Paradise Found

Every summer, I find it hard to properly sum up our week at the lake.  In the absence of much of anything to do, or anything we have to do, our days are full and rich.  Time slows down, and extra moments for games and stories and canoe rides and ambling hikes and porch conversations and cousin snuggles suddenly appear.  Ben and I have been lucky enough to get away for a winter weekend together each of the past two years, one which we jokingly call "marriage saving" (or maybe we should call it "marriage nourishing" - that sounds a little less dire and is hopefully more accurate!).  Well, in much the same way, I believe our vacations at the lake are "family nourishing".  They provide a much needed break from the reality and craziness of day-to-day life, allowing us to slow down and simply be together.  To remember why and how darn much we all love each other.  But it's difficult to really capture all that beauty in words, and so I'll just get to the pictures.

The highlights of our 2013 Waterford vacation (at least in my humble opinion):

• Waking up to this view every morning.  Enough said.  But I'll say more anyway...

• This view is pretty nice too - my three men looking at Grandpa Howie's scrapbooks on Stonywood porch 

•  A special father/grandfather/son fishing trip for our Adam

Eagerly awaiting Grandpa's arrival 

Got one!

"Can I touch it?"

Seriously steering back home

•  And a later trip for the older brothers (and Uncle Mike)

•  Everyone pulling their own weight so it felt like a vacation for Mommy too

• Realizing that vacations with a 4- and 6-year old include...a little bit of vacation!  I actually read a whole book, cover to cover, and did a little of this with my boys:

OK, I know that's Ben, but I swear I tubed too - although the boys kept begging for Daddy instead because I refused to ask the driver to go faster or make wake for us to bounce on.

• Reading together.  Particularly up in the boys' room, which just screams nostalgia to me.  Wood paneling, squeaky old twin beds, dim lighting, family pictures.  It feels so so campy, and so so cozy.

•  A trip to Mutiny Brook with oodles of cousins

• A road trip to Bridgton (Grandma and Grandpa's "Garden House") to pick blueberries and dig up potatoes

• Watching storms wash over the lake.

• The Waterford town breakfast.  A perennial favorite of mine, made even sweeter by the fact that the boys now know to wear their Waterford shirts for the occasion!

• Cousin time.  We don't get to see Brian and Andrew (and their parents) nearly, nearly enough, so we soaked up lots and lots of cousin love.  And adored every minute of it.  

• Finding a new home for my old Laser.  And teaching the next generation (and my spouse) how cool it can be to let the wind power you.

• Late night (for our kids, at least) T'Kozy parties.

All the grandboys in one shot!

These parties were chock full of dancing (not pictured, thank god), wrestling,

doing the worm,

and maybe even a little yoga thrown in.

• Our boys finally discovering the ability to sleep in after said late-night parties!  This record had to be documented on film - here's our sleepy Adam (being assaulted by his brother) after stumbling downstairs after 10 in the morning!

• New adventures, like a trip to the bison farm

• Old favorites, like the beach - always a highlight for me, and the weather (and boys) really cooperated to allow for lots of beach time this year.  

• A morning canoe trip, just the four of us, with no cameras (and therefore no pictures!).  But another highlight was this motley caravan:

And many other fun times not caught on film:

• Taking my boys and their cousin Collin on a hike up Tir'em.  Almost made me want three boys.  Almost.
• Double-dating at the Waterford Inne with Gwen and Mike (and the dock cocktail hour that preceded it).
• Having a great long run around the lake, and getting really lost on another run and having to call my mother-in-law for pick-up.
• Pajama pancake parties (or PPPs for short).
• Making friendship bracelets with the boys on Stonywood porch.
• Hiking Mt. Sabattus and finding our very first geocache.
• Staying one extra day because, well, now I can!