Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 12 years and 11 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

This past weekend was Memorial Day which means the unofficial start of summer! Like most people, we spent it travelling, visiting with family, and being outside enjoying the summer weather.

Friday night we headed down to Tropicana Field to see the Tampa Bay Rays host my Cleveland Indians. The Tribe came into St. Pete after dropping two games to the Red Sox, but still in first place in the AL Central. The Rays likewise had been in a slump, dropping two to the Tigers and falling into third place in the AL East.

My daughter loves going to Rays games with me because a) she gets to wear her Ben Zobrist “jersey” t-shirt and b) she inevitably wins our bet where the loser buys ice cream and it seems like I’ve been buying the ice cream the past few years when the Rays and Indians play. This year was no exception as David Price shut down the Tribe and the Rays won 5-0.

My attentions were divided during the game as I was constantly checking the score of the Lightning/Bruins game on my phone, hoping the Bolts could win Game 7 and move on to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was still 0-0 as we drove home from the baseball game and I listened to the radio in shock as the Bruins scored with 7 minutes left to go and went on to win the Eastern Conference. 🙁 Thanks for a great season, Bolts!

Saturday morning we flew to Cleveland (via Charlotte) for my new nephew’s baptism. We landed on-time  mid-afternoon, picked up the rental car, and checked into our hotel. Then we met the rest of the family at Red Robin for dinner (mmmmm, bottomless steak fries).

Sunday morning was mass, followed by the baptism, and then it was back to my sister’s place for the party! Cleveland had been getting a lot of rain lately, but we lucked out and Saturday afternoon was beautiful (it did end up raining later in the evening, but by then we had retired to inside the house to escape the bugs and humidity). The kids all got to play outside while the burgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill and the adults socialized. It had been a while since I had been home to Cleveland so it was nice to see family and friends again over a few beers and games of cornhole.

We had an early flight home Monday morning (no Starbucks in the Cleveland airport!?) but that meant we were back in Tampa by lunchtime. Considering it was a holiday weekend, we had zero issues both ways, so that was nice. We swung by the grocery store on the way home to pick up supplies for the week and then I fired up the grill once we got home to cook lunch.

What better way to end a holiday weekend than with a dip in the pool? The water was up to 82 degrees which was just fine for my daughter and I who went for the first swim of the season.

It’s summertime!