it was a mother's day to remember.

last sunday was mother's day and our daughter invited us to their house.

WOO HOO!

I was so excited i could hardly wait to get there.  this

was the first holiday that we celebrated at one of our

kids houses instead of ours~ which meant no cleaning the house

or cooking for this mom. (yes, YES we can come.)

: )   : )   : )

these lucky ducks live on a lake and it was a perfect day to be outside.

we stood around their kitchen island and chowed on appetizers while

ad food prepped for a while and then she noticed that their oriole

feeder was empty so she and I headed outside to fill it.

*chris wanted the birds to put on a good show for us,

so even though he was at his parents for fishing opener he

made sure to fill the many feeders before he left.

they have good birds you guys, nuthatches, woodpeckers, finches, warblers,

orioles, and even indigo blue buntings to name a few.

(chris will text me pictures of them close up through his binoculars-

that's a cool son in law right?)

the brothers wandered outside too and down to the dock, and
pretty soon they were lowering the pontoon off the lift, so A and i
went in and woke papa bear (who wasted no time getting to a couch
when we arrived) and off we went.

kenzie the black lab was so excited to go boating that she jumped off the
dock "at" the pontoon before the side door was even open and she
face planted and had to swim back to shore and try again.
poor girl~ I was worried about her, but i guess she's done that before,
so it also made us laugh. silly girl.

lars and duke

my girl and her girl (who didn't even get a bloody nose).

cole and his sweetie sarah

the resident loons popped up to say hi!

 petie and i

since chris was up on leech lake with his mom, big brother eric got to be the captain.

back in the house, both dogs had swam and were soaking wet, this one looks

sad, but that's just kind of his look...trust me, he was having a great day!

kenz on her pillow with her duck, drying off.

this is the buck that my hunter daughter bagged last fall. my brother does

these European mounts and

they're getting ready to put it on this board and hang it.
*deer head mounts used to be considered total redneck décor, but now?
now they're in style folks and people are paying big bucks (lol) for them.

eric was the grill master- don't these burgers look amazing?

ranunculus, my favorite flower

the sectional was a hot spot for relaxing.
before we left we took a garden tour
and it was so fun for me to see all the perennials coming up and the garden planted
and growing for the first time.

chris loves to grow vegetables, Ad flowers, just like her mom.

it was just the best day. it was the first time all of us had been

at the kid's since they moved and we all loved being on the lake.

 eric texted me that night that he'd always thought pontoons were

just for old people, but now he gets it and he wants one too!

right? they make it perfect for a whole bunch of people and dogs

to be together on the water. fun in the sun. hangin' out. chillin.

*thanks Ad for treating your mom to a relaxing, fun day at your house, and

for doing all the work. it was the best!

my heart was completely happy when I went to bed that night.
these kids. these kids you guys. they are my life~ and if you're blessed
enough to be a mother, you know exactly what i'm clucking about.

xo, b