For months we have been trying to plan a trip to Luverne with our friends Mike, Kelsey, and Brother (also named Mike). And little Addy, of course. We wanted them to experience life in the country, and for some reason they wanted to come. So we tried to live up to their expectations. Plus, they got to experience Marilyn's cooking. I'm pretty sure her Bible has an 11th commandment: thou shall not let no being go hungry, and she didn't disappoint with breakfast casserole, blueberry scones, blueberry pancakes, oofta tacos, and a smoked turkey (courtesy of Gene).
We celebrated the 4th at my side of the family's get-together. It was great to spend time with family and friends at the same time. And to see Carissa home from her Austrian/Parisian adventures. We ate delicious smoked pork with all the fixings, and finished it off with homemade ice cream and watermelon. The guys couldn't resist a seed-spitting contest. However it was difficult to see the seeds fly, so I'm not certain who won.
Back at home that afternoon we took advantage of Addy's naptime and took a ride down the dirtroads on Gene's "Buck Mobile" (a camouflaged Suzuki) and their four-wheeler. Jesse offered a quick lesson of how to drive the four-wheeler, and Kelsey was off, riding the red roads in her cute little blue dress. Unfortunately we did not photograph this ironically-dressed event. We cut through the woods, back to the pond for a little off-roading. When we returned we continued our outdoor activities by shooting a variety of guns: Jesse's .22 rifle and Kel-tec pistol, my .38 special, and Gene's shotgun. Mike only recalled shooting a BB-gun as a child, and Kelsey showed her sharpshooter skills with the rifle.
When Addy woke we took her out to pick blueberries. She loves fruit, especially blueberries, and was absolutely adorable picking them. She was so concentrated on them, like she could not believe such deliciousness grew on trees!
On Saturday we drove to Banks to McClelland's Critters. Jesse & I have been there before, and we knew Addy would love it! She knows many animal names and sounds, and pointed out all the animals to us as soon as we got out of the car. We all enjoyed feeding the animals and Mike, the zoo-keeper's, tour through the pens.
(she did not want to touch the snake)
We had a wonderful time, and they felt like they experienced all of Jesse's childhood in one weekend! Although they will likely never live in the country, hopefully we convinced them to visit us one day if we wind up living in Middle of Nowhere, Alabama (to them, anyway)!
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