Round Trip

Carter and I just got back from a 500-mile Round Trip. And by round, I mean a trip where we ate enough fatty food to make us round in no time!

The first miles came early Black Friday. Well, not early like most hard-core BF shoppers refer to as early! I slept in until 7 a.m. and attempted to get my shopping partner up and out of bed. Of course, Carter changed his tune from the previous evening. He groggily asked which stores were we going to, then said, "Oh, we can go there any time." And rolled over and went back to sleep.

This was the only snow we had to contend with in the Rapids area. So I made my way to 2 stores in Stevens Point -- JoAnn's and Dunham's Sports -- got in and out with no problems and got the items I needed. Well, wanted and sort of needed.

Got home and loaded up the vehicle with our suitcases and treats for the Cookie Bake. We stopped at school to take in game 1 of the Cranberry Classic Basketball Tournament. Got to see our girls JV (with Carter's classmates) win against Marshfield Columbus.

Then we hit the road, stopping first in Rudolph, then in Luck, then at my parents, then Grantsburg, then to Romey's, and finally to Raylene's for the night. Each mile north we saw more and more snow. Yuck.

Saturday dawned cold -- as in single digits or close to zero. The Cookie Bake "party" started about a 11 a.m. and carried on a good 8 or 9 hours!

 New this year we had a distinguished panel of judges to taste test and determine the best cookies! From right, Carter, my grand-nephew Anthony and his friend Jared.

It didn't take long for Romey to try to bribe the judges. Didn't work.

They had quite a task, too! Look at the variety! With 11 participants, that was a lot to sample. Trust me, they only got a few "leftovers." But after judging the entries with a 1-5 grading system for both taste and presentation (this is serious business), they determined a winner.

Your blogger/photographer got 3rd place... Romey the briber got 2nd... and RoAnn, who may or may not have bribed them, got 1st!

First prize was very important because the boys, er judges, had been taking pictures of us with their phones and using a Fat Booth app that made us all look hideously blimp-ish... which could happen after a Cookie Bake anyway! They also could "age" our mugshots, too. We're doing that on our own. So as the winner, RoAnn got to have her picture deleted with a promise of no future use. The rest of us have to wonder if and when our fat faces will show up on the Internet.

Dang. Shoulda tried the bribery route!

Of course, some people got gifts or prizes anyway. Raylene got a cute towel and gift bags from Romey and RoAnn who are trying to show their non-Fat Booth, skinny chin faces. Ha. My sisters always make me laugh.

 

Holiday clothing is not mandatory, but encouraged. Romey had blinking earrings and here Renell shows off her blinking snowflake and her sassy shirt with 3 reindeer: Prancer, Dasher and VIXEN.

Game time! Ashley and Angie wait to start "In a Pickle," a fun new game.

Renell, Sara and her fiance, my nephew David, wait their turns.

In the other room was a close battle of "Sequence." Note the snow-covered field in the background!

Afternoon capped off with a noisy game of "Pit" followed by a quieter game of "What's Yours Like?"

Had a great time and it was so good to see everyone who could make it!

Carter and I stayed another night then made our way home in the busy traffic today, with one major pit stop at the Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire. Got some gifts taken care of there. Got home in the late afternoon and am ready for bed right now!

Just have to finish unpacking and try to keep away from 11 dozen cookies!