Pat and Dario got back from their Brokeback Mountain time in the woods on Thursday so we all went out for one last dinner of togetherness Friday night. Naturally I wanted to plan the evening out. My goal – get Aimee & Pat to eat the best pizza of their lives and then show Pat that the be all and end all is not THE CAMBIE.

We got down to Nicli at around 6ish already planning that we’d have to wait a bit. We put our name down and headed off to the Blarney stone for a drink.

The waitress’ clearly had better things to do than serve us so after 10 minutes of being ignored the boys went up the to bar to get us drinks. Then, naturally, the waitress came over to see if Aimee and I wanted anything. Thanks, but no thanks, the boys are taking care of us. Seriously have no patience for shitty service.

Just as Chad got to the table with the drinks he noticed that Nicli had called him. What! Our wait was for 45 minutes and it had only been 20. He tried calling back but no one answered so he made a quick jaunt over to see if our table was ready. Thank God for Gastown and its conveniences. Turned out our table was ready so we downed our drinks and made our way over.

I guess it was a good thing we didn’t bother waiting around for the waitress, we would have totally missed our table.

I love you Nicli Antica Pizzeria.

Pat & Aimee got me Blogiversary presents. Yay!

A dog collar for Patton (even though he doesn’t exist yet), sunglasses so I can be cool (are you trying to say I’m not already cool Pat?), and the necklace I’ve always wanted (because they know how to read minds).

We got the Olives to start this time. They were warmed. Warmed Olives. How have we never thought of this before. They were amaaaaaaazing.

Hello my love.

Sneaky Ciavarro eyeing Pats Pizza!

We got Pat and Aimee hooked. Well, I guess Nicli and their amazing pizza got them hooked, but still, we brought them there.

Of course, I had to get dessert. I know I get the same thing every time I go, but when it’s good, it’s good. There is no point messing with something that works.

We definitely need to make room in our next house for this bad boy.

Yet another outstanding experience at Nicli!

I think Pat was secretly unimpressed with my ideas to go to a bar that wasn’t the Cambie, but sometimes you just need to experience something a little different. Plus we’ve always had an awesome time when we’ve gone to the Charles Bar.

Pat ordered a girly and only too 3 sips of it. Clearly his last trip out to Vancouver tainted his drinking experience.

Unfortunately I was suffering from Friday Night Sleepiness due to a super stressful week + late night blogging + one too many glasses of wine, so by 10pm I wanted to go to bed. The DJ came on at about that point and so did the strobe lights. I was so exhausted and my eyes were being really sensitive to the lights so I closed my eyes and leaned against Chad for a minute. Just as I did that one of the employees at the Charles Bar tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Lift up your head Sweetie, the cops are here’. Uhhhh what?

I look up and there are 10 members of the VPD Integrated Gang Task-force walking through the bar checking things out. I guess the guy thought that I was totally wasted leaning against my husband trying not to puke, when in reality I was exhausted and getting a headache from the lights!

It was nice of him to look out for me though.

I wish I hadn’t felt so shitty by the time I got to the Charles Bar. I also wish we had taken the skytrain down so that I could have had a couple drinks, but then in reality, I probably didn’t need any.

Chad and I love Top 40 and dance music, so I always love what they play late at night at the Charles Bar, but I don’t think Pat was too impressed. No Du Hast or Bohemian Rhapsody over the loud speakers for him. Oh well, you can’t win’em all.

It was a good Friday night. The perfect close to the week. If only those two lived here all year round.

Here are some of the highlights of the trip…

Dario had a series of hats that he brought camping. This was probably the most useful one. I didn’t think they actually made umbrella hats.

I was contacted by the good people at Palm Bay (well, technically their marketing team) asking me if I’d like to try out some new Palm Bay flavours. I was all over it, expecting to receive a couple of delightful beverages. Little did I know I would receive a giant ice bucket filled with Summer Time treats! What an excellent surprise!

It was so awesome that the Palm Bay came just in time for camping. I brought half up with me and am saving the second batch for our Canada Day Long Weekend Adventure of Awesomeness.

This little guy kept coming around eating all of our crumbs off the groud. He was very friendly and so beautiful! It’s not every day you see a bird this pretty in the forest!

He’s just adorable so I had to throw in a picture of him!

Stick ball commenced as soon as everything was set up. These guys were laughing too hard to actually play, but it was amusing to watch.

1) Pats nipple were on display all weekend. 2) Pats got a gut. 3) Pats t-shirts are too small for him.

Lady hung out with us all weekend sniffing stuff and eating chips.

Chad is 76% Dog.

These logs were a hatchets worse nightmare. We destroyed the hatchet by the end of the weekend.

Dario found a giant log and tried to play stick ball with it, turning stick ball into Log ball. It was way to hard so him and Mike tried to split the log by ramming it into a tree. This is what happened (notice the look on Mikes face). His chest was never the same after that.

The log got the best of Dario. That’s what you get for killing the ecosystem.

Dario dropped a turd.

Jeremy liked using Lady as a Machine Gun.

Flank Steaks are my best friend.

Dinner cheers!

(Ryan & Elise are not here because Ryan had to go back into town to join Elise at a work dinner, just so you know)

Chad thought it would be a good idea to do Olive Oil Shots. Yea. Like he needs more grease.

Of course I Italian Housewifed it.

Pat & Aimee brought cigars.

Dario found his own cigar.

They dubbed me Ernest Hemingway. Yes, we bought stainless steal wine glasses. Yes I wrote notes by the light of my lantern while smoking a cigar. Yes, I am amazing.

I don’t know what the hell happened here.

Another Hat!

This is how Jeremy fell asleep.

Dario decided to get Zen.

I didn’t get breakfast because the raccoons stole it. First time wildlife has ever stolen our food, which we typically leave out everywhere in a drunk fashion. OK NATURE, WE’VE LEARNED OUR LESSON!

This hat really came in handy on Saturday.

The boys discoverd that Palm Bay is the perfect mid morning drink.

Harry, where is Marv?

Bahahahahahaha.

It was pointed out that all the couple were wearing similar shoes which was kind of weird.

See, same shoes. What does that say about us?

Pat made his famous bacon burgers again, except this time they didn’t make us feel like we were going to die.

Pat Zaph Nipple Antennae

MIKE. Omg was he on fire this weekend.

Sleeping in the rain.

Darios beard pic.

We finally decided to put a tarp over the fire. We were prepared to sacrifice it if the fire wanted to melt it, we were just so sick of sitting in the rain.

The boys were handy.

Pat and Dario put together chicken on a spit. This was a total experiment that worked!

Swiss Chalets got nothing on us!

nom nom nom

Jeremy was the official chicken carver. We did 2 beer butt chickens on the BBQ and then Pat & Darios creation. It was the greatest chicken dinner of all time. If only my camera didn’t die after taking this photo. DAMN YOU CAMERA!

Another great year of FUBARing it!

There is really no point in me telling you I am crazy because you already know that. I’ve got a lot of scheduled posts I need to do this week so I will throw in a camping post every now and then just to keep you on your toes. Plus breaking it up like that will be a lot easier to digest.

Two years ago, before our first ever camping trip, Chad went out and bought all our supplies. This was a very bad move because I don’t think Chad fully thought it through. I have erected many a tent in my time yet somehow Chad picked the tent with the most random set up I have ever seen.This has proven to be the source of many frustrations each time we go camping.

Normally when we go camping Chad and the boys leave Friday morning and Elise and I join up with them Friday after work, so I don’t get to see the epic fail that is Chad vs. the tent, I only get to hear about it. This year I was pumped to see the disaster unfold.

This year Chad had the benefit of having 3 guys help him out. Didn’t matter though, it still took them forever.

I still think that left to my own devices I could probably set up the tent, by myself, in less time. Honestly, it’s not that difficult to figure out, it’s just set up the opposite way that every other tent is set up and because of that, Chad can never figure it out.

Thankfully Work Place Dario showed up to get boys motivated.

WHERE IS YOUR SAFETY VEST!?

45 later they were finally done. Yea, you heard me. 4 guys 1 tent 45 minutes.

Pat, Aimee, and I just sat back and watched with amusement. Next we got to witness Chad try and blow up 2 air mattresses which barely fit into our little tent. Each year we try to make small improvements to our camping lives but we never quite make it to full on comfort. I think Chad is secretly hoping we have a kid soon so he is forced to buy a bigger tent.

Camping. It never fails to amuse.

What seems like forever-ago now, we went to the banquet. You know, the annual one that our Italian organization puts on, the one Pat flies out for because he takes pictures there. Yea, that one…

I think you can tell which pictures Patz took. They are the ones that all look better.

The Ciavarro Outfit Theme this year was Black – Silver – Blue.

It’s like an Italian wedding but with out the annoying Bride & Groom. Ha!

Food Drool Attack.

Darios Dad. Could he BE any more Italian!?

Micheal Jackson..err…Roth.

Chad can NOT dance.

The purpose of this post was really just to post a lot of pictures of Chad and I. There really isn’t enough on this blog, MY blog.

I forgot what we looked like for a minute there.

The night was good times. I won the centre piece because my name was the longest at the table. SCORE. 16 letters bitches. I was nice enough to gift it to my Best Friend Elise, who wanted it more then I did. I am so generous.

No one at our table won any other prizes though because we are bad luck and never win anything, srsly.

Pat took lots of pictures. Dario peeled batteries. Ryan and Elise got stuck on the bridge. Everyone ate and drank and were merry.

Italians know how to put on an event!

When someone says to you ‘Pat is back in town’, the immediate response should be ‘I’ll get the bacon and onions, make dinner, and then we’ll go to the Cambie’.

It’s like clock work.

So with out further ado…I present to you, Our Friday Night.

Several times during this trip, Pat and Dario have been referred to as our children. It is so true in more ways then one.

When one of your children comes home to visit you tend to give them extra attention and shower them in gifts. But, what if your one child comes home during your other child’s birthday? You can’t play favorites, you have to give each child their well deserved attention and shower both of them in gifts.

Pat got prosciutto because Red Deer doesn’t have any good Italian Delis, and Dario go Cheese with Caramelized Onions.

Dinner. I should have documented this one, but time was limited. I’ll give you the quick run down…

BBQ’d Sausages with sautéed Onions & Peppers
Bacon Mashed Potatoes
Steak House Salad
Italian Bread

For dessert, Shaz gave me the idea of making candied bacon. Probably the easiest and yummiest thing EVER. Bacon + Brown Sugar + Cayenne Pepper = Amazing!

Dario said he had reached Nirvana.

Oh God, the Cambie.

I was in a pretty good mood the whole night, but at some point the Cambie turned on me, and I turned back onto it.

It was stink eye night.

Elise and I communicated this way the whole night. Dario wasn’t impressed.

Elise got drunk. That was probably the most entertaining part.

Chad and Ryan mocked the losers standing in line at midnight, in the pouring rain, trying to get in. I was pretty sure they were going to get beat up.

Anyways, like I said, the Cambie turned on me. Maybe it was the prissy ass girls, or the fact that it took so long to get a table, or the ass hats who horded a whole section for 3 people. I keep having these feelings and I keep going back thinking something will change. Is it me? Probably. I have no idea. I am being way too dramatic over a venue.

Its kind of weird, when you blog about your life, and your events, and sometimes to you, it seems like the same old thing over and over again, and then your wonder, does everyone else think that too?

The same Cambie pictures when Pat is in town. The same dinner photos. Always talking about food, and fashion, and family. Does it ever just get boring?

If there is something you enjoy, you do it again and again, but does that make you boring?