The annual party I have been hosting at the Levanto family beach house in August was on August 19 and 20 this year. Attending: Me, Blake, Elizabeth, Nikko, Lauren, and Ian. There were also cameo appearances by my brothers, my sister-in-law Gina (and her sister and brother-in-law Maria and Mike).

Now, each year this party is quite the eating fest. We made our supermarket run in Niantic, Connecticut, in the process supporting the college education funds of more than one Stop & Shop manager. We were to be in CT for about a day, yet we bought enough food for an army. Blake figured we would need to consume an average of 10-dollars worth of food an hour, continously (including sleep time) to even have a chance of eating everything. And that doesn't count the donuts we bought the next day.

Blake, Nikko, Elizabeth and I have taken up playing cribbage. I have played the game since I was a mere toddler, so you would think that would translate into a nice winning percentage. Not so much. In fact, I have only won one game since sometime early this year, and here is the proof:

Team Levanto and Propst won the first game of this seven game set. Unfortunately, we lost the next three, barely avoiding a skunk in two of them. At least for me the beach weather was nice.

On Sunday of the weekend, we stopped off in Mystic, CT for dinner at the Steak Loft with the rest of my family (Sans Brett). It was fun. The Steak Loft has become part of this annual event, since it's a nice stop-off on the way back to Boston from Old Lyme.

My mom, Scott, Elizabeth and Blake on the top, and Laren, Nikko, Gina and my dad on the bottom row.

All in all, it was a good weekend. The weatherman screwed up on Sunday, and instead of the clouds in the forecast, we had sun and warmth.

It's September 2 and Labor Day weekend. We're about to enter into the Fall Wedding season. That means we just ended the Summer Bachelor Party season. Last week, I went to Las Vegas for Blake's bachelor party. Can't really say here everything that happened, but I will mention that I stayed on the town longer in Vegas than any other night in my life. Mark it down-- August 25 into August 26th, I was awake in Vegas until 7:30 a.m. Not only was the sun rising-- it was up. Legitimately, it was Saturday.

Make note of the photo above. It's taken from Penthouse row at the Imperial Palace. By the end of 2007, this view will no longer be possible, as the IP, as it is affectionately called, will no longer exist. Blake is in the background, and in the foreground is Scott Eckert, Blake's best man.

I did alright in Vegas. In my previous trip with Paul McNeeley and Wes, I played only Black Jack. However, I was very intrigued by 3-card poker, which I watched Wes play. I tipped my toe into the 3-card poker arena on Friday afternoon in Vegas, only to quit after losing too much. In fact, the entire crew lost enough that first afternoon that we all retreated to the Penthouse suite and played Texas Hold 'Em and "Inbetween" with chips worth a quarter a piece. Vegas baby! (I guess?)