The Belvidere clan came to visit us today. Rick and Matt went golfing with Ed II, while Jill, Sue and Jeffrey came to visit us and Rowan. Aunt Jill got to spoil Rowan with holding and rocking to sleep while we all visited for awhile. Then we went to dinner before they all headed home. We attempted to try the new Buffalo Wild Wings, but turns out they are having some issues with long waits for a table and then a long wait for food once you are at the table, so we ventured over to Applebee's instead. Long waits with a newborn aren't a good idea, granted she slept the whole time, you can't always assume she will sleep when out to dinner.
After dinner, Ed had a hockey game at 8:45pm, Rowan and I decided to stay home, it was a long day with visitors and no napping for myself. Turns out it was a good idea to stay home. Let's just say Ed was in the penalty box more than on the ice it sounds like. I know he isn't proud, but I have to share the story. Started out with a 2 minute slashing penalty after which Ed mouthed off about the bad call which turned into a 10 minute un-sportsmanlike conduct penalty. Then came another 2 minute penalty for who knows what, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. Then a 4 minute penalty for checking I believe, followed by another 10 minute un-sportsmanlike conduct penalty. So if we do the math, that comes to 28 minutes of penalty time. That is almost one whole period! Let's just say I think he is leading the league in penalty minutes again, oh and all of this led to him be ejected from the next game, which I believe is the last game of the season. But he said that is fine because the team is going to forfeit the game because they won't have enough players and no goalie, so he isn't really missing anything. So needless to say, Rowan and I didn't miss much by staying home. Although Rowan didn't sleep much so it wasn't exactly a time of rest for myself, but oh well. Story of my life these days!
On Saturday, Rowan and I attended Crystal's Shower/Bachelorette party, okay we only attended the shower, but we saw Crystal get all prepared for her last night out as a non-married woman. The shower and dinner were at Crystal and Garrett's house, we had sub sandwiches (yum!) and plenty of sides, opened gifts (some appropriate for Rowan's eyes, and some not!) watched a fun little video of Garrett answering questions about Crystal, and then it was time for us old married women with children to go home and the rest to board the bus and head to the bars. I decided that I wasn't quite ready for the bar scene for a few reasons, #1 I am not really ready to leave Rowan for any period of time (thus she was at the shower with me when I could have left her home with Ed) #2 the whole breastfeeding/pumping issue, can't go for more than 3-4 hours without emptying via one way or another, plus drinking alcohol is more work than it is worth with having to pump and dump or whatever. Not to mention, not having a drop of alcohol for 10+ months would make for one drunk soldier very quickly. So we decided to head home before the craziness began. But we are glad we attended what we did, it was a fun time, and nice to get out for a few hours. Plus Rowan was spoiled by the many women in attendance. 
