It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend for @mrsbozz and I. Actually, the first of what will be a couple of those in the early part of 2026. My sister and brother in law took a trip down to Florida as part of her Christmas present, so that left our niece and her young daughter home alone for the weekend. My wife reached out to our niece and asked if there was anything she needed while her parents were out of town.
She said something like "I'll be fine, but if you guys wanted to come down, I wouldn't complain". The rest as they say is history. Ever since she popped into our lives so unexpectedly, it's never much of a decision when the opportunity comes up to spend some time with her. We got up early on Saturday morning and made the four hour drive down to the Columbus area of Ohio.
After we got into town it was close to lunch, so we decided to DoorDash some Raising Cane's to the house. It was phenomenal, but it kind of made me glad my wife and I live in the country. Having so many food options readily available to deliver right to your door would be dangerous!
Although she doesn't play softball anymore herself, our niece has started coaching a rec team with her dad and a few other people. It's actually the pretty perfect progression for her and hopefully one day she will be coaching her daughter, just like her dad coached her. The team that she is coaching for had a batting competition at a local sports facility, so I decided to go and spend some time with her like the old days while @mrsbozz stayed with the little one.
Her team did great and they ended up winning the game 67 to 13. Now, you might think that is an odd score for a softball game, but it's really just batting and they have a bunch of weird rules that determines your points. So imagine a batting cage with a batter, pitcher, and catcher in it. They play just like a regular game including an umpire, but you don't actually run. You just get points added or deducted based on strikeouts, walks, hits, etc. Four or five batters go up to the plate each inning, then the other team gets a chance. They play a full seven innings.
By the time softball was over, it was nearly time for dinner, so we decided to hit a local Mexican restaurant that we have been to many times before. I decided to get this delicious Dos Equis Amber beer. I didn't expect it to come in a frosted mug, but it was absolutely phenomenal. Obviously I am including this for a #beersaturday submission. I always forget just how amazing Mexican beers are. There is something about them that is always really refreshing. The fact that they have expanded the offerings to darker and amber beers makes it even better.
For my main dish I went with an item on the menu called pollo adobe. The main thing that drew me to the dish was the fact that it had poblano peppers in it. I was actually a bit torn and leaning towards the carnitas when I first looked at the menu, but this dish with poblanos swayed things the other way. It was fantastic paired with the flour tortillas. The chicken was tender and the flavors were everything I would expect from a dish like this.
@mrsbozz went with some kind of chicken burrito dish that I can't quite recall now. We both ended up only eating about half of our meal and took the rest home in a box for later. Actually, I am going to eat the rest of my dish today for lunch, and @mrsbozz had the other half of her burrito last night for dinner. That's one of the things I love about Mexican food, we can usually get a couple of meals out of a single serving. Part of that probably has to do with the amount of free chips and salsa we eat ahead of time....
Sunday was a bit more laid back. My wife got up early as soon as she heard our grand niece crying so that our niece could sleep in a little bit. Actually, I heard her crying and let @mrsbozz know that she was up. While she spent some alone time with the little one, the rest of us slept a little longer. Our niece had another practice with her softball team, so we stayed back and spent some more time with the baby. The amount of screentime she gets is very very limited. It usually amounts to something like half an hour per day if she even gets that.
This was one of the rare moments that I caught her sitting in her unicorn chair watching Elmo on YouTube.
It's interesting how something so simple can absolutely transfix a child. It makes me understand why limiting screen time is so important, but it also makes me understand why so many parents turn to screens as a way to "calm" their kids.
Actually, as soon as I stepped away for a second, she didn't care about the TV that much anymore, and she was more interested in finding out what I was doing. After she got up from her morning nap around noon we said our goodbyes and made our way back to Michigan.
Just in time for a massive snow storm that is supposed to hit today.
What a weekend!
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Glad you were able to spend time with family. Columbus is a pretty cool town. Haven't been there for business or pleasure in some time. Driven through a few, but haven't stayed for entertainment in a while. Glad you were able to really enjoy yourself. Always love a good Mexican dish as well, especially one that is enough to provide leftovers.
Glad you made it back before the impending snowstorm. You guys have been getting hammered up there. Its just been cold down here with just some sprinkles of snow lately.
I actually feel like this winter has been kind of lame so far, but I should be careful what I say I guess. Columbus is a cool town. I always enjoy visiting there. There are some areas that are really growing and have a cool vibe.
I keep telling myself I want to take in a Columbus Crew soccer game some day, but hasn't happened yet.
We actually don't spend too much time downtown near campus unless we have an event to go to. Something like that could be fun though!
That sounds like a fun weekend and you got back just in time! I'm having my tires rotated on the Tesla tomorrow, getting it ready for an early spring roadtrip down there. I haven't driven to Ohio in six years, I've been using up accumulated airline miles. I'm looking very forward to a roadtrip.
That sounds like it will be a fun time. Quite a bit further than our four hour trip!
Yes! Six hours to Schaumburg, IL then another seven or eight to Johnstown.
Oof! That's definitely a haul!
Those unplanned trips usually turn out to be the best ones. It sounds like a perfect weekend of uncle and aunt duties, especially giving her a chance to sleep in on Sunday.
Yes, thank you! We had a great time!
Mmmmmm that Mexican food looks tasty and refreshing beer to wash it down 👌
I had a whirlwind weekend myself. My wife was in Hamburg, so was solo parenting and we never stopped all weekend, coaching, kids matches, watching matches, playing golf, out on the bikes. It was action packed.
Sounds wonderful! It's been in the negative temps here, so being outside is something you don't want to do! Sometimes those busy weekends are the most memorable even though they wear us out!
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Sounds like a fun weekend helping watch the kids! Raising Cane's does have some good food, living around a lot of great food options can be a bit dangerous. I don't order in very often anymore, cooking for yourself is better for the waist line!
Kids are easily transfixed and limiting screen time is important. You don't want a kid addicted to screen time to get their dopamine fix, a very bad habit!
Glad you had fun!
You guys have Pollo Loco out there don't you? I'd be getting that all the time if we had one near here.
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