Went North: The Last Part

Thursday was our final day up north. We were sad about it, but unfortunately grown decisions and responsibilities ... and gainful employment ... required our attention. Those grown up things, however, needed to wait at least one more day because we had cabin time and vacation life to enjoy!

The kids and I made a quick drop in at my dad's cousin's house before we headed to the lake, as they were having a mini cousin reunion with the Texas relatives. I knew it would be a lot of adults talking, which is not the kids' favorite thing, so we appeared so Gpa could show off his grandkids, played a couple games of ladder golf, and then headed back to pick up Mike and our picnic lunch. We were eating sandwiches at the lake by 1:00. Perfection.

Then the kids had the best time swimming and playing in the sand, while Mike and I split our time between relaxing with a drink on the pontoon and jumping in the water with the kids. Of course, we got the Maui mat out and spent plenty of time jumping off of that. Mid-afternoon, my sister, Parker, Maggie, and their puppy Marlow also arrived. We had been waiting for them to take a pontoon ride!

We decided to drive over to the "nude beach" and the kids and Mike had the best time on the rope swing. Em and I even tested it out a few times [fact: we all had such sore arms the next day!]. All the kids absolutely loved the rope swing. The only bummer is that the lake is so low right now (such a bad drought this year) that it was hard to do any trick moves. The water was about knee-level for Mike and I honestly covered my eyes a few times at his antics. 

We headed back to the cabin, grilled up some brats and hot dogs for dinner, and then took the pontoon out one more time ... partly so Parker could use his drone to follow us and get some great footage and partly to play on the rope swing one more time! 

While not terribly warm (and in fact, quite chilly on that second pontoon ride), it was the best day at the lake and the perfect way to wrap up our vacation. It was both a lot of fun and extremely relaxing. We are so glad we made the decision to stay through Thursday and fit in a last day at the lake. 

Friday morning, Emmy and I went for a walk around the lake before the long car ride ahead. Then we packed it up, hugged everyone a final time, and pointed the car south. It was an uneventful trip* home (hooray!) and we were back by mid-afternoon. The kids were happy to see their rooms and their friends. And Mike and I were re-energized to tackle the unpacking again. 

*Well, maybe one event. When we stopped for lunch on the drive, I went to grab my purse and realized I had forgotten it in GR. Luckily Parker and Maggie were driving through the cities the next day and kindly brought my purse as a passenger. They not only delivered it right to our house (and got a tour), they also brought a beautiful bouquet of housewarming flowers. Talk about rewarding forgetful behavior!

**The kids missed one friend's birthday party on Thursday night because we stayed the extra day. But they did get to a second friend's party on Saturday. And for 90 minutes, Mike and I had time to ourselves. We used it very wisely and found bedroom furniture - which was delivered a few days later. Most importantly, new dressers were part of that delivery and our days of underwear on bookcases and suitcases lining the our bedroom wall came to an end!