Jeu means Game

Yesterday was the first full Saturday that Abel has been here, so of course, being who we are, we had a million things planned!  

First, he we started the day with a trip to Apple Valley for Abel's first soccer scrimmage as an Armstrong Falcon against the Apple Valley Eagles. It was so fun watching him play, even though I know absolutely nothing about soccer.  

My favorite Armstrong Falcon.

Following the game, we made a stop at Portillos, which opened in Woodbury earlier this year.  After about 8 months without my beloved Maxwell Polish and cheese fries, it tasted amazing!  Abel declared that he thought the bread was delicious and that this was the best meal out in Minnesota.  He even added one food to the "try" list: American liquid-pump-nacho cheese. Although I have't yet asked for the 1 to 10 rating, he did have more, so it couldn't have been too terrible!  

Debunking the myth about French people and ketchup, one condiment container at a time.

However, after years of believing that French people didn't like ketchup, I have now learned that is all a lie.  A dammed lie. In fact, I'm pretty sure Abel could win a ketchup-eating contest.  

And then, as if schlepping all over the Twin Cities wasn't enough, last night was Abel's first introduction to any of our friends in Minnesota (we waited at least a week to overwhelm him).  We drove up to our friends Chrissy and Kevin's house for a night of AMAZING smoked chicken wings in Kevin's new smoker.  We also introduced Abel to one of our all-time favorite games, Settlers of Catan.  And I'm not too proud to say that he won on his first time (okay, maybe a little too proud and I had to rewrite that sentence 3 times).

Liz teaching Abel how to play Settlers.  Abel planning his world domination.