Family Dinner Friday Night

This was our third Friday Night Family Dinner (which we also call Shabbat dinner). We try to keep it simple, but tonight's meal took most of the day to prepare. Fina was the over-achiever making Challah bread. She got some help from a couple brothers to roll out the dough. Nana made sweet potato fries and strawberry shortcake berries. Vickie handled the shortcake. Matt did the smash burgers. And Jamie picked out the wine (Hunt Cellars and Daou). It was quite a production. Tonight's discussions started with the word "holy" (which means "set apart for a special purpose" in ancient Hebrew).

Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail

Vickie and Jamie took off Friday morning in very gloomy weather to hike Palmer Lake Reservoir Trail. At the trailhead, however, it was sunny and perfectly cool! We did the full 4.1-mile roundtrip and the whole outing door-to-door from the house was about 3.5 hours. It was still gloomy weather at the house when we got back. Have a credit card with you to pay for parking at the trailhead.

Games

We got some games in with Aunt Vickie. Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails, and Blokus!

Ambli Global Cuisine

The big outing for the day, at least for the seniors, was dinner at Ambli Global Cuisine. This is one unique gourmet experience. We did the Mediterranean Tasting Menu on this particular night, which was our 3rd of 4 different ways one can "do" this restaurant: at the bar (no ressie, small a la carte menu), at a table a la carte menu, the tasting menu at a table (multi-course prix fixe with a theme), and chef's table (which we haven't done yet). Unbelievably fun, educational, and fabulous flavors. Everything has numerous ingredients all of which you can taste and are perfectly balanced. And the service is impeccable. We wiped every plate clean!

Braised Watermelon Salad

Creme fresh, tomato, apple, etc.

Akin to shrimp scampi

Filet Kabob, roasted red pepper hummus.
And whipped garlic - fabulous. Food process mature garlic,
with lemon juice, add olive oil till the right consistency.
And that's a Daou cab, one of our faves.

Pistachio ice cream with all manner of embellishing.

Lexi's color-your-own clubhouse.

Rockin' the Rails Disc Golf

Vickie and Jamie played disc golf at Palmer Lake this afternoon. The course is also known as "Rockin' the Rails" because the "front nine" go right alongside the railroad (BNSF/UPRR) right-of-way from north of the pedestrian bridge over the tracks on the mountain side of the tracks (holes 1 and 2) to south of the bridge and east of the tracks (holes 3-9). The "back nine" are closer to the lake. Had we been stronger disc throwers there would definitely have been a concern about discs going into the railroad right-of-way. We almost finished the 9th hole before the weather drove us off the course (rain, cold, windy). Here's a big clue for newbies on this course: the 7th basket is back toward the bridge from the 7th tee. We went the other way, quite a ways, to find nothing. The 8th basket is buried in very high, thick bushes. If you happen to be a railfan as well as a disc golf player, you'll love this course. If you're there a couple hours, odds are a train will come through. The three "olders" enjoyed a very nice meal at the Club for dinner.

Weather was a little too nasty for the patio.

Discovered a new favorite gin...

Great meal at the Club.

Memorial Day

We celebrated both Memorial Day and Lexi's birthday today! First was our traditional "All the Sugar You Can Eat Breakfast" followed by a trip to the pool. It was scheduled to be a big day at the pool -  BBQ, games, and all - but alas it was too cool and quite windy so all of that was canceled. We had a great time anyway and barely any crowd to get in our way!

She and Nana recently finished this PlayMobil playhouse.

Color a playhouse you can get in!

Ethan finished it off.

Learning to play Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails.