Grandad & Marie Visit

We've had a whirlwind couple of weeks. The kids and I spent nearly a week in Dallas for my 20th high school reunion. We returned on a Tuesday and the next day, Matt's father and his wife, Marie, came in from Sweden. We hadn't seen Marie in six years and hadn't seen Matt's father in two years. It was their first time meeting Oliver who took to them pretty quickly and took to calling them "Dad" and "Ree".

Matt had a Por*sche club event at Watkins Glen and on Thursday morning we all piled into the cars with the two dogs and made the 5 hour drive to the Finger Lakes region of NY. We rented a house for the long weekend. It was a 200+ year old farmhouse on a working dairy farm in between Waneta Lake and Keuka Lake. The kids loved seeing the dairy cattle and calfs on the farm.

The front of the farmhouse.

Back of the farmhouse from the cornfield.

The apple tree in the front of the house.

The calf barn which was very close to the house.

Chloe visiting the calves. She probably came here at least three times a day.

Chloe and Oliver checking out one of the farm cats.

Chloe and Oliver on a walk.

Chloe posing after she rolled down the hill to the side of the farmhouse.

A view of the dairy cattle and milk barn.




The first few days we spent time at the track watching Matt drive. Matt's father enjoys taking photos and Chloe liked staying with Grandad at the track and serving as "cameraman #2". I gave her the loan of my Nikon and she took over 500 photos at the track!

Matt's Dad (taken by Chloe).

A crash we witnessed during one of Matt's runs.

Matt (lead car) making a turn at "The Boot".

Matt and his Dad (taken by Chloe).


 When the weekend arrived, the rain arrived too. Saturday was pretty much a wash out for Matt and he didn't get much track time in his car. Marie, Chloe, Oliver, Matt and I went to Swedish Hill Winery in the afternoon on Saturday. Matt and Oliver stayed behind while Marie and I tasted and bought wine. Chloe served as our own personal camera man.

Swedish Hill Winery

Chloe's artistic shot of the wine being poured into the tasting glasses. Thats her apple juice box on the counter in the background.

Marie. You have to bring a Swede to Swedish Hill Winery. Its obligatory.

Marie tasting the Svenska White.

Chloe with the wineries pet donkey, Doobie.

Sunday started out great until Matt's car blew a head gasket, ending his weekend on the track. Luckily the guys from the repair shop were on track too and had room on their car trailer to tow Matt's car back to NJ for the needed repairs. We decided to make the most of what was left of the weekend and head to Lake Keuka. We had towed the boat all the way up and hadn't used it yet, so we didn't want to miss the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful lake. We had dined at the lake on Saturday night and wanted to check it out a little closer.

The restaurant, Snug Harbor, where we dined on Saturday.

Oliver checking out a Harley parked outside the restaurant.

The view of Lake Keuka from the restaurant.

Chloe and Oliver throwing stones into the lake from the restaurant parking lot.

We had a great afternoon on the lake. Matt knee-boarded and gave Marie a lesson in knee-boarding as well. She did great! Chloe and Grandad also flew kites off the boat.

Chloe and Marie swimming in the lake.

Grandad flying kites from the boat.

A view of a sailboat on the lake.

On Monday morning we drove back to NJ, one car down, we were all piled into the Navigator. Tuesday was Marie & Grandad's last full day with us so we headed into NYC to do some sightseeing. Oliver stayed behind with the babysitter and we all took a very memorable tour on the Gray Line and got soaking wet in a downpour. I, of course, forgot my camera.

On Wednesday we finished up some shopping before Grandad and Marie headed to the airport. We were so glad that the kids got to spend time with them and we have lots of great memories of the week.

We have a low-key couple of days at home before Chloe starts golf camp next week and then were headed off to New Hampshire for a week at the lake with my parent's, sister and brother-in-law.