Weekend up North (1 of 2)

I think I previously mentioned that we headed north to visit Keith's parents/family a few weekends ago. In true and typical Patti fashion, lots and lots of photos were taken.

Max and his cousins spent one solid afternoon playing outdoors in the fresh spring air. Everything from climbing trees to playing in the sandbox to riding on the quads with their daddies. They did it all.

Jon and Sheila have quite a few smaller, less mature trees on their property. Perfect for little boys to learn climbing skills in. Some trees they were able to climb on their own...like this one. It was the popular choice.

This next one was totally wishful thinking on their part...

And here they got a boost from their dads...

Saturday morning I had a chance to visit my cousin Martha and her little girl. Their family moved to the area a few years ago and this was the first time I was able to see her new home.

It was all very exciting. Not only to visit with my cousin but while we were there we saw a deer in the field. Plus as we were leaving, we noticed their dog had gotten into a porcupine and had all these quills sticking in his nose. Poor dog. My goodness. I had never ever seen anything like it. And no, I did not take pictures. That poor dog....dreadfully painful.

All right. Next up, the door...

I was having a freak out attack (well not really. but kinda) because I noticed this chippy old door was on Jonathan's burn pile. My beloved chippy door. I loved taking photos with it. It was a door on their shop. But they are renovating the shop. And wanted a more weather proof, air-tight model. Imagine that! That new door might do the job better but gosh sure doesn't have the charm and character. I mean, who has a glass knobs on their shop door?! Jonathan was trying to convince me that I need the door and we could take it home with us. Which would save him the fuss of burning it. Yeah, I might have been convinced. But my husband definitely wasn't. And I did not press the issue. ;-) Goodbye old chippy white (probably lead paint) door...it was nice know you while I had the chance.

Quadding, Quadding and more Quadding...

Lots of quadding was done on Saturday.

Taking their boys out for a quick rip before they went on the longer (no little boys allowed) ride...

Off they go...

I've been visiting Keith's family for 10+ years now. You would think I know the area. Especially the farm. Apparently not. Saturday morning as we were driving in at Shawn & Charlotte's I spied some old ramshackle buildings waaaaaay off in the distance. What are those? Do they belong to your property? Yes apparently they do. An abandoned homestead. Really? Really. And why have I never noticed them before? I have NO CLUE! I knew about another old shed on the opposite side of the property...but not this. So then I was itching. Itching to go and check it out.

Late afternoon, the boys were tired and starting to have disagreements. Sheila wanted to get dinner ready. This was my chance. I loaded up the three boys in the back of our truck and went on a little adventure back in the fields to check out those buildings. It was better then I could have imagined. Old buildings and an old car. AWESOME! And even better...not alot of green grass. Remember my irrational fear of snakes? Well...there's no possible way I'll go close to this spot during the summer because I'm sure it will be crawling. But in the spring. I was counting on the fact that they were probably still all sleeping. We didn't encounter any. That was good.

The boys loved exploring. Tanner was giggling the whole time we were walking in the fields. I snapped some photos just mostly letting them do their own thing...considering they were getting out of sorts and it was that "time of day" before dinner, they turned out not bad. And in the end, they are the type of photos I prefer and gravitate towards the most. Here's a sampling in no official order...

P.S. A word about the gum. I may or may not have bribed them with gum. Should have offered it AFTER the pictures. I didn't.  Resulting in lots of "gummy" photos! :-)