Vacation is coming to an end.....

This afternoon I am really wishing that the vacation lifestyle could go on for a few more days. I’ve been coming to this cabin that was built by my dad and grandpa since I was a baby. I’ve tried to pass the memories on to my kids by letting them live it every summer. On the way up here this year, we played a game in the car so I could keep my sanity. (It’s not easy making an 8 hour drive with 5 people in a Honda Accord.) I would call out questions like, “what’s your favorite memory of the cabin”, or, “what are you looking forward to doing the most when we get there”… everyone was able to reminisce and we enjoyed some funny, and not so funny memories. Unfortunately, it seems like every year someone needs a trip to the ER,…and, of course we had to laugh when every one of Adrienne’s responses revolved around shopping or food!

Part of the cabin experience that Adrienne and Eliot enjoy the most is that they get to stay up late and play cards with Scott and me most nights, (we play SKIP-BO and Phase10). Other favorite times for them are watching movies together and managing to reach civilization to do some shopping. Adrienne also read more books than I could carry, got caught up on the Bible Study she and I are doing together and worked on getting some color in her skin. Eliot had fun teaching Elise how to do cannonballs and pencils and whatever other crazy moves they could come up with out in the lake.

Out of the three kids, Elise is the one that seems to enjoy the lake the most. Maybe it’s because she’s so young and she doesn’t crave the internet and “civilization” as Adrienne does (no texting and no dishwasher)….maybe it’s because she enjoys swimming with the fish and doesn’t mind the weeds or the deer flies, unlike Eliot who prefers to swim “in the middle” (taking the pontoon out to the middle of the lake and jumping off there)…whatever the reason it’s so fun to watch her enjoy every aspect of lake life. This morning she was out on the dock having a conversation with a loon. She has perfected her bird call so much that the loon came within about 20 feet of her. She then decided, “that hurts my throat mom” and was off to feed the fish.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this week. Tomorrow we will leave the quiet, the wildlife and the lake memories and will head to Iowa for Scott’s parents 50^th wedding anniversary. Thanks dad for letting us invade your space- how about no trips to the hospital next year….just swimming and fishing and eating!