Day 1:
Arrived and checked out the new cabin. Very nice. We can’t decide if we like this or the other model better; both have their advantages. This has a more open floor plan and more space in the bathroom while the other has more area overall and especially in the loft/sleeping area. As always, the place is spotlessly clean and we were welcomed with delicious cookies waiting for us in the kitchen.
We’ve got the unpacking thing down to a science, so that didn’t take long at all. Even though it wasn’t especially warm, the kids didn’t waste any time getting into the water...though they didn’t stay that long. The Playsation (water trampoline) is back this year! The families in the other cabins are two brothers and their families and their kids were happy to see more kids. The boys hit it off right away.
We played some Mafia around the campfire and it was very enlightening. Lillian played on her own; she has watched us play innumerable times and played on a team with another person, but this was the first time she played by herself. I wasn’t sure what to expect so I told Gabe (who was acting as our game’s narrator) to make sure she got a “citizen” card so she wouldn’t have to do anything. Well, he didn’t catch that remark, and she wound up being mafia...and did very well! The second round she was a bit disappointed that she wasn’t going to get to be “awake.”
Dinner was easy. I had leftover homemade spaghetti sauce that I’d frozen so we had spaghetti and salad. Later we roasted marshmallows and had s’mores.
Day 2:
Our first full day was a bit chillier than we’d have liked. It was still nice weather, just too cold to make water play much fun. The kids, being much tougher than us adults are, still went in several times for varying lengths of time. Isaac at one point learned—the hard way—that he is a better swimmer than he knew. He did a flip under water but not in the direction he had intended...which left him in deeper water when he was done, rather than the shallower water he’d expected. Poor little guy! He didn’t seem to be too scared by the incident, but since I wasn’t even aware it had happened until he walked back up to the campfire (I’d been distracted by Laura and Hayley trying to bodily remove Gabe from the picnic table to throw him off the dock) I didn’t feel like Mother of the Year. “Guilt—what motherhood is all about.”
Breakfast was pancakes and fried eggs today, cooked by Arnel (as most all of our breakfasts are.) We wound up eating really late so skipped lunch...which was okay because we have sooo much snack food that I’m going to gain ten pounds this week anyway. Chex mix and crackers with cheese-in-a-can were on the snack menu today, along with jello cups with fruit. Dinner was the ever-popular Hobo Dinner. This is a seasoned hamburger topped with thinly-sliced potatoes and corn and then wrapped in foil and cooked over the campfire. And salad again. We stumbled across some Russian salad dressing in the grocery store which I hadn’t seen in ages, so I bought it and the kids have found it a pleasant surprise.
We also pigged out on candy that the kids bought at the dollar store on the way into town and, of course, more marshmallows and s’mores. I even roasted a few without burning them today.
One thing we love to do here is fish. We fish in the shallow water off the dock, and out on the lake in their boat. Julia, Pablo and Gabe have spent quite a bit of time in the boat and today Julia caught a HUGE fish. It was a large-mouth bass. We had no way of accurately measuring it but we are estimating 18” and 10 lbs. Pablo was getting it “cooking ready” and they saw something sticking out of its stomach that looked like...a tail? Turns out it was another, much smaller, fish that Gabe had caught and was in the same bucket! At least we know the big guy had a nice last meal before we ate him! (He was yummy, too!) Oh, and they also found a crab in his stomach. What a science lesson!
Julia brought her hamsters with her and finally decided on names. They are both male. Hamster A is fairly mellow but can be pretty loud when he gets scared or something. Hamster B doesn’t make much noise but moves so fast that you can hardly hold him. Hamster A, the yelling hamster, is now named Billy Mays. Hamster B, the dancing hamster, is Michael Jackson.
I thought we were “in” for the night and had already taken a shower but the rest of the family joined the families in the neighboring cabins as well as our host family for a game called Fruit Swat and had a lot of fun.
Day 3:
Meals for the day: scrambled eggs (technically, Egg Beaters. I can’t tell the difference but no one else cared for them. Said they are slimy. They were much easier to transport, though.) Bacon, sausage patties (veggie sausage for Laura) and raisin toast.
Lessons for the day: 1) Four-year-olds, even if they are smart enough and experienced enough to play Mafia, should NOT play Mafia. I’d prefer not to go into more detail but I’d imagine any of the others present would be more than happy to share the story with you, which is fine by me...as long as Lillian is NOT present at the time. 2) One bathroom can serve nine people surprisingly well. Not that there haven’t been some “hurry up!” moments, but they have been fewer than I expected. 3) When you tear a contact lens in half in the process of taking it out of your eye because it is sticking to your eye too much...it makes it really hard to get that second half out.
Laura got it in her head that she needed to straighten my hair today. I've never done it before. I totally mocked her for having a hair straightener on a trip of this nature, but I must admit it was very relaxing and my hair felt really nice afterwards.
Day 4:
A sunny day, though still a bit windy. We worked on finishing up food and did pretty good at that. We finally remembered to use the Glow Sticks and sparklers from Julia’s graduation party. Our host family, the Morses, joined us for our Mafia games tonight (Lillian and I played on a team.) We found out that we will be able to stay later tomorrow as the family that was due to come in next has delayed their arrival for a day. That is a relief since we’ve been getting really late starts on our days and I was a little worried about getting us all packed and on the road by eleven. We also learned that we can stay an extra day when we come back at the end of the summer, which is great.
As always, the time here went by much too quickly for me. I’m amazed at how much time can be spent happily fishing or just rowing around the lake, or digging in the sand. How happy everyone can be without electronics when they know they are not an option. How easy even cooking and cleaning up are when there are so few distractions. Just an easier, happier, pace of life.
Day 5:
Basically today was getting up, packing, and getting on the road. Packing goes surprisingly quickly. Mostly it is just a lot of dirty laundry (two loads down and about, oh, a million to go.) We made our traditional stop at Dairy Queen on the way out. Yummy! Now we are home...with a lot of laundry, a few extra pounds, and a couple rashes we didn't have when we left...but refreshed and relaxed. So worth it all!
And some more pictures, just for fun.
I don't know what is going on with my mascara. Just ignore that.
