John's Birthday and Ollie's Visit

This weekend was definitely the best of the summer so far, especially because we got to dog-sit for our friend Gwen. Her very sweet and well behaved dog, Ollie, came to stay at Auntie Abby's house for three nights.

 I took him to Gibbons Park and we walked the woodsy trail there. It was fairly damp that day, so Ollie wore his camp-raincoat.

John and I also took him to an empty ball diamond very near our house so that he could play fetch and run around. This dog cannot get enough fetch. He ran some of my speed work out this afternoon and he was pretty wiped after the second repeat. I let him sit out of the second two, not wanting to give him heat stroke. But when we got home, he rolled his orange ball over to my foot, as if to say, "I'M READY! FETCH!"

Thanks for the update, Facebook. 

John's birthday started out with a game of fetch with Ollie, followed by diner breakfast at Prince Albert's Diner, a local institution. 

We also hit up the Western Fair Farmer's Market before coming home to watch Die Hard and try out the mojito jello shots I made. This was my first time making jello shots, and I have to admit, it was great. They're really easy to make and truly did taste like a jello-y mojito.

For dinner we went to Milo's.

I tried to get a reflective shot of John doing a funny dance, but he always spots me right when I get the camera out.

Mean while, I had arranged for several friends to set out some party supplies and food at the house. John loves to be surprised, and as hard as it was to keep all of the party planning a secret, it was so worth it. I think he thought he was having a nightmare at the moment when they jumped out to surprise him. His scream was high pitched and epic. So worth it. 

I made IPA lemon bars from the Beeroness for the party and they were much better than I expected. I'm not a big lemon dessert fan, but these were really buttery and delicious, with just a hint of IPA.

Our friends generously brought more beer and snacks, and we sampled various bottles for a few hours. John said he doesn't think I can top this year's birthday, but I was going for something big because, holy crap, he's 30 now! John is old!