golfing with dad and mom!

to my loyal readers!

i apologize for the delay in getting this post up, but i've been napping all day in my crate, after an exciting - and exhausting - trip to the golf course yesterday evening. for the last few days, all dad's been telling me at lunch is how he wanted to show me his "skills" on the golf course. well, guess what?! when we went to the course, dad's first two shots went straight into the woods! real skillful, dad!

anyway, the absolute highlight of my night, and probably my life so far, came on the sixth hole, a pretty long par three. dad shanked a shot into the woods - surprise, surprise. then, mom took her turn and hit a shot that i will remember for my whole life. after a couple of beautiful practice swings, mom hit the ball. it landed in front of the green and rolled about a foot from the hole! folks, i would not tell you a lie! and, of course, she sank the putt for a birdie! yeah - on one of the first few golf outings of her life, a real birdie, and i was there to watch it! now, to be fair, i'm sure dad was just having an off day. but, i must say, i think i get all of my natural talent and ability from mom...sorry dad!

the picture below, which i made dad take to remember this once-in-a-lifetime moment, is proof that my mom is awesome. and dad, maybe next time, you should hit the ball straighter, so that we don't run out of daylight looking for all of your golf balls!

the p-man, a.k.a. "son of tiger woods-ette"

Dave in STL

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of attending yet another Dave Matthews Band concert in St. Louis. It was Bridget's 4th, Brad's 18th, and Daniel's 6th Dave show, but who's counting...

We had a fantastic time, and it was a phenomenal show! First, we'd like to thank Bridget's dad for hooking us up with outstanding tickets. We were seven rows back to the right of the stage...only about 75 feet from Dave himself! We were so close we could see Dave's sweat dripping off the guitar as he jammed - nice! Some of our favorite moments of the night included the "Pantala Naga Pampa/Rapunzel" opener, the "Too Much" fake out into "Lie in Our Graves," the rarely played live "#40," and, of course, "Crush." We're three for four on shows together where Dave has played "Crush" - we're beginning to think that Dave got the memo that it's "our" song :)

As of now, we don't have anymore Dave shows planned for this summer, but if Brad has his way, this may likely change!

Our Wedding Photos...

Our photographer is currently editing our wedding photos, but in the meantime, she posted some of her favorites on her blog: http://www.elizabethlairdphotography.blogspot.com/.

We hope that you enjoy them as much as we do!

Our Weekend in Bah-ston!

A couple of weekends ago, we were thrilled to take Nikki to Boston to celebrate her high school graduation. After a long delay in St. Louis's not-so-wonderful airport, which gave us time to sample nearly every appetizer and fruity drink available at the airport Chili's, we finally made it to Boston, where we were greeted by our fantastic hosts, Cole and Ellie. We were whisked away to Harvard (via a Zip Car!), where we stayed at Cole's awesome digs, complete with chocolates on our pillows and a personalized itinerary for the weekend! First class all the way!

Saturday morning, we began our walking tour of Boston in Harvard Yard.


Our first stop was breakfast at Darwin's. We immediately sampled some of the local flair: Boston cream pie!


Next on our agenda, Nikki's first subway ride!



We began our walk down The Freedom Trail, but we were quickly diverted from our path for a stop at Mike's Pastry to taste the BEST cannolis ever (take it from Cole and Bridget...they're the experts on sweets)!


Next, we continued our tour through the city, taking in historic sites (including the famous "Cheers" bar, Paul Revere's and "Mother Goose's" gravesites, Boston Common, and the lawsuit provoking Trinity Church), and stopped for a beer (or three) near Beacon Hill where Bridget pondered whether it was annoying to play Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time" on the jukebox in Boston :)











Saturday evening started with dinner on the patio at Legal Seafood. Although the service was a little slow at first, we had a fantastic meal to fuel up for the Dave Matthews Band concert at Fenway Park!!!






A quick cab ride later, and we arrived at Fenway Park, just in time to hear Willie Nelson finish his opening set.


The DMB concert was better than average, buoyed by the band's great songs to begin and end the sets, including "Crush," "Two Step," and "#41." No "Up and Away" for our high school graduate though - so she'll just have to keep going to shows until she hears it!

After the show, Cole decided to retrace the last half of the Boston Marathon route, and so the group walked to the Ritz Carlton bar (by the way, we're anxiously awaiting the fantastic and interesting photos Cole took on our walk there - ha ha!), where, rumor had it, the band would be hanging out. For anyone who doesn't really know them, Brad and Cole are unabashed Dave groupies, hence the stalking! Unfortunately, the band was nowhere to be seen, although Cole was repeatedly mistaken for one of the band's staff members! Owen Wilson, Johnnie from Karate Kid, or a DMB staffer? You decide! Having worn out the soles of our shoes, we then took a cab back to Harvard, where we had a few snacks and went to bed. What a fun-filled and exciting day!

Jet-and-alcohol-lagged, we slept in a bit the next morning. We made a return trip to Darwin's, where we again had to sample the Boston cream pie - just to make sure the first piece's deliciousness wasn't a mistake! From there, we went to the Boston Museum of Science, where we hopped aboard a vintage, World War II, amphibious landing vehicle, for a world famous "Duck Boat Tour" of Boston. Yes, somehow, there were sites from the previous day's excursion that we hadn't seen! The tour was both interesting and relaxing, and the weather was great! Go Mighty Ducks, "Quack Quack, Quack Quack!"







After that, we headed back to Harvard, where we made an obligatory stop at the Harvard Book Store. A couple of purchases later, we went back to the dorms, packed our things, and had to say our goodbyes to Harvard. Another Zip-Car ride later and we were at the airport! Although it was a short trip, it was fantastic and well worth it! Thank you Cole and Ellie for the hospitality...and for a "boom boom pow" weekend! :) We will be back again soon!

Happy Birthday to ME!

hi everyone, it's the p-man, coming at you from the boulevard, on the first anniversary of my birth. as i look back on my first year, i have to say that i've been very fortunate. although i sometimes miss minonk, illinois (where i was born - duh!), my parents now are great. mom is really cool - she's always giving me hugs and kisses, and dingos and greenies, and i just really appreciate her. my dad, on the other hand, is not always so cool. sometimes, he gets mad at me, like when i have accidents and when i run away from him - you know, things that all dogs do, and things that just shouldn't make dads worry. i mean, who doesn't have accidents in the elevator or in the hallway in front of other people's doors?! i know i do, and all of my friends think it's cool. but i guess my dad can be pretty cool sometimes, especially when he lets me out of my crate every day for lunch and shares his tortilla chips with me. thanks, pops!

anyway, like i was saying, life is pretty stellar for me right now. i just returned from an extended vacation in florida and then kansas city, where i heard rumblings about my grandma possibly getting a new dog. grandma, if you're reading this, i vote for a cute, intelligent, athletically-inclined, female west highland white terrier, who is not afraid to party a little bit. lucky, i'm sorry but you're getting a little old for a stud like me.

well, i'm going back to sleep for the afternoon, to get ready for my birthday party in forest park tonight. mom is planning it, so it'll be pretty awesome, i'm sure. i'll report back later on any other presents that i may get. i'm keeping my fingers crossed for dingos with meat in the center. they. are. awesome!

later folks and pups,

peeps

ps...i'd like to give a "bark" out to my friend, sam. i heard my mom saying the other day that sam thought my post was the best part of our new blog...i think the word "genius" was even used. i have to say, i agree. don't worry, buddy, i'll keep 'em coming...

pps...as you can see, i finally got around to posting some photos from my bday celebration. sorry for the delay, but it took me awhile to get over the excitement of it all. mom and dad got me the coolest present - a bouncy ball like the one i play with at grandpa and grandma's in kearney. being the beast that i am, i killed it within just a few minutes, of course. that ball was no match for me - big red ball in kearney, bring it on! the worst part of the night was definitely when mom dressed me up in my tux. dad kept saying i looked like a pilgrim and mom couldn't stop laughing. i did not appreciate it! however, the cesar dog food cake was delice! also, i really appreciated the trip to forest park. boy, do i love that place! all in all, the perfect first birthday!

Headin' Up to San Francisco...

The weekend following our wedding, we made a quick trip to the City by the Bay, San Francisco - a "mini-moon," if you will! We arrived at the Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghiradelli Square, late on Friday evening. After a little trouble finding the entrance to the hotel, we were escorted to our beautiful, apartment-like room, which overlooked Alcatraz and Angel Island. Our favorite touches were Ghiradelli chocolates on our pillows and the comfy "one size almost fits all" robes and slippers...but our main dislike was the ridiculous shower, which had clearly been designed for small people...like Bridget :)




On Saturday morning, we rented a car, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and headed up to wine country: Napa Valley. This was our favorite day of the whole trip. It was a beautiful...while it was foggy in San Fran, the sun was out and it was warm in Napa. Our first stop was Silver Oak Cellars, Bridget's dad's favorite. Thankfully, it wasn't crowded, probably because we got there to start drinking at 10:00 a.m. - ha!




We really enjoyed our first experience with wine tasting in California, and got a good recommendation for our next stop, Rutherford Hill Winery. This was a smaller, lesser known winery, but it had beautiful gardens and provided chocolate with the tasting - yum!



Next, we headed to The Martini House for lunch, which came highly recommended. We sat outside and had a fabulous lunch, complete with a side of tasty morel mushrooms!





After lunch, we went to our third winery: Peju. The grounds at this winery were spectacular and, after our tasting, we took a little nap in the grass.







On our way back to San Francisco, we stopped at Robert Mondavi to look around and Domaine Chandon to sample sparkling wine, which were both very crowded by that time.






That evening, we perused the Ghiradelli shops right outside of our hotel (including many chocolate samples!) and we ate dinner at McCormick and Kuleto's right in the Square, where we met Trevor (sorry, you had to be there!) and ate delicious crab cakes.





We spent Sunday morning getting to know the city, including driving down Lombard Street (San Fran's Crookedest Street - yikes!), exploring Fisherman's Wharf (sampling sourdough bread turtles, watching street performers, and, Brad's favorite, visiting the sea lions), and walking through Chinatown.





In the afternoon, we took a day trip to Sausalito, a waterfront community across the bay from San Fran, where we ate lunch at Le Garage and took in a street festival.





That evening, we had dinner at a fantastic little Italian restaurant, Venticello, which was, as the concierge said, an "SF gem."

Monday, our last day in San Francisco, was also spent exploring the city, including walking along the waterfront and window shopping. We even saw a Westie, which made us miss our little Peeps :)




All in all, our first trip as newlyweds was a success! We can't wait to return to California, especially Napa Valley!