Vacation Viewpoint

Well....it was a success folks! For the first time in 5 years (basically since I was pregnant with Kyra), I had a nice, relaxing, and enjoyable trip on the annual in-law vacation. The weather was a little cool, but not as bad as anticipated. I still had to duck under the shower head to get a low pressure rinse, not to mention race the clock before my luke warm water turned to cold, but I learned to do without shaving my legs for a week. And of course the hubs still fished almost every day (although to his credit there were select times he opted to spend time with his family instead of head out on the boat with the other guys), while I watched the kids, but to be honest the kids were so occupied by the fun in the sand...it really wasn't a chore. Actually it was fun seeing them enjoy making towers, sand cities, and lagoons (I prepared myself in the beginning of the week to let go of my anal retentiveness in keeping their shorts clean, because it simply wasn't going to happen.)

Yes it really made a difference in a year. Last year, Katie was 15 months old and almost more than I could bear. She was putting rocks, sand, and bugs in her mouth. She was constantly racing for the hot water heater in the small cabin, and running full force into the water. She was cranky at times and not always sleeping through the night in her new environment. But this year I simply sat back in my chair, watched her play in the sand, and took in some rays. The girls played well together, and with my husband's cousin's kids. Actually if it weren't for their extended cousins, it might have been more hairy, but they all played so well together. Kyra would say, "bye mom, I'm going to Carlye's cabin!" And off they'd go. The two girls were like peas in a pod. Even though there is a 3 year difference between them, they took well to each other. They even traded flip flops all week long because they wore the same shoe size. And of course when Carlye changed clothes, Kyra had to change clothes. There was really hardly a time they were apart.

Aside from playing in the sand, we took one day to go to Tahquamenon Falls as a family, and apart from the massive mosquitoes had fun there too. I went to a couple of the local stores (which really don't have a whole lot, but it's still fun to see what hasn't left the shelf since last year). We went to their annual 4th of July parade, which anyone is free to take part in, so there are some doozies (the grocery store even takes part and just rolls a few of their grocery carts down the street). But the big attraction is that they throw a ton of candy, so the girls had their bags ready (we basically have a bag full of tootsie rolls just as big as you would get from Halloween. Good bribery for a good behavior award!) The hubs said it was the first time he had ever attended the parade in the 30 years he's been coming! We took in the local fireworks, which for a small town, really does a great job. The hubs took the kids for a couple evening trolls in the boat (which Katie absolutely loved), and even attempted teaching them how to fish off the dock (which was short lived). Of course the guys caught quite a bit of fish too, including perch, herring, lake trout, and salmon. We ate tons of food, and had ice cream almost every night (along with a short walk to try and work off a smidge of what we ate). And what time with friends and family would be complete with out a few card games, and lots of laughter.

So, we have our little cabin booked for next year. And maybe next year I'll actually look forward to the trip in anticipation that it will be as good or even better than this year's trip.