We're back...

We are back home and back to reality. We had a wonderful time. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins. The weather was less than perfect, but we definitely made the best of it. I did have to do laundry because I didn't plan for so many cool days, but it was nice to bring clean laundry home. After one of the rain showers we caught sight of the most beautiful rainbow, a double rainbow, and we were even able to see the rainbow's end; it landed right in the lake. No pot of gold was found; we would have settled for a few fish though.

After patiently waiting for the rain to let up the daddies and grandpa took the 3 oldest girls out for some fishing. They didn't catch any fish, not even a nibble I'm told. They did have a lot of fun and did some nature watching. They found a beaver dam and a loon's nest.

A little blurry, but this is the loon on her nest.

The beaver dam.

Again, this is a little blurry, but it is a pelican. All of a sudden we saw huge white birds in the water and upon further look determined it was two pelicans; a rare sight. I have never seen wild pelicans. They are very large birds and watching them fly was pretty cool.

Can you tell we were a little into the wildlife? Not sure what this is, but Elizabeth informed us that it is not a spider because it only has 6 legs and single body. It looked like the shell of something; pretty creepy to me. Another bit of wildlife not caught on film was a wild cat stalking, catching, and killing a squirrel. How would you like your wake up call to be your husband and kids screaming "look, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" and "holy crap, holy crap"? They were about to leave our bunk house to go to the main cabin when they saw the mama cat crouching down about to pounce on something; they figured a mouse. No, it was a squirrel, and she got it. Talk about homeschooling at its finest; a lesson in predator/prey relationships.

The kids absolutely loved the water. As long as they had their life jackets on we pretty much left them alone to do their thing. The mosquitoes were terrible, so we watched them from the comfort of the cabin. What a joy to watch your children explore and enjoy nature and each other; simple joys like picking shells and throwing rocks.
The water was frigid but they begged and begged and begged, so we let them a little; at least until their lips turned blue. There was a lot of squealing and giggling.

Gabriella absolutely fell in love with her grandpa while we were there. She was constantly asking him to read her stories, and she would light up when she saw him enter the room. When she saw the boat come in after fishing, she ran to get her shoes on so fast so she could greet him at the door, and she was forever coming up to him and babbling away just wanting to talk with.

Everyone pretty much gathered in the main house, but the kids would take time away from the adults and rain in our bunk house aka movie theater.

How's this for a bunk bed ladder? The bunk beds were homemade and queen sized, and we used regular ladders to climb to the top bunk. Everything was an adventure.

One of the days, the dads decided to take the kids mini golfing. That was a lot of fun and a change of scenery.

As with all vacations, the end is bitter sweet. You're ready to get back into your regular routine, but it's so nice to be away. It was hard to leave, and definitely sad not to have hubby home anymore. The change of scenery was just what the dr. ordered. We are so thankful for the opportunity for fun and fellowship; a lot of great memories were made.