it is still fun and oh so rewarding. Heck, I am drinking a homebrew that I brewed almost a year ago as I type this.
Brewing my Banana Cream Ale
Kara and Lin spent the night over Saturday as Kara was going to come with us to Edwin and Geni’s house to hang out since Oktoberfest was canceled due to the rain. Lin had a kickball game in the city that he had to go to so he was unable to hang out with us. Edwin and Geni invited all of the family and a few family friends to come over to enjoy the catered food and just hang out. It was a great relaxing day. We talked, watched some football, drank, and just hung out.
This weather is excellent! I am so glad fall is here!!!
For my own notes the beer finished at an OG of 1.052.
On Saturday afternoon we headed over to Geni and Edwin’s house for our normal Labor Day Weekend party. We spent time with friends and family eating great food, having a few drinks, and relaxing. It was the opening week for college football so we were sure to watch some games including the UGA game which was a huge disappointment. Made me think about how tough this season may be to watch.
My dad passed out as always!
Bobby’s brothers were in town (Ted, Danny, and Danny’s girlfriend) for the holiday weekend. I had never met Ted or Danny’s girlfriend before and had not seen Danny in quite some time. It was great to meet / see them. We had a great time with everyone playing corn hole and just BS’ing around. We made fun of everything and just had a blast.
This weekend I had a bunch of family coming into town from all different areas. My grandfather, grandmother, uncle, and aunt all came in from Puerto Rico and my aunt, uncle, cousin and her two children all came in from New York. They were all here to come to AnnaMarie’s birthday party on Saturday and stick around to hang out with the family for another week or so.
After Matt and Laura’s wedding on Saturday we headed down to Hershey and Susan’s house to see everyone and hang out with our God Daughter for her 3rd birthday party. We had an excellent time. It was really nice to see everyone. It was just a lot of quality time with great people. Unfortunately we didnt get too many pictures of the family as it really just slipped my mind.
On Sunday we headed over to Edwin and Geni’s to hang out some more with the family. We cooked out, chilled outside, and just had a great day. It was a great and late wrap up to our great weekend… why oh why do Mondays always come so fast
On Sunday we headed over to Geni and Edwin’s house to eat a nice dinner / lunch and cut a cake for Hector’s birthday with them. We hung out and had a great time and then migrated outside to enjoy the awesome weather. While we were out there we played a great game of basketball that kept up busy. It was awesome to be active and play a quick game. Hector came out of nowhere to win the game.
Playing Basketball at Edwin and Geni's
After hanging out for a while, Alisha and I headed over to my parents house to hang out with them for a while before calling it a night. It was another great weekend and we cant wait for the next one!
I’m on a roll now!!! I have won BINGO two weeks in a row!!! Not only did I win yesterday; Alisha did as well! We are racking in the $10 off coupons now!!! daaaaaaaamn right!
Last night was the first time Dan came out to BINGO thanks to his Spring Break at UGA. Justin was also on his break and joined us as well. We had a good time playing and sharing stories and … and more. ha ha ha
For those that didnt catch the outdated title (he’s on fire) check out the video of NBA Jam from my beloved youth. Your player would be on fire when he would preform well during the game and was more likely to sink harder shots and get the ball back when he was.
This week we had a lot going on which was really nice and definitely helps the work week go by that much faster. On Monday I met Alisha, Andrea, Ryan and the boys for lunch at Fridays. It was great to see them again! Later in the evening Alisha and I watched they typical tv shows – House, John and Kate Plus 8, and Midgets (aka – Little People Big World).
Tuesday we went up to Kevin and Ashley’s house to do dinner and hang out with them Spencer, and Jason. Kevin was expecting some new furniture and thought he would need help as well but unfortunately they did not come when planned and they had to push it back to Wednesday. We had a great time eating dinner, hanging out, and have a beer or so.
On Wednesday I had some free time and figured I would give Kev a quick hand with the chairs before heading up to Bingo with Edwin, Geni, Joe, and Carol. Wednesdays are the best!
Thursday I met up with Spence and Jason Lucas for some after work drinks. We met up at taco mac and upped my passport while we chilled out and had a great time.
Then came the weekend! I wish every week was so full of things to do. Felt like the week just flew by.
There is a video in the post below the comment about the Beverly. Be sure to be patient while it loads.
Sunday was the final day that we were with my brothers and we planned to go out to eat for lunch (since Zach and AJ sleep so late) and then head over to Edwin and Geni’s for dinner / the Super Bowl.
In the morning I skated out to meet Alisha’s dad up at there house to go to a guys house that brews beers. Paul had been there the day before and wanted me to see there setup, taste their beers, and meet a few of the guys that go over there frequently. They had an amazing setup including full three tiered brewing rigs, kegorators, etc. The whole works really. It was pretty cool to see. They were actually brewing that morning as well.
When I got back to my parents house we had the kids get ready and all went out to Wild Wing for lunch. We all (but one) had a good lunch and then thought about what to do before going to Edwin and Geni’s house for the big game. We thought about going to a driving range and I just didn’t think that Chris would enjoy it so we decided to head down to the Coke factory in downtown Atlanta as none of them had been to the new one.
The Coke factory was really cool. The movies that they have are great especially the one at the beginning. I love that one. The boys loved trying out all of the different sodas from around the world… especially the Beverly :crackup:
After the Coke factory we stopped to get a quick coffee in Centennial Olympic Park and then headed back to the car to head to Edwin and Geni’s house. There we got together with everyone to watch the Super Bowl and eat Geni’s famous lazy rice! mmmmmmmm a casserole type dish with white rice and chicken then layered with cheese… I want some right now! The game was excellent as everyone should know by now and we had a blast hanging out with everyone.
As we were sitting playing Bingo at Ray’s Pizza in Alpharetta, Edwin turned to Alisha and asked, have you ever heard of Jean Pierre Renard? No, she said. Edwin replied, Neither have I but apparently he is famous. He has his own clock.
The name Jean Pierre Renard was written across the middle of the clock. Being that Edwin was drinking, this was quite funny ha ha ha. Since we will be flying out on Wednesday, this is our last Bingo game until after Thanksgiving.
Yesterday was Edwin’s Oktoberfest where everyone from family to clients gathered together to celebrate and eat. We had been looking forward to this forever! My dad, uncles, and aunt got their band together to play for this annual event. They played everything from Santana to classic rock. After talking to family and friends, we all went our separate ways and enjoyed the music, pony rides, bounce house, food, and ice cream
After being there only an hour or so, Jason (Raygor’s family friend) decided that he wanted to ride. Without much thought, I decided to go with him and we head to the mountains to get some much needed saddle time in. We did “the loop” and grabbed some lunch at the bottom of Blood Mountain. The weather was PERFECT!!
With all of this commotion, we did not make it out to Ryan and Andrea’s new house. They were moving to their new house in Douglasville yesterday. CONGRATS GUYS!!! We are SOOO sorry we didn’t make it out to help you guys out
