t h e . r i d i c u l o u s . p a n d a

more often than not, sam and i do a whole lot of nudging each other with our elbows in disbelief that our experiences are just that, ours. what have we done to deserve such friends and good fortune? also that there is this small wonder boy now included in all of our happenings who just thinks that this is his norm. but so far, he's been right on.

this weekend was a strong case in point. our friends, rachel and doug and now their very own wonder baby, charlotte, were in town from seattle. but instead of trucking down to chicago they invited us up to doug's family lake house in wisconsin for a two day uninterrupted visit.

it was beautiful weather, perfect company, savory meals and lots of beer - all those things that i imagined my perfect summer camp that i never got to go to to be.

silas on the drive up north chooses his snack food from the bag in the backseat - one apple, one apricot. eaten simultaneously.

baby girl warms up to our crazy faces immediately.

silas makes himself right at home with doug (still very comfy).

rachel and her charlotte!

auntie sian coordinates lake house wear with toddler amusement seamlessly.

daylight has broken, hallelujah. he spent the one am until two am hour demanding in sleepy wails to be transferred back and forth between our twin bunk beds: papaaa! mamaaa! papaa! mamaa! and in the end, papaa! wins.

early morning on the pier, amazement and a peach.

navigating crystal lake with papa on the paddleboat.

for those of you keeping tally, silas's boating history thus far: pontoon, dragon, ferry, paddle.

the turtle pool right next to the water was a huge hit.

taking it easy with a local brew.

charlotte maintains composure even with my constant need to document.

sam and charlotte share un beso esquimal.

princess of the toys takes on auntie sian before dinner.

silas focuses his "gentle" baby touches on the skull.

charlotte . doug . rachel

when rachel and i used to get into boatloads of trouble as teenagers, my mother had a mantra of this too shall pass. well, look at us now. all grown up and unsupervised with whiskey & men over thirty at a lake house far away from our parents. funny, eh?

monday morning group picture before we travel apart.

sam and i stopped for breakfast in milwaukee. silas has been around for nearly 22 months and this was his first time at beans & barley. that's some slacker parenting.

oh, milwaukee, why do you continue to try and woo us? with your discount museum coupons that fall into our lap, museum guards that are actually delighted to see you, beautiful view of our favorite lake, easy street parking, uberfriendly residents and public men's toilets that have cloth diaper dumping instructions posted?

silas flies, sam supports.

it's like i do fashion shoots all of a sudden.

one of the exhibits at mam was called "sensory overload" or in my own opinion, more suitably, "screw the mr. potato head exhibit at children's museum around the corner. bring your toddler in here to have his little mind blown."

any final thoughts on the weekend, sir?