The Ruby

Happy Forty Years!!!  Thanks for getting married, Mom and Dad. 

xoxo

Thank you, Google Maps.

Next stop, Siren, WI!! Thank you, Google Maps and T for coincidentally meeting me at the gas station.  While I'm sure these directions make sense to Matteo, I'm quite certain they didn't make much sense to me.  Regardless of the directions (or lack there of) the kids and I traveled from Pine City to the lovely tip of Wisco!








T and Matt were kind enough to give up their bunkhouse, so the kids and I could stay for a night.  We had so much fun, and Bennett had "the best cake ever!!!" (Which, he is still talking about. Thanks, Punky!)

My favorite part of this trip was the midnight boat cruise with Dora and T - of course, Matt stayed back, and had the baby monitor clipped responsibly to his belt.  I'm pretty sure Bennett favorite part was Matt and T.  Harper's favorite was just Matt.

Prose Family Fun Weekend!!!

Prose Family Fun Weekend is an annual event at the river.  We eat, we play, we swim.  Yep - that about it - but, really, do you need anything else??

WE EAT.

Eric and Amy's southern boil is Andy Prose's absolute favorite thing of all time.  He doesn't eat for days in preparation for this marathon session of corn and sausage and shrimp.  

Big huge meal number two included a pig - a fat roasted pig - eyeballs and all.

 WE PLAY.  and fish. and catch frogs.

WE SWIM.

WE LOVE.

The Bungalow

Rita and Wes love when the kids all come to play.  They have a beautiful river side property with lush gardens, an enormous deck, acres of manicured lawns, tub of toys and outdoor games, and two bedrooms.  Two bedrooms for a family of seventeen just doesn't work for overnight excursions.  This has been a topic of discussion (and debate) for a few summers, and this year, Andy and his siblings decided to do something about it.  Introducing the Prose Family Bungalow...

 This two story addition was added to the existing pole shed, and can sleep a family of four on the lower level and a loft full of kids up top.  It has power and electric and cushy carpeting.    There are bunks and a fold out futon.  I'm pretty sure Rita recently added a coffee pot.

 The old solarium (hot tub room) was also transformed into a cottage, that will comfortable sleep a(nother) family of four. 

Bring on PROSE FAMILY FUN DAY!!!

147 Steps

We have had these boxes sitting in our back yard for weeks.  Boxes that contain all the necessary parts to build a beautiful swing set.  Being a summer SAHM, I quickly because aware of the NECESSITY (notice the shouty bold caps) of having a safe and operating swing set in our backyard.  This would provide me with strength and sanity.

AP was quite certain he could "knock this out" in one day.  I'm pretty sure he could, too, but I was also fearful that he would knock something else out - like his back or a kid.  So, I called up our wing(wo)man - T & T.  We now had the workers, and the materials, and an instruction manual...

 The boys worked independently, and with their shirts on for awhile.  Not going to lie, there was not much progress being made.  Boards (and cuss words) were flung about, and there was some grunting.  Enter Type A T.  She had those shirts off, sunscreen applied and an assembly line of parts lined up in 20 minutes. 

It did take all day (and 30 beers) - but the mighty jungle gym was ready for action before the kids went to bed that night.

Those 147 steps just gave us the happiest kids in America.

Looks good, right???