Easter Weekend: Game Night with Friends and Easter Sunday with Family

Saturday, March 30th

Nicole posted on Cool Kids Doing Cool Things about having a game night in March and everyone seemed to be on board.  We all agreed on the last Saturday in March.  We didn't realize that Easter was the next day.  I wrote on our Facebook group that Ben and I could host, but it will probably be the last time we have a game night in our current house because we had planned on starting the process of moving as soon as possible.

We cleaned the house, got the food prepared, did laundry, drove to Hawks Prairie to get some grapes, Costco was still out of them, not sure why (we even asked Heather, and she had no clue), had to settle for Safeway grapes and I had time to make mini cupcakes for Easter Sunday.  I decorated the house with Easter stuff since it served a dual purpose, game night and Easter.

Celeste and Isaac had the Easter eggs from the last time we had an Easter themed game night, which was at Nicole and Del's the previous year.  Ben and I decided on a baked potato night and assigned everyone something to bring. I wanted to avoid people bringing the same thing and forgetting to bring things we needed.  We would provide the potatoes, bacon bits, salt, pepper, butter and sour cream. I set the time for 6, to allow everyone to have a Saturday but not make it too late.  

Megan arrived first, brought cheese and a buffalo chicken dip, assembled and heated it up here, Heather and Josh showed up next, with their gluten free chili, a charcuterie board full of goodies and some gluten free brownies, Nicole and Del rolled up with their green onions, broccoli and a plethora of games to play and then Justin and Lindsay with chips and salsa. Isaac and Celese came late because she had a client that went over their appointment at the salon.  She made gluten free lemon bars, and she told us that we could eat without them.

We dished up food, ate and visited.  We talked about the upcoming wedding and the stuff we still had left to do.  Nicole and Del kinda had an idea of what they wanted to do but they still had a lot of work to do.  Celeste and Issac arrived, and we left them eat before the Easter egg hunt while we continued to chat about stuff.  I went outside and opened both the side gates to make going from yard to yard a little easier.   

We cleaned up a little bit and then Celeste and Issac went outside to hide eggs while we stayed away from the windows.  I let them know that the back yard and front yard were fair game.  I was so happy the weather held up for us.  We didn't have to wear rain jackets or hold umbrellas.  They finished up and I let everyone know the parameters of the yard. Everyone either grabbed a flashlight or used their phone, I handed everyone a bag and off we went!   

We raced around looking for eggs, there was some giggling, and I was excited to see what Celeste put in the eggs.  We took a couple more searches to the yard and Celeste said there were a few more hiding and the golden egg hasn't been found yet.  We found all the smaller eggs but that golden egg was hidden very well.  Lindsay and Justin happened to be in the right spot, saw it in the brush and grabbed it.  They will either have to host and hide eggs or hide the eggs at the host's house. 

We went inside and dumped our bags out on the table to see what we got. She packed them with different types of candy and in the ones where airplane shots are supposed to go, because several years ago Nicole cut holes in the tops for them to fit, Celeste put in small bottles of hot sauce to make things a little different. 

We played two games, Neanderthals and Big Bucket of Doom, two games we haven't played before.  We had fun learning how to play them.  We all talked about the bachelor and bachelorette party since most of the people were there who were probably going to go.  Both Ben and I were excited for our upcoming parties with our friends.   

As the night came to an end, people gathered their stuff and went home.  We thanked everyone for coming over.  Nicole, Del and Megan stayed behind a little bit more.  

Ben and I cleaned up the living room and kitchen and finally went to bed after 2 a.m.

Sunday, March 31st

I got up around 10 and started the ham.  I got it out of its packaging, mixed up the brown sugar with some warm water, dumped out most of the juice for the pineapple rings, added some pineapple juice to the bottom of the cooker and got out my toothpicks.  I slathered the brown sugar mixture all over the ham and added the pineapple rings secured with toothpicks all over the top of the ham.  I put the foil over it, secured it with the lid and set the temperature.

Wade was being annoying because he wanted fed.  I grabbed the can of wet food and fed him and Oliver.  I made Ben get out of bed. I got in a really light breakfast, sat and relaxed a bit.  Over the past few weeks to a month or so, I've gathered some Easter stuff and candy for the baskets.  I assembled them as I collected things.  This time, I was able to store them in the extra bedroom because Doug wasn't in there anymore.  It was nice having that extra room to store stuff away from the kitties. 

Dad had come over the day before to bring money over for the plastic eggs.  We sat at the table and counted change.  It took about an hour or so.  We had 35 plastic eggs with candy and 50 with change inside.  I had one large silver egg and one that is shaped like a chocolate bunny.  I asked Mom if she would donate some $5 gift cards to put inside of them and she said she would.  Dad brought those over as well.  We put them all in a plastic bag and put them into the back bedroom with the baskets.  I thanked him for the change and helping me get them together.

As it got closer to food time, I checked the ham a few times to make sure it was getting up to temperature, I had Ben help with the mashed potatoes, and I heated up the green beans and started in on the gravy.  I got the table ready in between stirs and temperature checks. Trish, Ed and Amy showed up earlier than everyone, she brought a green salad, and I had her help stir the gravy, so it didn't get chunky.  Ben was in and out of the kitchen checking in on his potatoes.  They were almost done.

Once the ham and potatoes were done, I helped Ben mash the potatoes while he got out the electric carving knife to cut up the ham.  I got out the salad dressing, croutons, cheese, Mom made Easter cookies and brought a veggie tray and dip, Erika brought rolls, a bunny cake and root beer. 

Doug didn't collaborate with his family very well.  I gave him all the information he needed but he and Sonya decided to wreck the day and decided to be late coming over for the Easter egg and basket hunt.  All it takes is a couple seconds of communication.  We have cell phones, we check them.  I was irritated with them.

We ate, always way too much, ate desserts and I got the baskets and eggs organized so Ben and I could hide them.  Dad helped me take them outside into the back yard.  Ben and I scattered baskets and eggs around the yard.  Some were harder to find than others.   I told everyone the rules (how many eggs everyone got and the yard boundaries) and Doug and Sonya finally showed up around 45 minutes late.  They joined in on the festivities but didn't look that excited to be there.  It disappointed me because I put a lot of time, money and work into making sure everyone had a great time.

Zac must have not been listening to the rule or had forgotten what we did over the past few years and basically grabbed all of the eggs.  Mom kinda scolded him and Erika took his eggs away and gave them to the people who didn't get any.  We took a family picture and then everyone got ready to go since it was a Sunday, and everyone had to get ready for the work week.  

I had some stuff set out for Erika and she forgot to take it home, so I was stuck with it again.  We thanked everyone for coming over.  Ben and I spent some time cleaning up and putting everything back.  Trish had done the bulk of the dishes while we were hiding eggs and baskets. 

Mom had given Grandma her wedding dress a few weeks back.  Grandma was able to get the yellow out of it and brought it over for me to use for mine at some point.  I knew I was running out of time to figure out a dress for the wedding in a very short four months.

I was a nice evening, I decided to go for a bike ride in the park to get some exercise and to feel less guilty from all the crap I had eaten in the past two days.  Ben worked on his taxes, and I was able to relax for a bit after entertaining people all weekend long.  It was going to get busier and busier as July creeped closer and closer.

Happy Easter!

Next Adventure:  Lewiston Cache Machine Weekend:  Lacey to Lewiston

Cache Maintenance with Mom on a Nice 70 Degree Spring Day

The night before, I somehow convinced Mom to go on a bike ride with me to go fix some of the caches along the Chehalis Western Trail.  I told her it was going to be one of the first really nice days of the spring and that we should take advantage of it.  She agreed.  I told her that I had to run a few errands in the morning before I went into Rainier to get her.  She said that was fine, she had some stuff she could do before I came over.

I got up at 9:30 and got ready.  I made some Irish oatmeal and grapes with some chocolate milk.  I washed a load of laundry, worked on my blog while I watched some random TV.  I chatted with Mom and tried getting her to come out and come grocery shopping with me, but she didn't want to drive out to Lacey.  I told her that was fine. I loaded up the recycle and headed into Hawks Prairie.

I went to the recycle first, then Costco, Walmart and I went to Winco last.  It's sad that I have to go to that many places to get the things I needed at reasonable prices. I got home, unloaded the groceries and put stuff away.  I put the seats down in the Escape and shoved my bike into the back with the tire pump...just in case I needed it. 

I got into Rainier, grabbed the truck, put my bike, Mom's bike and Mom into the truck and drove out to Military Road/Waldrick Road and parked at the unofficial trailhead.  I was able to back in to make it easier later on when it was time to leave.  Mom helped me take the bikes out of the back, we grabbed the things we would need, shoved them into my backpack, locked the truck and off we went.  I decided to go north on the trail first.

I had more than a handful of caches to check on.  We were going to start at Asphalt Adventures #13 (GC35FPT).  Cachers weren't able to find it and one of the geocaching reviewers temporarily disabled the cache.  We arrived near the cache site, and I started looking.  I couldn't find it.  It did disappear.  I replaced the whole cache.  I made sure to make some notes as I fixed these so I could update them when I got home and was at my computer to do so.

Asphalt Adventures #16 (GC9WAKR) was also a cache I saw in my emails that the reviewer had temporarily disabled.  It looked like it had gone missing for a while.  Sadly, I was not going to go out while it was raining to fix it, so I waited for some nice weather.  I got off my bike and looked around.  It was gone.  I replaced the whole cache and covered it up the best I could.  

I stopped at Asphalt Adventures #18 (GC8MYRZ) because you could literally see it from the trail.  I just wanted to make sure it was still there, and it had not rolled down the hill because people can't put it back the correct way.   We got back on our bikes and continued up the trail. 

We got towards the end of my series.  I got off my bike at Asphalt Adventures #23 (GC36ABB) so I could check on the container.  The last couple cachers said in their logs that the lid was broken, and it was letting in moisture.  I dug through my backpack and found a container big enough to replace this letterbox hybrid.  I ended up replacing everything including a new stamp and stamp pad.  I hope this one survives.

Asphalt Adventures #24 (GC36ABD) has been there for over 10 years.  Then I get a message from someone stating that the lady who lives near the trail wanted it moved because the people were spooking her horses.  Last I knew, the trail is public property, and anyone can use it for recreational purposes, including geocaching.  To avoid something dumb, I had a couple geocachers move it to the other side of the trail.  When Mom and I came, I replaced the container and added more rocks for better cover. 

I've had Another Golden Spike - Redone (GC8Q73X) solved for a while and it was patiently waiting on my list to be found.  That afternoon was a perfect day to look for it. I actually solved this puzzle from a picture I took many years ago.  There is a cement structure next to a bench that has all of the towns along the Chehalis Western and on the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino Trail with a railroad spike.  You gathered information from that structure to find your coords. This area has been logged and cleared of brush since the last time I was there, so it looked different. My coords jumped all over the place and I could not zero in on one specific area.  I did check the obvious spot, but I couldn't find it.  I wandered around some more reading logs.  I got a clue from one of them. I went back to that stump, and they said that you had to reach down deep and possibly dig it out. The cache had several layers of dirt on top of it, but I was glad I found it.  I didn't want to come back another day.  

We continued down the trail along Waldrick Road to the last cache of the series, Asphalt Adventures #25 (GC8MXJV).  I had to wait until some bike riders passed before I got off my bike to check up on it.  All was well with the cache.  We got back on our bikes and headed south.  About halfway back to the parking trailhead, we stopped at the Monarch Sculpture Park, so I could use the porta potty because I had to pee really bad.  I had to wait for a guy to crap.  Once he was done, I was upset that I had to use it after he crapped in it.  I held my nose, peed really fast and got out of there.

I told Mom that once we got back towards the truck, we had to go a little further south down the trail to check on Asphalt Adventures #7 (GC35FPB).  She said that was fine.  When we got there, I read my notes on what kind of a problem this cache had.  A cacher described that it was just a baggie under a rock.  I replaced the whole cache so now it had a container.  We turned around and went back to the truck.

We loaded up the bikes into the back of the truck and I told Mom that I was going to check up on one more cache since it was nearby.  The Rocks Among Us (GC3785X) was hidden near the parking trailhead and the cache was in good shape.  We rode our bikes around 8.5 miles.  

Since we were almost to Tenino, we got onto Military Road and made our way past McIntosh Lake and onto 507.  I wanted to check up on Welcome 2 Tenino (GC8N5G8) because it was temporarily disabled by the reviewer.  I parked and replaced the cache while Mom watched me from the passenger side of the truck.  On the way home, we pulled over on Hwy 507 so I could grab Bob and Bev's cache, Rock and Roll (GCA0ABR).  I told her it would be quick.  I got to the cache location and found the fake rock.   

We drove back into Rainier, got to Mom and Dad's house, unloaded the bikes, shoved my bike back into the Escape and filled up the water jugs with Rainier water.  I found places to put them around the bike, thanked Mom for going with me and went to go see Bev for about an hour to visit. 

I went back into Lacey and got home just after 8.  I unloaded the Escape, made some chicken nuggets and fries in the air fryer, watched the rest of the Kraken game, talked to Ben twice (he was on shift that day), showered, did another load of laundry, logged the caches, published the Roy cache that I moved a few weekends ago, prepared the pulled pork for the next day, blogged and watched TV.  I finished off my night with some popcorn and a few chapters of my book before going to bed.

Next Adventure:  Easter Weekend:  Game Night with Friends and Easter Sunday with Family

Crab Feed and Grandma Karen's Birthday Party

Saturday, March 2nd

In January, after one of Ben's Thursday trainings at the fire station, he came home and told me they were going to do the crab feed again. I wrote the date on the calendar right away, so we didn't double book our Saturday with something else.  I asked Ben what my job would be this year, and he said that I could have any job I wanted.  I've done the condiment table, the soda and water table, I guess I will find out when I got there to see what area had a vacancy.  

Ben spent the next few trainings helping the fire department get ready for the crab feed.  The Thursday before, they spent most of their training time setting up chairs and tables, staging equipment and doing the last-minute check offs.  Everyone knew what their job was whether it be getting the crabs ready, cooking spaghetti and bread in the kitchen, a gopher/runner, working the silent auction, volunteering handing out food or beverages or manning the ticket tables or money. 

I asked Grandma a few weeks back what she wanted to do for her birthday, and she told me to give her a couple days to think about it.  She finally got back to me and said that doing a St. Patrick's Day theme would be easy since I had most of the decorations.  I told her she could have whatever theme she wanted.  She stuck with St. Patrick's Day.  I asked her if she had come up with any food she would enjoy.  She said she wanted cubed steak and gravy made in the Instant Pot, mashed potatoes, soda bread, a green salad, green beans and an Irish apple crisp.  I looked to see what made it Irish.  Irish whiskey and Irish oatmeal.  We had the Irish whiskey, but I'd have to look into the Irish oatmeal.

This all seemed pretty doable.  I would just have to see how many people were going to come so I had enough food for everyone.  After work, the Friday before, I got a list together and headed into Hawks Prairie.  I stopped at Walmart first, then Winco and finally Safeway.  I was able to get everything I needed.  I got home just before 7 p.m.

Ben brought the crab feed tickets home, and we got the same people to purchase them like we do every year.  His Mom, Ed and Amy, my Mom and Dad and this year we got Josh and Heather to come support Ben and his fire station.  I told everyone to get there somewhat early so they could get a good table and settled in.

Ben got up early on Saturday because he was on shift.  I spent most of my morning making Grandma's soda bread she wanted for her birthday party the next day.  I knew I needed to get the bread and the cobbler done before the next day.  I ran out of time to do the cobbler so I would have to do it after the crab feed or the next morning when I got up.  I got ready to go and drove out to Tenino around 2:30.

I rolled into town around 3, found a place to park down the street and let Ben know I was there.  He met me outside and told me that I could be with him, Jed and Amanda at the alcoholic beverage table.  Jed and Amanda were checking ID's and giving out bracelets and Ben and I were handing out the alcoholic beverages.  We both had a can opener with us because we had to open it up and hand it to them.  It's the law.  There were several different types of beers and hard seltzers.   

As 4:00 approached, many people flooded the doorway, waiting to get in and to their tables.  Everyone was hungry and could not wait to get in line for their food.  The alcohol table got busy.  Ben and I were taking tickets and popping tops left and right. As the tables and chairs filled in more and more, Mike decided on what order each table would go up to the food table.  I still didn't see any of our people yet.  I sure hope they arrived soon. 

As the evening wore on, our family, Josh and Heather did finally arrive.  They came up to get alcohol from us and eventually got in line for some food.  Ben and I each took turns hanging out with them at their table while they ate.  We even got to meet Sheriff Sanders, who took a picture with us.  As Sheriff, he tries to get to as many events in Thurston County as he can. 

Just as everyone was winding down, Mike came out and let everyone know the live auction was about to start and the silent auction was going to end soon.  The live auction items started to be brought in, and everyone had their full attention on the items as it got underway. It took a little bit to get through the items and it seemed like everyone was having fun.

Both auctions came to an end, people who didn't bid on anything, cleaned up their area and left while the people who won items, went into the lobby to pay and pick up their winnings. I asked Ben what the next step was, and he said to start picking up our area, putting the leftover alcohol away and see if another area needs some help.  I went into the kitchen to sit for a minute since I had been on my feet for several hours and it felt good to take that break.

Everyone who was available, started cleaning off the tables, gathering chairs and breaking down the tables. I made myself useful and jumped in.  We got the bay all cleared out in about a half hour.  A few people manned the push brooms, and the kitchen crew brought out some of the extra food for the volunteers so we could eat.  We were able to have as much spaghetti, salad and bread as we wanted, a bag of crab (if you liked crab) and some steak off the grill.  I chose a piece of steak that was literally still mooing and worried if it would come back with a vengeance.  Luckily, I was spared.

I asked Ben if I needed to help with anything else and he said no, I could go home and feed the kitties.  I left around 8:30 and drove home.  I really didn't feel like making the apple crisp when I got home, instead I fed the kitties and relaxed a little bit.  I then got ready for bed and read a few chapters of my book.

Sunday, March 3rd

I had let everyone know about Grandma's birthday and what we were going to have.  I set it for 2 p.m. that afternoon so I would have enough time to get the food ready. 

I got up and finished getting the house cleaned up and ready.  Ben brought in the chairs, and I set up the rest of the decorations on the tables.  I had a hard time keeping Wade from messing with them.  We got further into the morning, and I asked Ben if he would peel the potatoes with his fancy potato peeling machine he got as a gift.  He gets excited every time he gets to use it.  We use it mostly when we have to peel a bunch of potatoes for a party.  Meanwhile, I got the apples ready for the apple crisp.

The apple crisp was relatively easy to put together.  I have never used tapioca starch before, so that was interesting. I know it is used as a thickener.  The whiskey was a nice addition as well as the Irish oatmeal.  Once it was done, I let it sit on the counter to cool.  I quickly toasted some walnuts and had some caramel sauce to drizzle over the top of it.

I got the ingredients out for the cubed steak and the gravy it was supposed to make inside of the Instant Pot.  Me, personally, am not a huge fan of cubed steak, but it wasn't my birthday, and Grandma had asked me to make that, so I did.  I followed the recipe and the instructions she had sent me in a text.  I got everything into the Instant Pot and set it to 15 minutes with a 10-minute natural release.  I got the potatoes cut up and put into a pot and told Ben once they were done, he was in charge of mashing them.  I got the soda bread cut up and placed in a container and then washed up some green salad and put it in a bowl.  Ben got the potatoes mashed up and we stuck everything in containers and put it in the table.

People started to arrive as it got closer to 2 p.m. and the food was actually done on time.  Wooo!  I had perfect timing for everything.  Everyone grabbed a plate, loaded up on food and sat down at the table.  We talked about all kinds of stuff.  We tried getting Erika to tell us what she was going to name the baby, we talked about wedding stuff and what everyone has been doing for the most part.  We all knew our summer was going to be really busy.

After we finished our food, I got out the apple crisp, told everyone that they could have it with the walnuts and caramel sauce and a scoop of ice cream.  Most people opted out of the walnuts, which was fine, I made them just in case.  Grandma opened her gifts, and we had some idle chatting.  

It was about 4 p.m. when everyone was ready to pack up and leave.  I knew everyone wanted to go home and get ready for the work week.  Everyone thanked each other for a nice time and went home.  Ben and I spent some time cleaning up and putting everything away before getting our stuff ready for the work week.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Next Adventure: Cache Maintenance with Mom on a Nice 70 Degree Spring Day