I mentioned in my last blog post that we were headed up to our old family cabin for the weekend. It's no longer ours, but the owners let us stay for three days it felt like it was ours again.
For me the cabin feels like it will always belong to us because we built it. For five years while I was in junior high and high school we spent weekends, nights, spring breaks up working on the cabin. I helped caulk the logs, paint the walls, lay the tile, sweep out the chimney, plant the trees, stain the wood. My blood, sweat and tears are in that bad boy. (Mostly tears. I had to miss a lot of high school parties to help work on that cabin. It's not easy being 16.)
I was a little nervous about going up and really excited. The second the cabin came into view tears sprang to my eyes. It felt like coming home. My mom sold the house I grew up in about a year after my dad's death, so I think the cabin is the closest thing I have to a place that represents my roots. It's really the only place that Greg knows or has been to that carries with it any significance to my growing up.
Our weekend at the cabin was everything I hoped it would be. The new owners had changed a few things, but mostly it felt the same. It felt like ours. We played tennis, we went out on the lake, we did ping pong tournaments, we watched the Olympics, we played games late into the night. We discussed politics, we had campfires, we prepared and ate huge meals. It felt like home. It felt like family. It was PERFECT.
And now, pictures.
For me the cabin feels like it will always belong to us because we built it. For five years while I was in junior high and high school we spent weekends, nights, spring breaks up working on the cabin. I helped caulk the logs, paint the walls, lay the tile, sweep out the chimney, plant the trees, stain the wood. My blood, sweat and tears are in that bad boy. (Mostly tears. I had to miss a lot of high school parties to help work on that cabin. It's not easy being 16.)
I was a little nervous about going up and really excited. The second the cabin came into view tears sprang to my eyes. It felt like coming home. My mom sold the house I grew up in about a year after my dad's death, so I think the cabin is the closest thing I have to a place that represents my roots. It's really the only place that Greg knows or has been to that carries with it any significance to my growing up.
Our weekend at the cabin was everything I hoped it would be. The new owners had changed a few things, but mostly it felt the same. It felt like ours. We played tennis, we went out on the lake, we did ping pong tournaments, we watched the Olympics, we played games late into the night. We discussed politics, we had campfires, we prepared and ate huge meals. It felt like home. It felt like family. It was PERFECT.
And now, pictures.
Dinner at the kids' table. Reed is the lone adult.
The view on Scofield Lake.
Sam and Davy, my most adventurous nephews. (And ALWAYS in good moods.)
The next five or six shots were all taken at the same time. I just went around the cabin to see what everyone was up to so I could kind of capture everything that goes on at one time up there.
Ticket to Ride.
Mary, my little sis.
Love this view from the front door of the cabin.
Reed and Amber working on dinner. (With so many people to feed, my mom assigns people meals. We do the planning and shopping ahead of time and lug all the food up there. It's not a perfect system, but it works!)
Tammy, Travis, and Rachel.
Er... the large floating elk head is a new addition to the cabin...
The pre dinner mayhem.
This is the playground that is off the back deck. The kids LOVED it and spend so much time playing out there. June thought she had died and gone to heaven. I could feel her looking at me, asking, "Is this it, mom? IS THIS HEAVEN!?!"
My mom wanted a picture of all the grandkids. (21 grandkids!) We are missing only one here- 3 year old James who threw up right before picture time. Ages are 17 (Ben) down to 4 weeks (Cosette).
I worked my magic with the self timer to get everyone in one picture. This is the pre picture gathering. For some reason I always love pictures like these.
ALL OF US! My mom, her eight children, our eight spouses,
and our combined twenty one children!
38 people total! We're only missing my dad, but he was there.
My little crew.
The view from the front porch.
My mom asked me to take pictures to document Mindy's departure, who was flying out to Washington DC where she and her family will live for the next five months. Mindy and I both thought it was a little bit of a weird request, so here's the best picture we got of said "departure."
As you can tell, everyone is really giving Mindy the attention she deserves.
Listen, June was pretty much savage at this point, so you just take what you can get.
Doubles tennis tourney that Greg organized. We lost in the first round to my mom and 17 year old nephew, Ben. BOO.
Tennis spectators.
Tennis tournament championship game. Phil and Kathryn vs. Becky and Dave.
It was Becky and Dave's anniversary, but love wasn't enough to beat P & K!
Another day, another playground for the kids to feast on.
June and Jensen are only three weeks apart. They LOVED their bath together.
That's a wrap. Two more days of summer around here and then it's back to the teaching grind!
P.S. I've been working on a campaign for these. I hunted these down furiously when I was a little kid, but I feel like kids today are not as on board. Why!?!
P.S. I've been working on a campaign for these. I hunted these down furiously when I was a little kid, but I feel like kids today are not as on board. Why!?!
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