A visit from the folks.

This weekend we had some out of town visitors. My parents came from San Antonio for a quick weekend retreat. They got into town fairly early on Friday evening so we whipped up a filet for dinner and relaxed in front of the tv. Lately, Grayson and I have been obsessed with the tv show Worst Cooks in America. Haven't seen it? You should have! It made me feel like one of the BEST cooks in America, but that just goes to show how deceptive comparison can be. Anyways, we have been recording this show for the past seven weeks and we knew the finale was coming up on Sunday evening so we decided to have a WSIA marathon to get my parents up to speed. We spent the majority of Friday evening laughing so hard because of this great tv show and its horrible chefs.

Saturday morning came and went b/c we decided to sleep in! Grayson made a great breakfast of grilled pork chops and fried eggs (fruit & yogurt for me and mom, please!) so that we would be full until dinner. We had a busy day planned and knew we would need our sustenance to last. After breakfast, we squeezed in a few more WCIA and then headed to Lowe's to purchase a smoker. Grayson has been wanting one for a while, so we decided this weekend would be a great time to try it out. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we decided to work outside and get it set up. It was way more complicated to put together than you would think.
While Grayson and my dad set that up, I decided to re-organize our laundry room. Doesn't sound very glamorous, but after realizing that I had been keeping all of our cleaning supplies in a highly flammable area, I decided it was time to re-organize. I initially thought we were going to have to purchase storage shelves from Lowe's, but after a little thinking (and searching) I found a stainless rack that I used in college and decided it would work. The laundry room is much more organized now, which makes it much more fun for me!

After getting all that done, we squeezed in a quick workout and another tv show and then we headed to Monroe. The Krewe of Janus parade was that evening and we wanted to make sure we were there for it. We ate dinner at the Warehouse in West Monroe and it was delicious! My parents wanted some "authentic" cajun/Louisiana fare and that was what we came up with. It was no jambalaya or gumbo, but the fish was still tasty. We then walked over to the parade route and waited a little while until the parade came through.

A good photo-op in front of the police car.

We had a bunch of fun catching beads, admiring all the cool floats and listening to the marching bands. It reminded me so much of NIOSA in San Antonio that we decided next time we'll take Grayson to SA so he can see the Mexican version of Mardi Gras.

We headed home and got some rest and on Sunday we headed to the track for some exercise and a good excuse to enjoy the beautiful weather. When we got back home the chicken was just about finished smoking and we were ready for our late lunch/early dinner.
We enjoyed hickory smoked chicken and cheese & jalapeno stuffed venison that Grayson shot earlier this year. We ended the weekend by grabbing some "healthy" yogurt from The Twisted Cow, driving around town looking at pretty homes and then watching the finale of Worst Cooks and then a little laundry in my "new" room. Weekends like this are always so relaxing and surprisingly productive. We typically put enough outings on the agenda to keep us occupied without feeling like we have too many things to accomplish. It was a fun, albeit fast, trip and we're already looking forward to another reunion ... possibly in SA next time! Thanks for the visit Mom & Dad!