As always, our trip to "the farm" this year didn't disappoint. It started with an insanely early flight out of Boston on Saturday morning that got us into WI at 9:30 AM. If it weren't for a small mishap with our bags (people, including us, should really listen to the "a lot of those little black bags look exactly the same, so be sure to check your address tag when receiving it" advice), we would have been to Opa and Grandmas by 11:30. As it was, we got there at about 12:30, so not too bad. After lunch, we headed out to go strawberry picking, which the kids had never done before, so it was a fun experience for them. Alex spent most of the time either eating the good ones or "chucking" the bad ones and Avery just loved picking anything she saw and putting it in the basket. As always, we ended up with twice as many strawberries than originally planned, but between 10 ppl for the rest of the week, we actually got through them all!
And, just because I think that this is a cool picture...
That night, Opa and Grandma went to their college reunion, so we went out by ourselves as a family for dinner. I was thrilled to find out that Saturday nights are Prime Rib nights at the restaurant. Not so thrilled to find out that New England Clam Chowder should really only be consumed in New England - unless you want a thick, tasteless paste of flour and clam juice. Oh well. WI people - don't get all excited. Our fish fries still out beat New England fish and chips...Not to mention, our brats, our beer, our cheese and anything fried. Here are the kids on the dock outside the restaurant - not a bad view, huh?
The next day, before everyone else arrived, we spent the day at the beach as a family...
And, that afternoon, we had a visit from the W's, including baby F, which was fun. We have such a great time with them and unfortunately, don't get to see them enough...
and then...the Davies arrived!!! Let the activities begin...
Monday was spent doing one of my favorites - hanging out on the boat. I have to say - Avery has become quite the little fish these days. Just 2 years ago, she wouldn't even put her toe in the water off the boat and now? She's jumping off and bobbing around with me! Al Man is still a bit hesitant and would prefer to spend his time in the floaty boat and/or in the big boat eating fishies and/or peeing off the side of the boat (the picture of which is just a bit too revealing, so will not be posted).
Char-Char did her best to stay away, but couldn't quite make it happen...
Tuesday was the big A Man's 4th birthday! Although, at this point, he had already had his party with Josh's family at home, so he was convinced that he was turning 5 on his actual day. He doesn't quite get it yet. We were lucky enough to have Auntie Sara, Chad and Lila come to visit us for the day. We managed to get all of the kids packed up and headed to the beach for a couple of hours.
Unfortunately, it was a bit windy, so we didn't stay for too long. Which, was fine. We went back and relaxed outside while the kids played in the pool and the slip and slide.
And, then? The cake came out. As my mom put it, for the first time in his life, Alex was able to have his cake and eat it too! I have to say, this is probably my mother's most creative cake yet...all of Al Man's favorite foods in one (mac and cheese, broccoli, black beans and hot dogs). It was pretty cool.
After cake/dinner, it was present time! As you can see, Alex got some pretty good gifts. Josh is bound and determined to turn him into the next Tiger, so he has officially received his first set of "real" clubs. So far, so good! He's doing pretty well with them.
The next day? TREASURE HUNT! However, I hate to break it to you (if you are still awake), but this puppy is getting too long already (I am clearly not a professional blogger) and really, the treasure hunt deserves it's own post anyway, so I will end here and leave you guessing what it was all about. I'll say one thing - we have one creative Grandma on our hands!
