My sister, who lives in South Korea, recently made the decision to go back to school and begin her masters degree. For the most part she can do all of it online, but for two weeks out of the year she has to come back to the states for her studies. How fortunate for us that her studies took place right here in Michigan! She asked us long ago if she could stay at our house while she went to school. We were certainly glad to oblige. However, my parents wanted to optimize their time with their daughter too, so what better way than to rent a nearby cottage and create a retreat for the whole family! She could go to class and then come back and chat with the rest of the family, while sitting on the deck overlooking the lake sparkling in the rays of the setting sun. And we could bring our boat and catch fish, or go tubing, and put the kids to bed early while we drank mamosa's, laughed, and took joy in reconnecting with each other. Well....it didn't go quite that way. It was close though. My sister had a little more homework than we imagined (probably even way more than she imagined). So she didn't have a lot of time to sit around and chat. In fact it was probably harder to try and study around kids racing around her chair playing tag or swords with the water noodles (just a tad distracting). While, it would have been nice to visit with her more, we were just glad that she was in our company and we were able to see her for a short bit before going back to a far off land for 6 more months.
We did have a wonderful time together. We went fishing, paddle boating, jumped off the inflatable island in the water, tubed, skiied, sat on the deck of the cottage eating wonderful food, and certainly had plentiful laughter too. My sister in-law and I decided to leave a little early both because we had a little work to do on a party we were planning (more on that to come), and to give Mom and Dad a break from having 5 crazy kids race and sometimes scream around the close quarters. My brother had already left to go home to make the bacon, and my hubs was doing the same (whom we can't thank enough for supporting our vacation habit!) It was a great time with cousins and family. I just love seeing our little ones bond together and play like there is no tomorrow. Thank you Mom and Dad for providing a wonderful environment for us to play and stay!
8 comments:
Yeah for family vacations. It looks and sounds like you all have a fabulous time! :-)
Oh man! The momosas and sitting out on the deck chatting...did I sleep through that?! I'm ready to "have" the vacation you were first describing...can I have one more chance? I promise this time I'll be more interactive!
Despite the time crunch, it was such a blessing to be there. Thanks so much for everything you did to help me out with school...couldn't have scored that A without you guys!
Is it okay if I vicariously live through your really awesome vacation-taking family this summer? Y'all know how to have a good time!
wow! looks like you had a great time!!
what fun!! I love that pic of you and aub eating smores-- it's a great one!
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It sure does seem like you had a GREAT time! What a blessing to be able to have that kind of a time together with your family!
It was kind of wild and crazy, but Dad and I loved every moment, especially sitting on the deck! (I can now say I went tubing, but not ready to take it up as my Olympian sport!) The food was great, the weather perfect, the cottage was wonderful, and our family time together just terrific. Another great memory!
I'm ready to go back! I think I missed the mimosa day, must have been napping.
Awesome, S. That's one thing we've come to really appreciate about being in MI is all the chances to be at a lake - any lake! Looks like you all had a great time!
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