It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend for 
She said something like "I'll be fine, but if you guys wanted to come down, I wouldn't complain". The rest as they say is history. Ever since she popped into our lives so unexpectedly, it's never much of a decision when the opportunity comes up to spend some time with her. We got up early on Saturday morning and made the four hour drive down to the Columbus area of Ohio.
After we got into town it was close to lunch, so we decided to DoorDash some Raising Cane's to the house. It was phenomenal, but it kind of made me glad my wife and I live in the country. Having so many food options readily available to deliver right to your door would be dangerous!
Although she doesn't play softball anymore herself, our niece has started coaching a rec team with her dad and a few other people. It's actually the pretty perfect progression for her and hopefully one day she will be coaching her daughter, just like her dad coached her. The team that she is coaching for had a batting competition at a local sports facility, so I decided to go and spend some time with her like the old days while
Her team did great and they ended up winning the game 67 to 13. Now, you might think that is an odd score for a softball game, but it's really just batting and they have a bunch of weird rules that determines your points. So imagine a batting cage with a batter, pitcher, and catcher in it. They play just like a regular game including an umpire, but you don't actually run. You just get points added or deducted based on strikeouts, walks, hits, etc. Four or five batters go up to the plate each inning, then the other team gets a chance. They play a full seven innings.
By the time softball was over, it was nearly time for dinner, so we decided to hit a local Mexican restaurant that we have been to many times before. I decided to get this delicious Dos Equis Amber beer. I didn't expect it to come in a frosted mug, but it was absolutely phenomenal. Obviously I am including this for a #beersaturday submission. I always forget just how amazing Mexican beers are. There is something about them that is always really refreshing. The fact that they have expanded the offerings to darker and amber beers makes it even better.
For my main dish I went with an item on the menu called pollo adobe. The main thing that drew me to the dish was the fact that it had poblano peppers in it. I was actually a bit torn and leaning towards the carnitas when I first looked at the menu, but this dish with poblanos swayed things the other way. It was fantastic paired with the flour tortillas. The chicken was tender and the flavors were everything I would expect from a dish like this.
Sunday was a bit more laid back. My wife got up early as soon as she heard our grand niece crying so that our niece could sleep in a little bit. Actually, I heard her crying and let
This was one of the rare moments that I caught her sitting in her unicorn chair watching Elmo on YouTube.
It's interesting how something so simple can absolutely transfix a child. It makes me understand why limiting screen time is so important, but it also makes me understand why so many parents turn to screens as a way to "calm" their kids.
Actually, as soon as I stepped away for a second, she didn't care about the TV that much anymore, and she was more interested in finding out what I was doing. After she got up from her morning nap around noon we said our goodbyes and made our way back to Michigan.
Just in time for a massive snow storm that is supposed to hit today.
What a weekend!
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