Annual Lake Cabin With Family ❤

July is the month in which we have our annual week at the cabin with my family.  "My family" includes my parents (Tom & Dory), my brother and his family (Mark, Jillian, Cora, & Esme), Greg, and me!

On the way up, Mark and Jillian and the girls stopped for good, and we were all reminded that Mark is worth the wait! 

We drove up on Sunday after church.  It's about two and a half hours.

I had made most of my food in advance, since I eat differently from everyone else, but Greg and I committed to bringing the fruit and vegetables for everyone for the week.  That was our contribution, since I didn't feel good about buying or cooking animal products.

I also prepared the fruit and veggies before each dinner.  The very first evening I cut a little chunk out of my thumb while preparing our fruit and veg!  Oh no!  Turns out it bled a LOT, but it healed quickly and didn't harm my enjoyment of the trip.

I didn't keep all the days straight in my head because it's a blur of fun and snuggles and good food and laughing and water and sun and wind and sweet family time.

Sometimes we played in the water close to the cabin.  The bottom is a bit murky, and a person really has to LOVE the water to get in there.  Thankfully, Cora, Esme, Mark, and I don't mind much!  We played on the dockie (a floating foam platform that's LOTS of fun!) and fell in the water and climbed back on only to fall back in again.  

Cora and I came up with a silly little rhyme that goes like this:

"Face first into the muck - YUCK!"

We later added, "FEET first into the muck - what luck!"

We went to the sand bar in the pontoon and played on floaties in the nice warm water.  A good number of the days we were there were in the 90s!

I love floating.  And look at that sparkling water!

Monday was my parents' anniversary!  Aren't they cute?!

Cora & Esme were proud of the many frogs they caught.  They worked very hard on making an appropriate environment, but it was hot in that garbage bin.  The girls are kind-hearted and released the frogs before any damage had come to them.

We had camp fires a few evenings.  Mark had found a cool new tool for keeping mosquitoes away and it did quite a good job.  I haven't sat by a camp fire more than 10 minutes for a long time, and I was able to stay out almost a half an hour one evening!

Here we are going out on the pontoon!

And here we are on the way back . . . Cora relaxing:

Auntie Christie & Esme:

This year, Esme was excited to help wash the dishes!  My Dad installed a cute little dishwasher a number of years back, but something went wrong with it and it wasn't working this week, so dishes were hand-washed.  Esme was helpful in this, and so was Greg!

The first night, Cora was eager to watch "The Sound Of Music," which we did!

The second night was Esme's turn, and she wanted to play Dutch Blitz, my very favorite game, so we did!  I was amazed how good the girls are at games!

Tuesday, we had our FauxDay!  It's where we celebrate everyone's birthdays on the SAME DAY!  My Mom and Jillian make a delicious (I assume) chocolate cake with many layers and whipped cream frosting.  Cora helped assemble the cake!

There she is!

Mark lit the candles and I even got a candle on my cookie!

Greg and I brought a huge four-in-a-row game to leave at the cabin, and it got quite a bit of use!  It's pretty, too. 

The pieces are a lovely texture, and they make a nice noise when they're falling into the slots.

Even when it was too windy for swimming, boating, or kayaking, I found ways to enjoy the beautiful water!

Sitting on the edge of the dock:

Another camp fire . . . 

Sun setting on a kayak ride:

Cora spent a good number of minutes/hours trying to figure out how to write with a specialized mud ink.  She finally did it!

On one of the windy days, we sat at the edge of the dock and played in the water.

Cora brought her book:

Esme wanted to ride in the tube, but it was VERY windy, so I tied a rope around the tube and around the dock.  I pushed her off with my feet and then pulled her back in.

Sparkling water:

Cora and I also made lots of "soup": lake water with all manner of weeds and leaves.

Grown-ups taking selfies:

Here is that selfie!

Mark took this one as a test and it's HILARIOUS:

I forced Jillian to join us at the end of the dock for posterity.

It was windy and our hair was getting in our mouths!

More fire.  Mark is the self-elected fire expert (though my Mom is pretty great at it, too!) 

I find fires extremely peaceful and I'm hoping to have a fire pit in our backyard at some point.  Once it's chilly enough, mosquitos won't be bothersome any more and we could enjoy being out by the fire with friends/family.

Pelicans flying in the for the evening (they sleep on the island where the river enters the lake):

More soup!

Cora & Esme (especially Esme) like to help me make my smoothie in the morning.  They're getting very good at it (though I have to keep the blender unplugged until the last minute because sometimes that GO button almost got pushed before the top was on the blender!)

I try to have one fun "cooking" activity each time I hang out with the girls, usually involving healthy foods prepared in a tasty way.  This time, I decided we'd try chocolate-covered dates stuffed with almonds.  First we opened up the dates and stuffed a whole almond in each one.  Then we melted chocolate and covered each date in chocolate.  Then we froze them until they were nice and firm.  Then all that was left was to EAT EVERY ONE!

The girls did a great job and the dates looked delicious - and tasted delicious, too!

Here's how they look on the inside!  YUM!

Proof of edibleness:

Minnesota = the land where the water reflects the sky:

One of the very windy days, we decided to drive to nearby Fairy Lake to swim at the beach.  My Mom's parents got engaged there!  The girls, especially Esme, were eager to ride in Clarabelle, so we made that work!

The water was clear and beautiful!

Cora found a cute turtle right on the beach!

I felt VERY HAPPY.

I love to play in the water with MY PEOPLE.

Even just looking at this gorgeous water makes me happy and calm.

My Dad probably feels the same.

Fun, then food, then more fun, then food!  Mark did a great job grilling.

And my Dad enjoyed everything with smiles.

My Mom did, too, but she was sadly in quite severe pain during this trip due to her desperate need for a shoulder replacement.  That did happen very soon after the cabin trip and she's recovering with courage and persistence!

A less windy day arrived, so Greg and I were able to go kayaking.

I even got to go kayaking with Cora & Esme!

There were lots of pretty wildflowers.  Turns out I'm partial to the purple ones!

Then we checked out the beach at our own lake and enjoyed it!

A Mama duck and her babies paddled quite close and Mark fed them some snacks from the boat.

I wanna cuddle those little peeps!

And that's the last day of our trip!

It was wonderful and it adds to the big stew of family fun that has been created at this particular spot in space.  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for your generosity and for getting this family time started almost 20 years ago!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo