Weekend with friends

We had a great time this last weekend with our friends at the cabin-which-belongs-to-Paul's-relatives. Jason and Sara and their kids Isabella and Colt are so easy to spend time with.


Paul and Jason burnt some brush on the fire.

Jason is a fabulous cook, and he outdid himself on Saturday night with smoked ribs and a terrific potato and sweet potato dish. We always eat very well on these weekends, we deserve to be spoiled!








Bella and Nate played war on the porch. They also played several games of chess. They tried to play cribbage until they realized neither of them knew how.










Colt loves the zipline! All the kids spent the day outside, going down the zipline, tromping around in the woods, shooting BBguns and getting soaking wet. The adults just kept drying out mittens and boots and swapping them for wet stuff.

There is a book called "Last Child in the Woods" in which the author posits the theory that children who do not spend enough time outdoors may develop a disorder.

Yeah, our kids don't have that!









Sara is a dedicated college student (and substitute teacher) who is studying to be a full time teacher. Homework is much more pleasant done outdoors on a nice day.
















Here Nick demonstrates the use of the zipline. It is probably every kid's favorite cabin feature. That is Lucy barking at the end, she doesn't like it when her "sheep" fly through the air.

I made the following tasty dessert. It is one of my favorites. I made the mistake, however, of asking Nate and Nick to crush the pretzels for the crust. I turned around just in time to see them using the bag of pretzels as a pinata! And then it exploded! All over the kitchen. Two boys for sale......going cheap!

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

2 cups crushed pretzels (about 8 oz)
3/4 cup melted butter or margarine
3 Tbls sugar
Stir these together in a 9x13 pan. Press evenly onto the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool while preparing filling:
8oz softened cream cheese
8oz Coolwhip
1 cup sugar
Beat cream cheese in mixer and add sugar and coolwhip. Beat until smooth and spread over pretzel crust. Chill while preparing topping:
2 packages (3oz each) strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
2 packages (16oz each) frozen sliced strawberries, kinda thawed
Dissolve jello in boiling water, stir in strawberries with syrup, chill until partially set, pour over cream cheese filling. Chill 4-6 hours until firm.