Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Visiting the M Family: June Edition

We just spent a wonderful weekend visiting with the M family at our house, so I thought it was about time I finally finished the draft on our trip to their house earlier this summer. Not only did we have a blast hanging out with them, but Dave and Christine made sure to plan in some special adventures that made it feel like a real summer get-away. 

We arrived the Friday before Caleb's 2nd birthday party. It was Caleb's first long distance ride alone in the back seat. He was a champ all 3 hours and didn't need mommy to go back even once! Dave and Christine welcomed us with an amazing grilled salmon and shrimp dinner. Yum!

Saturday morning, Caleb decided to wake at 5:15am. It was every bit as painful as it sounds. It made me thankful that we're all old parents now and had gone to bed around 10p the night before. Despite the early wake up call, we still didn't get everyone ready to leave for strawberry picking until around 8:45. That's toddler time for you : )

Caleb wants Elias to open his belated birthday present, but decides he needs a little help. Elias does not amused by this intrusion.

The farm where we went picking grew several different types of strawberries. After taste-testing, the "Early Glow" variety were the clear winners. Their season was almost over so we did a lot of picking through rotted ones to find the ripe ones, but it was worth it. Caleb was even able to help!

So. Grown. Up.

Daddy's helper

Elias getting a taste of a very fresh strawberry.

Our final adventure at the farm, bee extraction. Great teamwork guys!

We brought the boys back for naps and they were both snoozing by 11. After they awoke, Dave and Christine took us to an Italian deli/grocery to pick up subs (which were incredible!). We ate picnic-style at a nearby park and the boys wore themselves out.

What's a family photo without a dinosaur in the mix?

Elias looking too cool in his shades.

We came back to the boarding school where Dave and Christine live (yes, they live in a school, how awesome is that???) and let the boys cool off in the pool. Needless to say, they went to bed early, completely exhausted. We didn't waste those evening hours of course. David and Dave bonded by beating Super Mario Brothers together and Christine taught me how to do a perl stitch in knitting.

Splashing in the pool.
Another great way too cool down. Some of the strawberries we picked may have ended up in Dave and Christine's ice cream maker.

Sunday morning, Caleb slept in slightly more, and woke at 5:45. David got up, while I finished sleeping. I woke up around 7:30 and remembered it was Father's Day (face palm moment...). I gave David his card and promised I'd make it up to him next weekend (which I did). Being the amazing husband and father he is, he wasn't upset at all and told me he was only "doing what you do everyday". *Swoon*

We all headed to protestant service a little bit later. Afterward, David, Caleb and I explored some neat looking shops in the area. We took Caleb into one of those hands-on kids' places. Apparently little ones under 2 get in free! Caleb had a blast playing in a firetruck, riding in a toy helicopter (which he wanted to go "up, up!") and splashing his hands in a rubber-ducky lazy river. On the way back to the car, we found a neat coffee shop and bought a bag of beans as a souvenir.

After Dave and Christine got home from Mass, we put the boys down for naps and ate lunch (which involved Sonny's Sweet Sauce, so you know it was amazing). Our little guys didn't sleep long so we took them over to a pond on the school's campus and let them throw rocks in the water, which they were infinitely amused by.

After a little more visiting time, we packed up the car and headed home. Caleb was so worn out from his fun weekend, he slept most of the way. We made a lot of wonderful summer memories. Thanks Dave and Christine!

1 comment:

Stephanie Cunningham said...

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun!

I'm jealous you're learning to knit...I so wish I could catch on. I probably could if I put my mind to it...I just don't want to go through the annoying first steps of not being good at it, haha.