When You're At The Cabin

In light of our recent cooler (read freezing cold!!) weather, I decided to reminisce about the beautiful summer days we had not long ago. Or maybe I'm just really really behind on blogging...maybe.

At the end of August we had the privilege of spending a delightful day with part of our church family at one of their cabins (aside: I spent 5 minutes trying to figure out the grammatically correct way of saying the last part of that sentence and couldn't do it so you'll have to a) pretend it's correct or b) give me an English lesson).

When you're 2 and you go to the cabin you must must must spend a good share of the day on the trampoline.

You must also spend a great deal of time driving the Gators,



With or without



your brother.

When you're at the cabin with children of every age from 0 to 8, driving Gators is not age dependent. And everyone needs a turn (or two or three).

(I simultaneously love and fear the next two pictures).

When you're a girl at the cabin and you're seen in a "car" with a boy, you might get a little embarrassed. And when it's the girl's parents that see you, you might want to assure them that you'll take good care of their daughter.

And when you resign yourself to being captured on film, you must make sure your hair looks good.

While at the cabin, you must also spend time enjoying God's creation with your spouse.

You might be content to enjoy the "waters teeming with living creatures" from afar. Or you might be anxious to jump right in. You might also want some skiing lessons once you're in there with the living creatures.

 

When you're at the cabin, you might want fewer lessons and more action.

Depending on who you are, you might want more action than others. Apparently speed isn't enough for some people. Some people need waves too. If the lake happens to be calm, you may have to make your own waves.

But this is what could happen when you make your own waves.

You might terrify some children.

Luckily said children weren't too traumatized to get back on the horse...er, hot dog.

When you're a baby at the cabin, you spend a lot of time sitting on laps looking adorable.

Sometimes when you're at the cabin just admiring God's creation from afar, you need to get a little closer (but not so close that you're actually in the waters teeming with living creatures).

Bye, Jeff!

After an exciting morning at the cabin, you'll probably need to rest in the hammock with your brothers. You might be lucky enough to have lots and lots of brothers around.

After your rest you'll be ready for a Northwoods Picnic.

After you gather nine friends to track the animal that took your picnic, that is.

And you'll probably be glad your brought along a brave friend to actually get your picnic back from said animal.

Mmm...rewarding. Thanks brave friend and gracious hostess.

After a long day at the cabin you'll probably be very tired.

So tired that you're perfectly content to just sit on the couch with eight friends.

So tired that you fall asleep in the car five minutes after leaving the cabin. Which may or may not have been the goal of the incredibly generous, loving, fabulous host and hostess.

Birthday Season

At our house, fall doesn't just bring cooler weather, falling leaves, trips to the apple orchard (can't wait for this!) and a not-so-bountiful harvest of pumpkins and squash. It also brings birthday season. Nearly every month between September and January holds a birthday celebration. Sean starts us out on September 6th, followed by Wesley on November 6th and Jack on December 6th. Scary, I know. Elise rounds out our season with her birthday a month later on January 3rd. She broke our "6th" trend (though Sean is convinced she also would have arrived on the 6th if I'd just been patient, but our baby girl was already 5 days late and I felt like I'd been pregnant for 2 years so when the doctor offered to induce me on the 3rd I just couldn't turn him down).

With all of the busy-ness that came along with the changes in September, we opted for a low key birthday celebration for Sean. We made our own pizzas and the kids helped me bake a birthday cake.

Then Wes helped his daddy blow out the candles.

He's such a big helper!

I know I'm a couple weeks late, but...

Happy birthday to the best husband and dad God could have chosen for us. We love you very much!

Changes

To say this week brought a lot of changes for our family would be an understatement. Between coordinating transportation, making lunches every night, filling out (and returning!) forms and doing homework, we were a busy group.

The biggest change was for our boys. Jack started his first day of kindergarten on Monday. I don't think he could have been more excited. I don't think I could have been more sad. I just kept thinking about how by the end of the week I'd be sending him off to college. Needless to say, the end of the week came and he's still living at home with us, but I'm sure it won't be long. Anyway...after a few sibling photos, a few tears and a few more reminders from Mom, the bus showed up to take Jack to school.

Aside: Jack is going to a charter school that has two campuses. We drive him to the upper campus and he takes a shuttle to the lower campus. In our grown-up minds, of course we know that a shuttle is just a bus of some kind. In his 5-year-old mind, a shuttle belongs in outerspace. Imagine his surprise and excitement when he found out that he did, in fact, get to ride the big yellow school bus.

He got on the bus, found a seat and drove away. That was it. It all happened really fast. 

Upon his return from school I asked how his first day of kindergarten was. "Fantastic!," was his enthusiastic reply.

Then it was Wesley's turn for his first day of preschool. (It was really bright that day). 

 

The first thing we did was meet Wesley's teachers, Mrs. Kathy and Mrs. Holly. Then it was time for Wes to explore the classroom while I filled out more paperwork (will it ever end?!).

 

Although Wes tends to be a little more adventurous than Jack, he also tends to cry a little more. So, despite him reassuring me over and over that he would just "make up some new fwends" at preschool (because Jack wouldn't be there), I wasn't sure what to expect from our second son. I was delightfully surprised to discover that he didn't really need me. Okay, so maybe I wasn't delighted. I might have been just a little sad that he demonstrated such independence at the tender age of 3. And I might have had to fight back a few tears when I left him in a room full of strangers so I could go to the parent orientation meeting and he simply waved goodbye. Sniff. Sniff.

 
 

Through all of this, our baby girl experienced some change too. Three days each week (when Wes is in preschool), she has the run of the house and the undivided attention of whichever adult happens to be in it. A few times she's wondered "Where's Jack & Wes?" When she's reminded that they're at school she simply responds, "Oh, dat's wight," and continues on with whatever she's doing. I don't think she's going to mind the change.

Five Question Friday

It's time again for Mama M's blog hop. Play along. It's fun!

1. Shoes in the house - yay or nay?

Most of the time I don't like shoes in the house, but the more kids we have and the more "one last things" I have to run in the house for, the more often I find myself traipsing through the house in my flip flops.

2. What do you call them- flip flops, slippers, thongs, etc?

Um...never heard them called "slippers." To avoid all confusion, we just go with "flip flop" at our house.

3. What song are you almost embarrassed to admit you know all the lyrics to?

Hmm...It's a toss up between Baby Got Back and Ice Ice Baby. I remember actually writing down all the lyrics to Baby Got Back as I hit rewind over and over and over again on the tape player. Oh, to have that kind of time again. Don't worry, I'd use it more productively than I did when I was 13.

4. What is the best quality to have in a friend?

Unconditional love - it means you can be yourself and say what's on your mind.

5. Do you know what you want for Christmas?

I know what I want for the next twelve Christmases. My lucky husband is never at a loss for things to put under the tree for me.

Five Question Friday

I'm back for Five Question Friday after a little hiatus. Click here to play along.




1. Did you make any fun purchases this week?

You'd think with all the money that seems to be flowing out these days that I could think of something, but plumbing, electrical and HVAC work just don't rank at the top of the fun scale for me. Now when it comes time to furnish the newly finished basement that necessitates the aforementioned spending, I'll be singing a different tune.

2. If you could go to any musical concert, what would it be?

I think it would have been really fun to go to a Beatles concert. But when they were first starting, not when they were hippies. Not really my thing.

3. What is your least fav/ most fav house chore?

I would be lying if listed a most favorite house chore. I can't think of one single thing that I enjoy doing that falls in the category of "chore." I think my least favorite is cleaning bathrooms. But I could list many things that are a close second, third, fourth, etc...

4. Would you prefer new appliances or clothes?

Since all of my appliances are only two years old, I'll go with clothes by default. I would prefer if those clothes came with a smaller backside too.

5. Miracle Whip or Mayo?

Depends on what I'm making. Turkey sandwiches (almost) always get Miracle Whip. French fries and hamburgers? Mayo.

Pirates Are We, Scoundrels of the Sea Swingset

One sunny day, earlier this spring our three donned their pirate gear (i.e., dish cloths on thier heads) and took their "land lubber" Mom out to play pirates. Before they could start, however, I had to ensure they all knew the proper lingo. As you'll see in the video, Elise didn't quite get it, but she tried really hard.

Boating and Whispering

The kids had their first true boating experience last weekend. We launched after the storm cleared Saturday morning, stopped for a picnic lunch and were back home for more lakeside fun in the afternoon.

Our Captain.

Wesley found this mushroom in "the woods" and brought it down to the beach to show it to me. I took lots of pictures of it (and Wes).

 

Even though I took more pictures of Wes, these are actually the shots I was trying to get (I got a new lense that I was experimenting with).

 

One of the greatest things about being at the cabin is the plethora of nature lessons. There were a couple turtles near our beach; this painted turtle and a tiny snapper.

Remember all those tiny frogs from the 4th of July?

 

Now they're big.

 

And catchable.

 

Guess what else we learned. Our Jack is a frog whisperer.