.heart to heart.: back to my roots.

mr. lesley and i were welcomed back to rockford by my sis leels, my adorable nephew jayden, and my favorite summer berry salad at beef-a-roo.

what is beef-a-roo you ask?

oh, just the best fast food joint known to mankind.

the cheese fries, the shakes, the salads...i could go on and on.

i don't think mr. lesley understood all the hype, but if your not a rocktown native, i guess you just don't understand.

this lunch was especially memorable, not just because of the location, but also because nick and jayden officially established their club.

it's very exclusive.

you have to either...

1. be nick lesley

2. be a 5 year old who is obsessed with nick lesley to join.

i didn't make the cut:(

the name of the club?

the nick club...obviously.

jayden came up with the name.

that night we headed out for dinner with my parents and an official tour of their church's community garden.

dinner was hilarious as they recounted stories of their early years of marriage.

i mean, if you can't laugh about it, what good is the experience?

and it was great to see the garden.

a very cool, practical way a church is meeting needs in the community and reaching out to the neighborhood.

nice work northeast.

to top it all off, that night my dear friend (since 4th grade), amy, picked us up and we headed off to her lake house in wisconsin.

and i finally got to meet her son MAX!

how embarrassing that he is 16 months old, and i am just now meeting him?!?!

tragic.

nyc is just too far away.

we spent the evening chatting at a local brewery...

and the next day on the lake with mr. max and tola the gremlin.

i'm convinced tola is sir winston's mini me.

amy's husband dan showed us his incredible wake boarding moves.

i was beyond impressed.

seriously?

he is like a professional.

and no, there isn't a trampoline under the water.

next, it was our turn.

and despite failing miserably at all water sports for the majority of my life (i have one clear memory of a certain friend's gpa who insisted i learn to water ski. i am pretty sure i had to beg and plead for him to let me back into the boat and finally quit trying), i actually did it!

mr. lesley, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.

poor guy gave a very valiant effort, but he was just too strong and muscular and talented and amazing...

and the board couldn't handle it.

after an afternoon run, lunch, and some good old rummikub domination (i beat a math-lete in a game with numbers...no bigs), we headed on back to rockford.

can i just say how good it was to see amy, dan, and max?

i LOVE them.

and i MISS them.

please come to denver. like yesterday.

i need more jarrett in my life.