The 4th at the Lake!

For Luke's 29th year, my 9th, and Henry's 2nd, we all headed to Nebraska for some good, old-fashioned 4th of July fun. This year required a little more effort, being that we had a longer way to travel. It took us 2 buses, a train, a plane, a family minivan pick-up, and a rental car, but we made it!

Here we are, the Lemmers family. This is (by far) not all of us. When it all begins with a family who has 10 children, there are bound to be a lot in subsequent generations... I think this represents 6 out of the 10 children and only about 1/4 of all grandchildren...

Henry watches the choo-choo and the parade that loops around the lake on the morning of the 4th. He was mostly excited by all of the ba-ooooooos that he saw. (Balloons.)

Henry and Daddy take a golf cart ride. GCRs (as we like to call them) are by far my favorite part of going to the lake. I admit that I enjoy the quiet 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of the rides, amidst the 40 or so people who hang out at the cabin. Henry also enjoys them! I think he's a bigger fan of the wind in his face rather than the quiet.

Henry and Great Grandad play a game of pinball. Unfortunately for Grandad, this was the only way Henry would hang out with him. I think it's the beard. Maybe daddy needs to grow one in order to condition Henry to think beards are okay.

Henry loved being on the water. So precious!

We summered in Connecticut this weekend...

You know you've "arrived" when you begin to use the word "summer" as a verb. No, we have not won the lottery or come into a large sum of money, but we certainly felt like we had! Our friends, Hillary and Rob, have a wonderful place that they call home in southern Connecticut. Their neighbors are mostly the uber-rich, people who have second homes in this gorgeous corner of New England. We were hosted by truly expert regional guides to geography, cuisine, and local pastimes. It was a wonderful weekend - kudos to our hosts!

The view from the backyard. Serene!

Luke relaxes in the hammock. See how peaceful it was?

Our hosts, Rob and Hillary. Even they seem relaxed, while showing us a good time!

Henry doesn't desire relaxation or respite. Here he is "working" hard, pushing the stroller around the farmers' market. It is very serious, important work.

One of the local sights is the Gillette Castle. Built by the actor who played Sherlock Holmes on Broadway in the early 1900s, this castle was his retirement home. As the architect and designer, Gillette paid attention to every detail. The woodworking alone is amazing. I love finding regional gems like this! Who knew it was even there?!? So neat.

The Gillette Castle view of the Connecticut River. A "must-take" photo. :-)

Henry explores the grounds with his high-stepping march.

After Henry's nap (our guides were incredibly attentive to the needs of a one-year old!) we went to local swimming hole. Author's Note: I fully realize that most people who post pictures of themselves in their swimsuit on the internet have a much better body than I... For the sake of this blog and its archive of Henry's adventures, I am sacrificing my own cyber-image. Please don't judge, and be sure to wear your sunglasses while looking at this photo.

Post-swimming, Henry lays back in the hammock with some of daddy's discs. This picture makes him melt.

Our family, about to depart from our weekend of fun.

Here she is, our quintessential hostess. Many thanks, and keep enjoying the scenery for us!

Life is just a bowl of berries

For our next regional adventure, we decided to head to Concord for some strawberry picking. Luke's comment is, "It's not as fun as you might think". In my opinion, it was as fun as I thunk, and I thunked it was gonna be very fun!

Looking for the reddest, juciest, biggest berries!

Henry says - I found one, mom!

Daddy, begrudgingly, gets in on the action. He kept asking me why a strawberry field wasn't shaded more. :-)

The fruits of our labor!

Henry defininitely enjoyed the juicy goodness.

What happened next was the best part... We each chose what we wanted to do with our berries. I chose strawberry ice cream. Unfortunately, I got distracted and ended up with some scrambled egg in the custard. I used a sieve, but the texture was still off. Sad. Luke couldn't pick just one thing, so I spoiled him by making both strawberry bread and strawberry sorbet. Both were amazing! Unfortunately though, I made these things while making dinner also. Here is what we had to deal with afterwards! (And this is only half of the mess!) We'd all agree though - totally worth it!

Julie and Maclain's Wedding

Julie and Maclain - the reason for our travels! Aren't they beautiful? They not only look that way, they sound that way, too.















Our happy threesome, enjoying a beautiful (and a bit windy!) day atop one of Colorado's gorgeous peaks.












One of the reasons for our attendance - the ALF clan! If it weren't for ALF, The Boston Andersons wouldn't exist! Our matchmaker, Kirstin, is front row, right.

Henry enjoys himself at his very first wedding. He's relaxing and partaking of some excellent bread!

After eating, Henry realizes that weddings are more than a good meal... Grampa shows him how to party.


















And Granny gives him some tips during a slow-dance on the dance floor.










The Paul Anderson clan, celebrating his 62nd year.

The Boston Murakamis?

Mark and Lisa traveled to Boston to check out our new digs, and more importantly, to check out whether Boston might be a good location for Mark's residency.

I'm pretty sure that http://www.thebostonmurakamis.blogspot.com/ is an available url. So perhaps, in effort to get Mark and Lisa to come out here , I should sign them up.


Here, Lisa gives Henry a new view of the den.



















Mark shows Henry how to take a digital picture...



















And Henry proves, even amidst 3 beautiful women, he still steals the frame.














However, the story does NOT end here.

No, no...

We couldn't just have a wonderful time, five Oles hanging out, enjoying a new city together (okay, newer to some of us than others, Hillary).

From the photo you see above, things took a dramatic turn.

We had said our fond farewells to the (hopefully soon-to-be) Boston Murakamis and to Connecticut Hillary, as we headed to Julie's wedding in Colorado.




But...





Only a few hours later...














Here we are again, enjoying yet another decadent meal. How did this happen, you may ask? Well, it was due to "low cloud cover" in the Boston area, and it led to some extreme flight delays for us "Boston Andersons". You might see in my eyes in the above picture that I look as though I'm sensing a long night might be ahead of me (hence drinking cappuccino at 8pm). I was correct, in that our night did not end until our heads hit the pillow in Denver at six o'clock in the morning, Boston time!!!! It sounds bad folks, but please remember, we had a 13-month-old in tow. It's worse than you're imagining... Really though, we made it, and our bonus night in Boston was a blast.

Memorial Day Weekend Adventures!

Memorial Day Adventure #1 We checked out another Henry's Historical Haunt... Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond. This was our first real hiking trip, complete with baby backpack and mom's new hiking boots. Despite Henry's extreme tiredness (a short nap in the morning before church followed by a rather exhausting church experience for both Henry and his parents) we had a lovely walk around the pond and picnic lunch. Our backpack might never be the same due to some 1-year old eating techniques, but it is already very well loved.



The replica of Thoreau's very small hut. Henry and Luke check out the inside of the "other" Henry's hut. I think that his hat makes Henry look like Crocodile Dundee, with a pacifier.

Henry was all ready for Adventure #2 - the Beach, and Discin' with Daddy. Henry and Daddy approach the water. The beach was pretty crowded, and with a lot of pale, pale people. We felt right at home.

Mommy explains the ocean, the waves, and why it was SO COLD!
Henry, unsure of this very strange bathtub, heads for home.
Daddy and Henry pose. Henry was scared of the waves and didn't want to get too close!

Checking out the breakers.
Just some proof that we were there... Not too many photos exist of people on the course.
Henry takes a break from the stroller to hang out on the course.

Thanks for looking! We had a great weekend, complete with two Memorial Day picnics! I know I wish all weekends were three days long! ...Until next time...