Swimming pool shenanigans

Belly flop contests are a given
Was there a winner??


Probably not.....

But it was fun to watch!

Chillin in the pool

Luke, Lance, Macy, Becca, Curt and Amanda

Macy and Becca
Amanda

Curt

Ash

The day after the fourth of July

My brother and his wife were nice enough to let us enjoy their pool, hot tub and boat on the day after the fourth of July. Emily's friend, Ash, and Macy's friends Luke, Lance and Becca came with and we had a great time splashing in the pool, relaxing in the hot tub and getting a fantastic tour of Lake Minnetonka. The food was excellent of course as my brother cooked for us for lunch. We headed to Maggie's restaurant in Wayzata for supper and enjoyed pizza and wonderful garlic bread. Thanks for letting us enjoy ourselves so much!

Meeting Janet Evanovich!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me and Janet

My favorite author of all time - I'd read her books no matter what they were or who the characters are. However her Stephanie Plum character is my top choice. :-) Several years ago I started reading Janet's books after a co-worker recommended them to me. I loved them and of course recommended them to my friend, Deb. Janet has now published 17 (soon t0 be 18) books in this series and one day not long ago Deb text me and asked what I was doing on June 23. Ms. Evanovich was going to be in a Barnes and Noble in the cities doing a book signing for her new title. I immediately replied with - I'll be there and how many others can we take along?? As we entered the B&N we were greeted by helpful staff who handed us wristbands with numbers on them. I had number 597 which meant there were 596 people ahead of me and if she signed 100 books per hour and started signing at 6 p.m. we would be signed around midnight. Sounds like a fourth grade math problem doesn't it?? Add in the two hour drive home and the 9 a.m. work day the next day and we knew we were in for a long night. Caffeine was mandatory. Luckily we were in a commercial area and shopping and restaurants were abundant. The five of us headed toward the galleria and fell in love with Crate and Barrel. I saw a sign for the Cheesecake Factory and suggested that as a supper option and was I ever glad we stopped! The food was amazing - the menu was a spiral bound notebook - the waiter had beautiful brown eyes that were impossible to not fall in love with and the cheesecake was fantastic! A must return to for me. More shopping in Southdale and then around 9 pm. we headed back to B&N to wait it out. Luckily there weren't too many people in there and she truly did sign about 100 an hour. We found a couple of tables in the cafe after browsing through the store and settled in for a caffeine break. Our numbers were called and we gladly got in line. The line moved quite quickly and were were entertained by a gentleman that was Ms. Evanovich's wardrobe, hair and makeup consultant. He said she had been on the Today Show in New York the day before, did a couple of book signings, flew to MSP and would be getting on another plane at around 5 a.m the next morning to get to her Texas book signing. And I thought I was tired! ha!! Another one of her 'helpers' was taking pictures for everyone and he suggested we get a group shot which of course we were hoping for. She was very nice as she signed my book and asked if I wanted my name in it and then I was whisked off so the next 300 or so could get their book signed. By midnight we were headed back to the van and by 1:30 or so we were pulling into Deb's driveway. It was an awesome adventure and one that I would repeat any day!! Thanks, Deb, for telling me about this opportunity and for being such a fun date!

All of us at the end of the line.

Janet and Ronda

Deb and Janet