Scon-ee Summer

**My cousin kept referring to Wisconsin as "Sconie (pronounced Scon-ee)" which is why I've included it in my title..I also just thought it was really funny everytime she said it!** :)

I'll try not to make this too long, but I want to make sure to journal some fun details. If you don't feel like reading, then hopefully you'll enjoy the photos since I went a little crazy with my i-phone and my newly downloaded Instagram app. Who knew I would love this phone so much!? Ok...onto our weekend!

M. and I got left NYC for WI on the first flight out Friday morning which meant an early 3am wakeup call and getting in a cab by 4. I forced M. to be in these photos...I'd say we look pretty awake for it being so SUPER early.

We arrived in WI around 7am and waited at the airport for my brothers flight from Beijing to arrive. While we waited we had breakfast...at the airport...at "The Brewhouse". What could be more appropriate than that...it's WI! :)

Once my brother arrived we headed off to spend the morning at my Aunts house. She was at work, but my cousin and uncle were both there when we arrived, as was my sister's boyfriend who I hadn't yet met. He was really nice, especially for hanging out with a bunch of people he really didn't know. We sat and talked next to my Aunt's pool until it was time for a little lunch. First thing on my mind...CULVERS. It's one of my favorite things to do when I go to "Scon-ee". I love their burgers and their custard...and yes, it's just a fast food place, but it's so much more to me. :) Plus, the flavor of the day was a GOOD one - Chocolate Heath Bar Almond...OK in my book! And yes, I took a picture of myself with the cone...it's that important. The lunch group ended up being me, M., my mom, brother, cousin, uncle and my sister's boyfriend. We were a large table for a fast food restaurant.

After lunch we headed over to the cottage that my parents rented on the lake near my Aunt's house. I'm not even going to try and embellish it - it was "rustic". A little musty smelling and the bed that M. and I were going to be sleeping in was the CREAKIEST, loudest thing I have ever heard. And yes, my when my Uncle Joe asked about how the place was and I told him about the bed he proceeded to make a dirty joke about it....I can always count on you Uncle Joe! :)

BUT on the whole, the cottage was really perfect for the weekend. We actually spent Friday night out on the boat. It was wonderful. We had a little 'Sconsin cheese with crackers, some wine (Ok...a couple glasses of wine) and a few good laughs too. Especially when M. was laughing at me being freaked out about sitting in the front of the boat when it would dip really close to the water.

After the boat ride we decided dinner was necessary. We ended up heading over to an outdoor "fish fry," but before we were seated we enjoyed a little more conversation and a few more drinks. The food...ehh...so/so in my book (I've never been a big fan of the fried perch that Scon-ee's seem to love, but it was great sitting outside in the warm weather with my family! Plus there was an absolutely GORGEOUS sunset that evening. Everything was just so calm and pretty.

We were all pretty tired after our dinner, but as usual I was suggesting dessert options before even leaving the restaurant. We went for round two at Culvers...of course, only custard this time. Custard is awesome.

Saturday I woke up WAY too early and got ready for the day of lounging by the pool and catching up with family. We had planned a big family get together (since all of my mom's family is still in WI) at my Aunts house. I started the morning at the Piggly Wiggly with my mom picking up all of the necessities for our "party". Too many brats to count, ground beef for burgers, tons of soda, and plenty of chips. My brother had already ordered a keg of beer for the men and my mom had stocked up on wine and margarita makings for the women a few days before.

I helped my mom unload all of the goods and then headed back to the cottage to wake up my sleepy husband. Luckily, he didn't have to endure my torture methods of getting him out of bed...aka jumping on him or tickling his underarms...since he was already awake when I got there. We decided to watch my Aunt and sister play in a tennis drill that they had scheduled early on over at their country club. Me, M. and my sister's boyfriend headed over, spent some time watching them hit the tennis balls over the net with the tennis pro for a while and then got our bathing suits and other clothes ready for the afternoon family party.

I was so excited to spend time with family Saturday afternoon! All of my relatives came including a couple of my cousins and my grandparents who I was excited about seeing. I made sure to have a photo snapped of me and M. with my grandparents since I rarely get to see them and really don't have any recent photos of us together aside from wedding images.

I loved catching up with everyone, enjoyed some great food (including those brats that we bought earlier that morning - not the most girlish food, but definitely one of my favorites!) and best of all, got to play with my second cousin who I hadn't met before, baby Kate (my cousins daughter)!! She was way too adorable for words and I caught some really sweet pictures of her while I was playing peek-a-boo under the table on the deck. Seriously, isn't she just the cutest?! M. was also itching to hold the adorable Kate and I snapped some sweet photos of those two together too! I'm certainly not ready for a baby now, but I'll be excited someday when M. and I do try to have a baby!!

The family party went on all afternoon with lots of wine, margaritas, swimming in the pool and food. We ended everything with a joint birthday celebration (my brothers, my cousin Kathryn's, my Aunt Deb's, and John's wife Shelly's) and a delicious cake with raspberry filling. I was a little giddy when I was handed a piece with a perfectly pink and green rose.

After the celebrations everything started to wind down and we called it a night. Sunday we had to get up bright and early to see my brother and sister run a half marathon! Unfortunately I didn't sign up for this one, but believe me, it's coming soon people.

We packed into the car at around 8 (when my sister and brother started the race) and headed to the race site. We made a pit stop at Krispy Kreme (Dunkin' Doughnuts just doesn't cut it for us folks) and enjoyed some delicious treats while we finished the trip to the race (yeah, that's right...we were eating doughnuts while our siblings were running a half marathon...don't judge). Once at the site, we met up with my Dad who had taken them that morning. We arrived just in time because about 20 minutes later my sister came running up the hill to cross the finish line...I snapped this cute picture of her! About ten minutes later my brother came through too (didn't get a photo) and he did a great job considering just two days before he flew into the US from Beijing (talk about a long flight!).

The rest of Sunday afternoon was spent (yet again) playing in the pool and sadly, before we knew it, we had to pack up the car and head to the airport for our flight back...of course, first we stopped for one last cone of custard....Kopps Grasshopper Fudge...mmmm (and please note the sunburnt face, ratty t-shirt and messy french braid for my trip home...classy).

A wonderful vacation and I'm wishing that I could do it all over again!!