The adventures of The Leadbetter Family: August 2014

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Germany in CT??

Can you smell the brats? Hear the music? See the German Leadbetters?!?! lets grab some German beer as Oktober Fest begins in CT

Potato Pancakes for all.

So getting out the door is never easy - We had one crying because he was told to wear lederhosen,

One a bit upset that he didn't have lederhosen that fit

One that wanted to be the FIRST one to arrive at the German fest.

One with mis-matched lederhosen

and one that just wanted ice cream

good thing that the ice cream and beer combination make everything better -

Prost Deutschland

And we were SUPER excited!! Farrah was on a marathon travel trip after moving to the DC area (yes, I said that right, we moved away from DC literally the SAME WEEK they moved to DC - ) but lets MOVE ON. We are closer right?? O.k. so farrah is headed to Mass to visit cousins, grandma's, family and friends and on her way back to DC she is able to squeeze in 24 hours with us!!

Yeah!!

She wanted to see both our and Diane's new home which meant a bit extra driving for her - but she managed to make this all seem so do-able - gotta love you farrah for SO many reasons.

The kids INSTANTLY pick up where they left off from last year

And so did we. Thankfully no clock to show what time the champgna got popped!! Just seeing Chris's expression when he came home from his meeting to catch Farrah and I on the back deck, glasses filled,

and the kids far far away - not much has changed

alright, lets cork that champgna and head to Diane's!! More kids and MORE fun!

During our hang out time Farrah REALLY wished she had a toddler again. These 2 came running outside totally naked (their clothes later found beside the toilet) just so they could pee outside.

In those short 24 hours I kept thinking that good friends are like your favorite blanket - you never forget how good it really feels to be wrapped in their presence.

Diane even had a special treat in store for us - her neice is saving money to study abroad in London for college so she offered to babysit 8 kids!!

So we went out to Geno's!!

I love that Geno is cheering for US in this photo

I loved watching these 2 together. Their friendship overtime has changed but always been valued and when Nick cried Thursday morning as we were all leaving it broke our hearts.

Lovely little tap performance by Anna and Eve.

And here is their famous instructor!!

24 hours many never be enough - but it might be just enough - lets just keep 'em coming

love love love you guys.

20 years?? No way

Yup, the class of Simsbury High School 1994 is having their 20 reunion. Wow - I remember folks coming back for their 20 year reunion and they were old!! Not us right? The high school kids are just young. Nick - heck even Drew is now closer to graduation high school than Chris and I are from HAVING GRADUATED high school. Yikes!

I am happy to say the only thing I notice different about these 2 best friends in these 2 photos is the camera quality!

Yup, Alison and I might as well still be chearleaders at SHS.

Wait, where did these kids come from??

Ah man - guess it really has been 20 years. I will say that it was wonderful sitting on my back porch making the years fly away and catching up with Alison. Cheers

Days of summer

We have had SO much going on this summer - there hasn't been ANYTHING lazy about it. From moving to wonderful visitors to excursions. Its been fabulous be exhausting and stressful all at one.

This photo was sort relazing but lasted .2 seconds

Wheel barrow - won best toy award for this crew.

Adult table

Kid table - wait, Oma Sue - wrong table!!

Beach time in Mystic with Susie Smith

we were on the catch and release crab program

Ice cream after mini put - now that is summer.

Now can we all PLEASE start school?!?!

The bike and fly

3 days after getting back from Maine Chris and I got on a bike and dragged my sister with us! Loved having her as a biking companion. I think for 30 out of the 35 miles she agreed.

Can you see the nose of the plane landing 2 minutes before our race started. Too cool

Stacie and I finished our 35 miler ust moments away from being totally exhausted.

Chris finished just 10 minutes after us, but on the 50 mile route - his legs were EXHAUSTED. We say our minds work against us telling us opften that we are in better shape than we actually are.... hmmm.

Check out mr. batman

We finished the day with some amazing Lobsters on the back deck. No camera as my fingers were oily with budda!

I did catch these 2 cuties with their dessert

Thanks Stosh and Jason for coming down for a great family weekend. Many more to come. With us being closer it all just feels easier.

Love you all.

The favorite photos from Maine

Living in CT we now consider ourselves 'close' to Camp Leadbetter on Lobster Lake - Yup, 9 hours sure is close!! With our family partially moved in we were able to squeeze a quick adventure up there for 5 days.

It was a slow start in the morning as it felt impossible to get out the door - than we started our trip in the wrong direction (a true sign that we haven't live here long....) and FINALLY linked up with the ever patient and excited Wisneskis! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIDI - Thanks for being so willing to spend you BIRTHDAY in the car. You are one wonderful person that I am thankful to have in MY life.

Here we go!

9 hours later we hit the Golden road, and who should we spot - well hello there lady moose.

With cell phone service at camp non existant (which is honestly part of the charm) you never know who you will run into when you check in. We were hoping to link up with some of Chris's cousins Anne and Peter and their family - but instead it was just our crew - which is honestly just right.

Here they are fresh out of the car.

We had 1 hour to move all our stuff in and set up bed and a make shift dinner before it got dark. It was a chill night as with the kids in a cabin away from the main cabin - we laid next to them (and kinda fell asleep) on the first night.

Day 2!! Adventure really begins and some of my favorite photos.

Lets eat that birthday cake! 29 never looked so good.

as relaxing as it looks

as Nutzo as it looks.

maybe they are tired...

both nights the moon was actually a super moon. When we popped out to use the latrine it was VERY bright and BEAUTIFUL. This artistic shot stage by Diane is wonderful but hardly does it justice.

The kids heard us talking about a super moon and HAD to come out - they were too cute to shoo away.

The Leadbetters joined us that day but were a bit tired after the drive and opted to hit the hay before the festivities started.... Meanwhile the Wisneski/Leadbetter crew had a gut splitting game of Catch Phrase.

Rather different than what looks like the serenity of an early morning canoe ride.

Love this photo and love this guys out there enjoying the lake - Cheers COL Leadbetter

a mission down the river with lots of fishing pools and even more beer.

Here they go!

With the craziess gone for a bit - Diane and I squeezed in some Body Flow on the beach - am-a-zing (we did have the little dudes, so not total serenity - but close)

Another day - another hike and this time to Grandma's cabin. On the way, we talked about the bridge being washed out and looking for trees to 'bridge the gap' Engineer minds worked together for a bit of a bridge. Chris ALWAYS gets in the water and assumes the rest of us want to as well. This time there was an option created by Wayne and I

Here are the engineers of nature - the beavers of Grandma's Camp

A little photo opt with the Lobster Lake Crew 2014 - we were so excited Liz and Tam finally joined us!! (its actually Wyn and Seb in the photo (not Liz and Tam)

In order to get a smiling photo - you have to promise them a goofy photo - I get Eve the prize!!

Love this family

This one is a keeper too

Liz and Tam were slaving away with the most wonderful ribs and I felt bad pulling them away for a photo opt. Vowed to catch them the next day.

I gotta admit - I wanted to give Drew one more summer with my folks (and not in Maine) yes, he was potty trained and not sleeping in a crib - However Chris wanted to go there as a family.... I am giving him a smooch there - but it wasn't a totally smooochy time. I may have been right on that one...

The whole crew together on our last night.

Drew's big opportunity to ring the dinner bell

another SUPER moon.

Nick's constant companion

Wednesday morning and the Wisneski's were prepped for an early departure. WE wanted to linger and enjoy the morning with the fam. Here is the cousin photo from 2014.