Weekend recap: Midsommers and the Kuhls

After our race on Saturday, E and I came home, cleaned up, prepped some food, then headed over to the Wik-Meyer's for Midsommers (a week late, but whose counting?).

We were some of the first to arrive (the first, except for Uncle Steve), but we were bringing an extra table and there was some assembly required to make it fit in the car. Maria had the back yard beautifully decorated and Eric had the May pole set in the middle of the lawn. All was ready for a celebration of the longest days of the year.

Soon others were arriving and we were meetin' and greetin', getting name tags (with full descriptions of how we knew the hosts) and getting ready for the Swedish songs and dances around the May pole. Then out came the Kubb sets. We brought ours, too, so there were two pitches set up. The kids thought this was great, at least the four who were old enough to sing, dance, jump like frogs, snort like pigs, and throw sticks. Little Lucas, Axel, and Riley's baby sister were all too small to do much more than sleep or chew on stuff.

Dinner was wonderful. Many different salads, grilled meat, and versions of pickled herring graced the table. And this was after we had been munching on a plentiful supply of yummy appetizers. I chose a turkey burger that was juicy and flavorful.....yum!

Once we were all seated at the looooooong table, the singing of schnapps songs began. Another Swedish tradition for Midsommers (and all other feasting). After a few years of doing this, I think E and I are learning a few tunes and the whole group is starting to sound better. Or maybe this year I was ahead of normal on my schnapps consumption, so anything sounded lovely. It was a good, fun meal, regardless. And it was followed by dessert (blueberry pie and brownies!).

Following dinner Kubb resumed. And more good visiting. And even a nap, by your's truely. We headed home much later than normal, but much earlier than most true Sweeds would have.

The next morning E surprised me with fresh blueberry pancakes before church. When I got home, Eric and Amanda Kuhl were already there. They are friends from highschool and college who we skied with for 4+ years. We hadn't seen them since their wedding! They just moved to Denver from Huston, and we invited them up to Boulder for a bike ride. We wanted to show them something "classic Boulder" but still keep it mellow. At least we accomplished the first! We went up and over Olde Stage and then turned Left and rode to Jamestown. After heading home via Left Hand Canyon, highway 36, and Jay Road, we then drove into Boulder for lunch at Mountain Sun.

After lunch we went our separate ways: them to go rip out carpet, us to get in a nap and more house work (E had already gotten the house looking pretty good). We had a lovely dinner on the deck over the bottle of wine I got last year as an award from Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon. It was surprisingly good (Merlot)! Then we spent the evening in front of our fire pit watching the light fade into dark and the stars come out.

It was a wonderful weekend!

-A