Fay Laking it

We have traveled to Northern Wisconsin the past two summers.  My aunt and uncle have a cabin up there on a beautiful lake surrounded by a National Forest.  It is totally my thing.  It is off the grid a bit.  I don't have internet, there are pines trees, animals like bears and loons are around (even though we didn't see any bears thank goodness).  I really love it up there.  It is one of those places, though, that you have to be ready to go up and NOT be entertained.  For the most part, it is not touristy.  You are not going to have a million choices of things to do.  There is not a grocery story or gas station very close, etc.  Oh...don't get me wrong, there is fun to be had.  But there are also hours filled with "do what you want around the lake, woods, and house".  It is a place I like to go to and not have hours filled with being entertained but just go and BE.  Be in the woods, sit on the dock, lay in the hammock, spend time with my feet in the water talking to my friend or my kids, etc.  This past year, Craig informed me that he would NOT be able to go this summer.  He is training new staff, we went to Colorado, etc, etc.  So I really didn't know if we would get up there this summer.  It's not too far from us but it is really out in the woods.  I am not quite ready to be out in the woods with the kids by myself, so I thought I would rope a fellow mom friend into a crazy week in the woods with just moms and kids. I thought:  "who would be adventurous (and crazy) enough to come with me for a week off the grid and not just come but also really like it and our kids could get along"?  My friend Kayla immediately came to mind. I think my text went something like "I know this sounds crazy but do you want to go in the woods with me and the kids for a week with your kids".  She said yes almost immediately.  Yep, forever friends.  I don't think either of us thought about all of the ins and outs of a week with just 2 moms and 7 kids in a house in the woods....which probably was a good thing.  

There were ups and there were downs for the week.  It's one of those things that you need someone you can be real with....so we were a good fit for each other.  We both could be imperfect and that was ok,  I didn't feel like I had to be Ms.Perfect Mom (which is good because I am not) all week and we both understood when our kids were having the inevitable break downs.   All in all it was a great week filled with lots of laughter, lots of fishing, some hiking, fort building, story telling, movie watching, deep conversation, and just enjoying our friendship and God's creation.  

Day 1:  (no idea what day of summer it is now):  After a big drive (bigger for them than us).  It felt good to do a little swimming and 4-wheeling and raspberry picking.  My aunt and uncle were planning on being at the cabin the first weekend in August and invited us to come up when they were there so we could do boat rides, then they left Sunday and we had the place to ourselves.  They are so generous and we just enjoyed our time with them.  The kids paired off immediately (older boys, older girls, Caleb/Maddy) for 4-wheeling and it seemed like they stuck to the pairs for a lot of activities all week.

Day 2:  The day we were supposed to be boating.  My uncle Dennis was so patient with us and the weather.  The kids were super pumped but storm after storm came throughout the morning.  We would just get on the lake, take a spin or two and then we would hear thunder or see lightning.  So we did a lot of this that morning:

About 1:30 I looked out the window and thought my eyes were playing tricks on me because I saw BLUE SKY!!  Out to the boats we went for the next few hours....

Day 3:  Next morning we began a routine we would keep for the rest of the trip.  We started with a little fishing and kayaking on the lake and then went on a little adventure.  I tried to find a little trip to a water fall that we could actually go play on and didn't require too much hiking.  So we did a little roadtrip to Michigan (not far away) and found a little roadside park with a waterfall.  It wasn't huge but it was easy to let the kids just "go play" and even though we could see the road (so it wasn't to adventurous in that way) I also wasn't concerned that a bear would be coming along so that was a huge bonus.  

After a picnic, some down time, etc.  It was time to get our FORT on.  This is how it started.  I put a big stick against a tree and said "Let's build a fort this week".  They were hooked.  We had some time playing with their new found pet "Toadie T. Toddle" (the toad) worked on construction of the fort, Kayla and I could breath and talk a bit, had a fire, made s'mores, etc)

A good glimpse at what hanging around the cabin looks like.  Part 2 next post :)