It was wonderful. A bit crazy with all five cousins running around with their own demands and desires, schedules and temperaments, but extremely worth it. The kids actually did amazingly well together. Josh is the oldest of the herd, and Ellie and her cousin, Kyra are only a couple of weeks apart in age. Katie is two and a half, and really enjoyed her position of power over Owen, who was the youngest at fifteen months. He held his own though, and they soon found their own way to share toys and attention from adults. The kids played in the lake together, made towers of Lin.coln Logs (only to smash them down), took boat rides together and in all, became children of the lake with toes smushed into sandy soil and faces dripping with fresh lake water.
The adults enjoyed the lake, too, with tube and ski rides behind the boat, fishing trips casting out for the elusive "big one," and quiet afternoons (love naptime!) on the deck or on a raft. We ate well, slept fairly well, laughed and relaxed, too. We also discovered a bit nature in our midst during an evening movie...a mouse in the fireplace. Although very small and cute, he had a date with the mousetrap later that night that reassured us he would not be visiting again. We had a few opportunities to visit with my other SIL, who currently teaches in South Korea. She was in the country taking some classes to begin her online master's program. Although stressed, tired and harried from all her own responsibilities, she was still able to eat with us and catch up. We only wished we had more time!
Here are some pictures of our lake adventure!
Grandpa and his boys
The girls... soaking up some sunshine.
He jumps and...
splash!!
(These inflatable islands were the best thing about being in the lake for the kids. The next photo shows how one of them had an opening on one side with netting underneath. The kids could jump in it, be caught by the net, but still make a splash!)
Kyra, in action!
Josh...just that one more step closer to really putting his head under. He was so proud of how brave he had been. I was, too!
Ellie...She floats! Another new milestone brought on by bravery! Watch out swimming Oly.mpians!
This is in my SIL's backyard after spending the second half of the week at her place. What a great group of kids, eh?? Oh, and Katie is definitely not as serious as she looks here!
We love you guys!
He jumps and...
splash!!(These inflatable islands were the best thing about being in the lake for the kids. The next photo shows how one of them had an opening on one side with netting underneath. The kids could jump in it, be caught by the net, but still make a splash!)
Kyra, in action!
Josh...just that one more step closer to really putting his head under. He was so proud of how brave he had been. I was, too!
Ellie...She floats! Another new milestone brought on by bravery! Watch out swimming Oly.mpians!
This is in my SIL's backyard after spending the second half of the week at her place. What a great group of kids, eh?? Oh, and Katie is definitely not as serious as she looks here! We love you guys!
3 comments:
Oh man... What a great vaca. Family fun. The best.
The girls already miss the kids. It was a great time.
What a great pic of all the kids together. Looks like you all had a great time. Next time you're over this way it would be fun to meet up and see all the bloggy friends in person!
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