As soon as we arrived, Grandpa whisked us away to a garage sale. He thought that there might be several things we could find there. He was right. We bought several wooden bowls and serving plates that were brought here from the Phillipines, along with a matching wooden set of salad forks and a letter opener. We also bought a basket that had been purchased and brought back from Hawaii. Our dining room is mostly decorated with things from other countries, so several of these items we purchased will fit in quite nicely! The basket will be added to my ever-growing collection of garage-sale-purchased baskets that are hanging on the top of the walls around my kitchen.
We spent that afternoon at Mirror Lake state park. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then a leisurely boat ride out on the water...until the engine died and we had to use the trolling motor to get back to shore. We still got plenty of pictures and had lots of fun!
Grandma and Jacob in the boat!
I love this picture...
The little dude was incredibly tired...as you can see...
Family picture!
That evening we grilled burgers and ate dinner on the porch. Butterfest was taking place in Reedsburg while we were there, which meant that Gabe really wanted to go get an Elephant Ear (it's his favorite "fair food" ever...no joke). My parents were more than willing to watch Jacob for a little bit, so Gabe and I went on a lovely evening walk down to Butterfest and walked around for a little bit before enjoying some fried dough and a lemonade. Good times.
The next morning we had Swedish Pancakes for breakfast...of course. What else would we have at Grandma's house?? This recipe has been in the family for quite some time. When I was growing up, Grandma would make these for all of us kids...in fact, we came to expect them when ever she visited and if for some reason she did not make them, our whole day was ruined. I greatly prefer these pancakes over any of the other boxed or homemade pancakes people may make. These pancakes are the bestest ever!! Several years back, we held a pancake-eating contest amongst the 4 of us kids. I believe Philip won with the high score of 20 pancakes. I believe my record was 17 or 18. All that aside, these seriously are the best pancakes in the world.
We ate lunch at the Blue Spoon that day... We also learned that Jacob does not like car rides anymore...at least not in his infant car seat. We need to invest in a new carseat that is a little more upright and comfy for a growing baby... In the meantime, we might be borrowing a seat which my mother has which is still new enough to be safe for us to use.
I discovered something while we were visiting with my grandparents that I found somewhat surprising. In the time that I got married and had a baby, somehow my relationship changed with my grandma and grandpa. There were many times during our visit that my grandma and I would just sit and chat...which is something that never really happened before. I know this should not be surprising - after all, I am an adult woman, a wife and a mother and should have expected that my relationships will be changing (just as they are with my mother). However, it still caught me off guard when I realized this...and when I realized how nice it is to be able to spend time with my grandparents like this. It was also neat to see Gabe and my grandpa getting along so well. Sometimes they would just disappear and we wouldn't know where they were. They made a trip to the grocery store and to the hardware store together, and Grandpa even gave Gabe his very own rifle... You should have seen the childish look of joy when he showed my his newest addition to his collection. I have an adorable, but rather funny husband sometimes.
On Saturday we had egg casserole for breakfast (another family tradition) and then stopped in to see the Senior Life Center just down the road - that is a beautiful place! We had to head out soon thereafter so we could stop and get some fresh strawberries on our way and get back in time for Gabe to get to work. Unfortunately, when we stopped for strawberries, I realized that I left my cell phone at my grandparents house which we had to go retrieve since we do not have a home phone. The added travel time, for which I sincerely apologized, cut it extremely close for Gabe to be able to get to work on time. Thankfully, someone was able to stay late to cover a few hours for him so he didn't need to rush as much. In fact, we had just enough extra time then to stop at Johnson Creek Outlet Mall and get some awesome deals on baby clothes and nursing shirts! For this shopping spree, I also apologized. My husband puts up with so much from me...
Eventually we did make it home, safe and sound, and Gabe made it to work on time. Looking back, I am glad we were able to visit with my grandparents for a couple of days. I know they loved seeing us, especially Jacob, and I know we are always welcome in their home. I am sure we will be back to visit them again before the year is through!
Here are just a couple of my favorite pictures from our trip.
It was endearing to see my grandpa with his great-grandson.
Great-grandma even got down on the floor to play with her great-grandson!
No caption need - I just love my baby so much. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment