The Lake, part three (july.2011)

Guess I should finish 'er up.  I'll just say it, catching up on posts a year late is lame.  But it is getting me excited for next week!  Which is hard to do these days--vacations are WORK now.

J read about a castle south of town so we set off one morning to find it.  We wandered into a national park for a few hours, then finally found what we were looking for.  Except it wasn't in a park, like we thought.  It was in a private {awesome} neighborhood.  The housing association turned it into a library and I was rather smitten with the whole area.  And who wouldn't be--as well as the castle library, the common grounds in the middle of the houses had clay tennis courts, beautiful lawns, an ice cream parlor and a private beach with this view:

The girls and I spent quite a while in here.  We weren't invited, but we never ran into anyone who told us to leave (or anyone at all for that matter), so...

Abbey just started getting interested in great literature. I would love a special place like this for her to escape to and read the afternoon away.  What a cool little find.

The Lake, part two (july.2011)

One thing we love about this vacation town is that you can bike almost anywhere you would want to go.  J would typically load up the bike trailer first thing in the morning with girls and toy necessities and I could meet up later with the baby and actual necessities.  But we hit a glitch.

  J was just getting home from a long shift the morning he wanted to leave.  I didn't think he would be up for hitting the road, but he was a man determined.  So I was packing inside and he set to figuring out the new bike rack.  Looking back, he said he glanced up at it and thought, 'That is pretty tall, I'll have to remember that if we go through any drive-thru's."  His next thought was, "Man, it is hot out here, I'm going to pull into the garage to load the luggage."  Wham!  It's hard to tell from the picture, but that bike rack is mangled!  Oh man, he spent so much time figuring that thing out with the sketchy instructions.  I climbed up to see the damage and was momentarily concerned about what appeared to be a lot of paint damage.  He laughed and laughed that I would think it was the rack that did it and not the fact that our van is SO old.  We sadly left the bikes behind but were glad to find our rental was equipped with an awesome girly, pre-teen ten speed.  It did the job!

We were pleasantly surprised to find everything we needed to build a fire and roast marshmallows.  Our own yard is pretty much useless, so I was sure to take advantage as much as we could this week.  Ahhh...the sticky goodness.

I forgot how red Bennett's hair was last year!  I totally thought I was going to get a little red headed boy. 

The new thing we discovered this year was the blueberry picking available. Berry picking and dining outside are in my top five of greatest pleasures in life.

love this face...

 

J didn't think there was any way we were going to get through the pounds and pounds of blueberries we picked.  But he was happy for Jen and I to return a few days later when we had finished off every last one of them.  So glad we did.  Picking along side her and chatting the time away is a very sweet memory of that trip.

Lake People (july.2011)

We are headed back to this lake town in a few weeks, so I thought I'd better catch up on this trip before it gets tangled in my mind with the next one.  It only took a day or two for us to realize how special and perfect this trip was for our family.  It was a good mix of activities for J and relaxing time for me.  The girls were happy all day long and adorably excited about every little thing in the little house we rented.  Maybe they were just as happy as me to NOT be camping in a parking lot this time around.  Bennett was still small enough to sleep wherever we went.  He would crash in his little cocoon playpen and snooze away to nature's white noise.  Some friends from J's work were able to join us the first weekend.  I wouldn't let her chip in for the house, so she decided to feed us like kings the whole time they were with us.  Win-win!  Then we were able to be on our own time for a few days in the middle before Cousin Jen and her family joined us the last weekend.  We had not met her baby, Emily, or really got to know Devin, so it was a great time to have them stay.  They are game people--just my kind of people--and got me hooked on Rook!

On a cloudy, rainy day, we took the chance to check out some of the other lake towns around, finding sweet bakeries and restaurants and chatting with the locals.  We met a great family the first Sunday at church who invited us over the next night for dinner.  I can really picture us here.  J even started looking into the hospitals around :)  Man, if it wasn't for winter and that lake effect...

 

 I knew I would forget specifics about the trip after this long.  Grrrr...  One funny story I want to remember, though:  I found J an awesome garage sale kite that has two handles and can do tricks.  We argue a lot about where it is and isn't safe to fly (the thing is BIG and FAST).  One morning at the beach, we had been disagreeing over it but he had got in some time flying it and was having a blast.  He decided to walk the girls over to get some lunch.  It is a bit of a walk, especially in the sand with little kids.  I asked him to grab a hamburger and just bring it back so I could stay with the baby.  I'm not kidding...over an hour later they get back.  I was hungry and grouchy, especially when I realized half the trip was spent flying the kite there and back.  He starts explaining that after they came out from eating and ordering mine, someone had kindly started rolling up the kite for him.  But they did it wrong, so he had to unwind it and start over then decided to just fly it back.  I'm getting more and more annoyed as I open the bag and find that not only are my hamburger and fries cold by now, but the entire interior of the bag is COVERED in ketchup.  I'm sure I shot him one of my famous looks.  He asked what was wrong then said, "Oh...yeah.  I gave Abbey the bag and showed her how to hold it straight.  But when I looked back at her, she was swinging it around and around above her head."  I died, that image was so funny to me.  I can just see her nonchalantly strolling along, glancing around at the crowd and the activities, twirling that bag around as she went.  Love that girl.

5-6, Pick Up Sticks

 

Finally!  The anticipated birthday is here!!!  We talk about birthdays ALL year long.  I doubt I could ever live up to her expectations, but hopefully she feels special and loved today.  This year you:

-started kindergarten

-were missed something fierce by the ones left at home

-became a bit of a Queen Bee

-mastered the monkey bars (with splitting blisters to prove it!)

-started piano lessons and rocked two recitals

-learned how to read

-blew us away with awesome test scores!

-gave Hayden a haircut

-conquered the big waterslide

-lost your first tooth

-started roller blading

-pierced your ears

Abbey Girl--you are not for lacking in the confidence department!  I anticipate some growing pains in the next few years as you learn to handle that confidence, but what can I say?  You just have a lot of good ideas!  You are always coming up with stuff and I'll think, 'Well...yeah.  I can't see why not!'  And lucky you, your school teacher was happy to go along with your ideas as well.  Early in the year you started a trend of bringing and reading a book to your class on your 'teacher's pet' day.  (Your classmates rotate being 'teacher's pet' each day and get to be in charge of doing or delegating different chores throughout the day.  I imagine you delegate more than do....)  One morning you mentioned you needed your piano books that day because you worked out a deal with your music teacher to play for your class.  I love that you come up with ideas and have the guts to make it happen on your own.

I love when we get some alone time together.  I really debate owning up to this particular day.  Not proud of myself.  But you've been saving up your allowance to buy a pack of Smencils you saw at the mall a few months ago.  (Smencils...pencils that smell like strawberry, pineapple, etc.  Yeah.  You love them.)  I had some errands there a week ago, so you and I went alone with every penny you owned.  I thought it was about $8, so made you count it out before we went.  We got there and it was FIFTEEN.  Fifteen dollars.  For pencils.  Oh, it killed me.  Eight was ridiculous.  I actually think I was sweating when we checked out.  I have never seen you so excited about a purchase, it kind-of melted me.  Don't get used to it, kid.

We also had a fun night taking these pictures together this week.  I wasn't annoyed when you refused a few weeks ago because I knew you would be up for it some other time.  And, boy, were you ever up for it.   Ha ha!  I love these.

 

 You are an incredible big sister.  If I'm not around, you are Bennett's new mommy and he won't let you walk away.  You are SO good to him.  One Sunday I was on my own getting you guys to church.  I was gathering the last few things and you took Bennett out to the car and somehow got him into his car seat!  I was blown away.  As we drove out of the neighborhood, I thanked you and said I was surprised you were able to lift him into his seat.  You said, "I could tell you were in a hurry so I thought I could help you out."

 I enjoy you so much right now.  You've become a little more sensitive this year--to Hayden's teasing, to our discipline (last year, you couldn't care less if we were upset!)  You've also become a lot more responsible this year.  I love your sweet face and your spicy personality.  You pack a lot of punch in that little body!  Your dad and I were already so in love with you six years ago, who knew it would get so good--love you, sweet pea.