Jimmy Bs

On Tuesday after work, I headed over to Dave's house to pick him up, then went to Jimmy Bs, http://www.beachcomberflorida.com/jimmy-bs-beach-bar.asp, to meet up with Randy. Rob and Scottie, http://www.robirie.com/, were playing, and friends. Jill and Tracy were already there dancing away.

Dennis, Lea, and Lani

That night, Dennis, Lea, and Lani stopped by the house to pick up their stuff and say, "bye," before leaving to go back to Colorado.

Labor Day

On Labor Day, Erin and I took a ride down to St. Pete Beach for a drink at Philthy Phil's, http://www.philthyphilsbarandgrill.com/, then over to the Sloppy Pelican, http://www.sloppypelican.com/. Afterwards we took a ride down to Pass a Grill, watching the pelicans and admired the view from a top the Hurricane, http://www.thehurricane.com/, one of the best places to catch a sunset.

Local 662

On Saturday night, Erin, Dennis, Lea, Dee, Curtis, Melissa, and I headed down to Local 662, http://blogs.tampabay.com/tbt/2010/05/new-venue-the-local-662-replaces-garage-bar-in-st-petersburg.html, where my friend's band, Cope, http://blogs.tampabay.com/tbt/2010/05/new-venue-the-local-662-replaces-garage-bar-in-st-petersburg.html, was playing out. While there, we ran into friends, Rob, Kim, and Kelly.

DJ's Birthday Party

On Saturday afternoon we celebrated DJ's birthday party, by that time everyone knew Dennis, Lea, and Lani were here except for Chris, Tammy, and Samantha. I ended up with a full house that day as the whole family was there. It was the first time that all four cousins, Chris, DJ, Dennis, and I were together in the same place in years. Of course, I had to get a bunch of pictures.

Derby Lane

Unfortunately, due to prior commitments Uncle Frank and Aunt Nancy were going to be unable to make it to DJ's birthday party that Saturday afternoon.

For DJ's birthday, Lisa gathered their friend's together for a night at Derby Lane, http://www.derbylane.com/, for the buffet and a little bit of dog racing. Uncle Frank showed up with Uncle Donald, and we had a great time of eating, drinking, and betting. Bad thing is that no matter what we tried, the dogs just weren't running in our favor that night.

Grandma's Waffles - Labor Day Weekend

Being Labor Day weekend, I took Friday off to get the nice, long, four day weekend. Little did I know when I put in for the extra day off, I would have unexpected guests flying in to surprise the family with.

Dennis, Lea, and Lani all flew in from Colorado on Thursday night, and didn't tell anyone they were coming except for DJ, Lisa, and I. So we had a plan to surprise everyone, we said we were celebrating DJ's birthday party at my house that Saturday afternoon, and I even sent out calendar invites.

The fun began Friday morning when I told Grandma earlier in the week that I had the day off and would probably be coming over for waffles that morning. I then called her the day before to let her know that Erin would be with me so she made enough for all of us. Little did Grandma know, that Dennis, Lea, and Lani were with me, and not Erin.

When we were almost to her house, Dennis, Lea, and Lani got out at the end of the street so they could come in after me to surprise her. I then went into the house first, and she had the waffle iron going, cooking away. She asked, "Where's Erin?" I said, "Oh, she's in the car and will be in in a minute." A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Dennis, Lea, and Lani were at the door, and she was so surprised.