The Cabin

Friday morning, we made the much anticipated trip to the cabin. We couldn't wait to get there and all five Vs were extra sad when we left because it was our final trip of the summer. We waved and blew kisses at Johnson Lake and promised it that we would be back next year!

Road construction continues to dog us wherever we go. (sidenote: I'm pretty sure every road I drive on to work and school pickups is under some level of construction. Also, I would like to have a word with whichever city planner thought "hey, let's tear up the main road that FOUR schools are on starting in late August. And ooops, it's taking longer than expected and the road won't be completed until October. Because that's fun will all the parents and all the buses.) So we got to take the woodsy detour to the cabin, complete with single lane dirt road. It was a fun adventure and well worth it to land ourselves on the shores of Johnson Lake.

Auntie had gotten into town the night before, so she joined us on the trek up and we met Anna, Otto, and Milo there. We were so hoping to also get Liv and Hux - but Huxey needed a nap to be able to party hearty with the cousins later that evening (see next blog post ... coming soon). I should have swapped our fair and cabin days. It was a little bit cooler on Friday and would have been more pleasant at the fair. It did not chill our fun however.

The girls happened to choose their matching suits for the cabin (they still enjoy the matching!). There were several moments where it was near impossible to tell them apart. When I saw Q lounging on the tube, I made Fiona come join her for a picture. The similarities were just too astounding ... and multiple people have been wrong in their guesses of which girl is which. For the record, the matching wedgies were not planned - or staged! Just lucky happenstance. [Oh, and Q is on the left and F is on the right.]

The girls, Dec, and Otto had the best time ever splashing around. Anna burned 8000 calories trying to keep Milo alive. It reminded me how happy I am when they hit 2 or so and have the smallest amount of common sense to go along with all that mobility. Quinn, Dec, and Mike were not helping Anna's calorie count as their favorite activity of the day was to run the length of the dock and barrel into the water at the end. Milo thought that looked like great fun. Anna disagreed.

We had so much fun that we almost forgot about lunch. When we did remember, we shoved PBJs in our mouths and got right back in the water. We were on a schedule and wanted to pack as much fun as possible in. Em and I even managed to get in a couple swims across the bay ... all the way to the other dock (through the overgrowth of weeds). We not so silently blamed our dad for our inexplicable need to touch the dock to "make the swim official." It's a thing. I promise. [Note: Anna did not feel the need and happily stayed out of the weeds. She's so smart.]

By the end of the day, Quinn was swimming out to the end of the dock with no life jacket (I felt a little like how Anna was feeling with Milo ... so stressful to know she is over her head and doesn't have a life jacket!). Mike quickly jumped in and just hung out in the water in the same area as her. It's like crossing the street solo ... we'll allow big milestones - with hovering.

Mike finished the day off with an encore of his physics-defying tube jumping water show - to the delight of all. We stayed in the water until the very last second possible - leaving ourselves no margin of error to throw a party (oh, did I mention that party was one we were hosting!?!?). But it was totally worth it. We are already dreaming of next summer, complete with brand new baby cousin and new not-so-baby pontoon.