Pitman Family Vaction '10

In the Pitman family, it's become something of a joke that if we do something once, it's a "tradition". Well, this year marked our fourth "Pitman Family Vacation", so I think we have a bona fide, carved in stone, solid as a rock "tradition" on our hands! We headed up to the Milwaukee area last weekend, and had a great time being together as a family! We did enough fun things to make it exciting, and few enough to make it relaxing...it was a wonderful time! (They say that the past makes all things look rosy, and I'm already starting to forget that Iain was popping through an enormous molar, and was a grouchy bear about 95% of the trip...and barely slept at all! But the trip was so great that it (and lots of coffee) more than made up for the lack of sleep and grouchies!)

Here's a rundown of our weekend! Friday afternoon we left Dubuque and caravaned to our lovely Country Inn and Suites hotel in Brookfield (with a quick stop at Culver's for lunch!). We checked in, explored and relaxed, and then headed to Fuddrucker's to celebrate Stu's birthday! If you've never been to Fuddrucker's...it's an experience. You order your meat by size, and we ranged from a conservative 1/3 lb (for the girls) all the way up to 1/2, 2/3 and full lbs, eaten by Graeme, Neil and Stu, respectively! It's loud, tacky, delicious and fun!

Iain, enjoying his meal of a 1lb burger bun, compliments of Uncle Stu!

We headed back to the hotel for presents, birthday brownies and some fun in the pool, then it was bedtime for babies. Luckily our rooms were all in a row, and Mom and Dad had a nice suite, so we were able to hang out together for a while before hitting the hay ourselves.

In the morning, after we enjoyed breakfast and another pool dip, we headed to downtown Milwaukee and the WONDERFUL Milwaukee Public Market. It's fairly new, and very cool, with every fresh, handmade and delicious thing your heart could desire: cheese, meat, seafood, bread, baked goods, candies, sushi, Middle Eastern fare, wine, soup, sandwiches, coffee...you name it, they've got it! We perused the wares for a while and then enjoyed lunch in the atrium-something different for everyone!

Dad: selecting his "cheese orphans" for lunch

Then we headed east to the fabulous (and PACKED!) Bradford Beach for some fun in the sun. Lake Michigan was much too cold to do more than dip toes in, but the sand was lovely to walk in and people watching was a blast, until the rain cut us short.

Iain, enjoying his time at the beach!

Then it was back to the hotel for some more pool time and relaxing before a DELICIOUS pizza take-away dinner from "The Glass Nickel". The highlight of the weekend for the babies was without a doubt the pool (and hot tub!) They both love water and are quite fearless, so they really enjoyed learning how to kick and paddle in this "big bathtub"!

After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa watched the babies while "the kids" headed out for a rain soaked venture to "Lee's Dairy Treat". Mmm! After our yummy ice cream, it was time for some dominoes, HGTV and the Food Network, and then off to bed again.

In the morning we went to Elmbrook Church, a huge (and I mean HUGE) church that Mom had visited before. The pastor (Stuart Briscoe) was speaking about the Lord's Supper, and what I heard was excellent! But in fairness...I didn't hear much! We opted not to put the kids in the nursery, so we moms and pops were taking turns taking them out when they got noisy or squirmy. Neil was out with Iain, when suddenly he popped his head in and called me out with him. As I went into the foyer, I saw a HUGE wet spot on Neil's shirt. SOMEHOW (still not sure how!) Iain had peed out of his diaper and ALL OVER Neil and himself!!) So most of our "church time" was spent finding the exit in the huge church, finding our car in the huge parking lot, getting both gentlemen changed, and finding our way back to our family. It was a good laugh though!

After church we grabbed lunch at Noodles and Co (another Pitman tradition...to eat there whenever possible!!) and checked out some favorite stores: Penzey's Spices, Half Price Books, World Market, and then headed for home.

It was a wonderful time together, and especially special in light of Stu and Becky moving away at the end of the month. It was a time of good fun, good family, and good memories. We are so thankful for our Fantastic Pitman Family!!