Buttermilk Falls

One of the first things we did upon arriving safely in Vermont was to nearly pass out from the 14 hours of driving we clocked to get there.

Then we headed out to Buttermilk Falls.

It's a beautiful area with cascading waterfalls that make their way down to what I can best describe as a "swimming hole". It's simply breathtaking.

So, with Buttermilk Falls splashing in the background, I thought I'd start to introduce you to my family - since you're gonna be seeing pictures of them all week long.

These are my in-laws, "Mom and Dad". I never really refer to them as my in-laws. I love them like I love my own parents. I love this picture of them and all but one of the grandkids. Lincoln, my baby, is missing from this picture.

He was busy being neglected and all miserable and unhappy like in his backpack.

Here is my husband (second from the right), and my punk brothers (in-law) - Ryan, Justin, and Scott. They look innocent enough, eh? They're not. They're punks - the whole lot of them. In the most endearing sense of the word. It's just that when they all get together, they do strange and mysterious things that they all find hysterically funny but that baffle us women folk. I see mini-versions of this type of behavior in my little punks. It's mind-boggling.

This is my brother, Justin. He makes a mean margarita. He also juggles rocks with his tongue sticking out.

This is Ryan. He is a professional Pictionary player. His drawings are insanely accurate and the boys would have whipped us girls in a late night game of Pictionary had any of them been able to roll anything but a one on the dice. Ryan looks innocent here. He's not. He's plotting. You'll see what he's up to in a minute.

My brother on the right is Scott. He's obsessed with Pandora stations and eats all healthy like - both topics on which I grill him with questions since I know nothing about either. He's also the Dad of the other grandies in the pic with Mom and Dad.

You see, individually, my brothers are nice guys. Good guys. But collectively, when they get together, they're punks. Let me show you what I mean.

See Ryan on the left? He's plotting against Justin. He's pretending to straighten his shorts or some other nonsense, but he's just stalling - waiting until Justin isn't asking Scott about his latest Pandora find.

Poor Justin. Totally unsuspecting.

See what I mean? Nothing innocent about Ryan in this picture.

And, I think the other three might have ganged up on Ryan and thrown him over.

But, I have no idea. I turned away for a few minutes and by the time I came back, they had moved on to more important things.

They had gathered big rocks from 'round the falls.

And, threw them overboard in some sort of random, synchronized, rock throwing ritual.

For the life of me, I will never understand why these brothers of mine become punks when they get together. Or why they do the strange and mysterious things that they do. But, I'll tell you this.

I love watching all of them together.

And, I love, love, love being married to this sweet, hunky punk of my own.