Weekend in Red Hook, NY

Weekend before last we drove out to Red Hook, NY, to do this photo shoot and to spend time with dear friends.  Marissa has a son Lincoln who is just a couple of months younger than Bobby, and Bob was very happy to have another baby around.  Last week I sat in front of the computer with Bobby on my lap, going through pictures from the weekend, and a photo of Lincoln came up.  When Bobby saw him he got excited, waving his arms and legs and lunging for the screen and saying, "issat, issat" ("What's that?/Who's that?")  He misses his buddy!

I have TONS of photos and narrowing them down for this post was really hard because I had to do that all along to keep making room on my memory card.  So I may have to split this up... we'll see how it goes.  (Not that I need share all this.)  OK, here we go.

Marissa has two large dogs (boxers I believe, right?)  And, as I've mentioned, Bobby is obsessed with dogs.  He was pretty much thrilled by all the dog-boy interaction.  Here he is immediately after getting licked across the face:

Oh, you need to get Bobby a dog!, some people say.  No, I don't.  Not now.  And it's not because I don't want my boy to be filled with all the joys a dog can bring.  It's because I do not need to add this struggle to my life right now:

Yes, I think whiplash by dog is about the last thing I need.

Cass and Ben spent the good part of Saturday morning hanging these hammock swings:

(sneezing) 

It was all fun and games until Ben decided to spin me on the swing. My body does not handle spinning well.  That was enough to make me feel like poop for hours.

... returning from a dry-heave in the bushes, and trying to not look miserable for a photo...

A couple cute shots of Kara by Cass:

Here's Cass being the prop-master for the photo shoot...

And Kara being the slave-heart...

Bobby playing on a rusty gate...

And Ben playing with an awesome caterpillar.

Bobby's a little guy, and Lincoln is a big guy.  Even though Bob's about 3 months older, it practically looks the other way around.  Please forgive me for the next set.  These were all too darn cute to eliminate.

(that last one makes me laugh every single time)

Marissa and Vanessa are renting a house on this amazing estate property.  This is the view from next to the mansion (which, like a big dummy, I didn't take a single photo of).

Bobby almost got to come along for the walk, but at the last minute we laid him down inside for a nap instead.

Apparently there is some sort of huge puppet building operation going on in one of the barns.  Ben and Cass and Kara all got mad at me for trespassing to check it out.

It's kinda hard to tell from the picture, but this tree apparently grew up through this old rotted boat.  Isn't that awesome?

There's also a path that leads across the hills and over a bridge and down to the river.  Gorgeous.

Couldn't resist a few shots of my boy with these cool props...

(See how he's watching the needle move as he pushes the scale down?)

And... done.

After dark we burned down this tree in the back yard:

Kara and I made s'mores for everyone, because that's just the kind of people we are.

Here's Bob hanging with Buddha the next morning, both wishing they could go outside:

A mini photo shoot on a mini bench:

Some people dared me to squeeze myself into this child's lion costume, which was hilarious to everyone except Bob.  He was freaked OUT.  See the tears?  Fortunately there doesn't seem to be any lasting damage...

Are you still here?  Wow, that's dedication.

Things not pictured:

• Two long drives
• A delicious dinner made by Doreen
• A fascinating breastfeeding discussion with Grandma Wheezer
• Vanessa organizing Marissa's books by color
• Yummy ice cream from Wholly Cow
• Lots of other stuff, I'm sure, but I can't remember because it was practically two weeks ago

If you still want more, click here to see all the pics of Marissa and Lincoln and company on my Conveyable Flow blog.