Hitting our Stride

Part 2 of time at the lake.  First two days were really so great but it wasn't until Tuesday that both Kayla and I were really hitting our stride or the "sweet spot" (as she put it) of vacationing together without the dads, new routines etc.

We started Day 3 at the lake pretty much like we did everyday:

Fishing....

Then hit up the local National Forest for a pretty sweet trail.  The trail hugged a lake called Lost Lake and was full of great places for the kids to explore, but it was easy hiking and some foot traffic so that made it nice for us moms too!

YEAH!! WE ARE STILL ALL ALIVE!!

After the hike, I took my 3 out for a kayak in the lake.  Andie is so strong at Kayaking she took Caleb and I went with Isaac.

And then it was some time around the cabin/woods/lake.  Kayla took her oldest kids out  kayaking while her youngest two slept.  Meanwhile, I chose to set up shop like this:

My kids were running around the woods near me and I listened in a bit on their conversations and even threw in a few tidbits now and then.  My youngest and oldest wanted to hammock with me a bit but then would run out and play some more.  This is what I love about being at the cabin.  Normally, at home, I would have something I would have to be doing or I would get on facebook, email, etc.  Here:  there is none of that and consequently it teaches me to slow down, to disconnect from social media and just enjoy the relationships around me more.

After quiet time it was time for swim!

Maddy and Caleb cracked me up all week.  They are both the laid back 3rd child and have about 5 months between them.  They really enjoyed playing together and just got along so well.  I don't know what they talked about the whole time but the conversation rarely lulled with these two.

Cooking hotdogs over a fire:

Some more fort time:  Starting to look pretty awesome.

These guys took over the hammock:

And we ended the evening with some twilight fishing.  The lake was peaceful, except for us.  The day had been packed full of adventure and we just wound down with some quiet fishing and views of the lake at twilight.  These were some of my favorite moments of the week.

4th and Final Day! Started the day with some success in fishing!

Today was a good day to go to a beach.  We went to a local lake with a beach and floating dock.  There was absolutely NO WAY I was going out to the dock until a certain blue eyed three year old gave me the BIG EYES while he said "pretty please come jump off the dock with me mom"  I am unable to resist those eyes and the pretty please.  So I did.  

Isaac has been a little more skittish around lakes this year.  He had an episode at a local lake with a fish and his nipple.  Yeah, it was bad.  So I bribed rewarded him with a Hershey candy bar for jumping off the dock with me.  So completely worth it.  We are slowly starting to conquer the fear.  It's hard to see him like this, he is usually the one in the water the most but I am trying to be patient as a fish/nipple episode is hard to get over I am sure.

Mr. Big Blue eyes jumping like a pro!!

Connor had a lot of style in most of his jumps.

We needed some good sand time this morning!

To finish it off we were able to see a loon, eagle and an airplane take off in the water.

We spent the afternoon doing lots of the same:  swimming, fishing, 4-wheeling, fort building.  Overall, it was a great 4 days....I always enjoy our time up north and this year was no exception.  We made some awesome memories and spent some time strengthening our relationships with our friends and family.