handful of love: What I Did on Summer Vacation

Vacations are a lot of work, especially when you have five kids and are staying in different hotels every night. Our last leg of our journey was the one I was looking forward to the most, camping on the lake!

My aunt and uncle have been camping at the Great Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondack Mountains for almost 40 years. Many friends from their small town in upstate NY come up as well and it just seems like one big party. My cousins grew up spending part of their summer at the lake, enjoying it with their friends and family, and now my cousin and her husband bring their daughters to continue the tradition.

When my grandmother was alive, she and I would make the trip up for the day, bringing along my children who would have an absolute ball there. After my grandmother passed away, my aunt and uncle graciously offered space for us to set up camp. The last time we had been there I was pregnant with the twins, the views of the lake and visiting with my family far outweighed the tossing and turning of sleeping in a tent while pregnant with two! It is a lot of fun!

This year Steve and I felt like we were finally ready to attempt camping again. It helped that we were constantly persuaded by the kids to go, after a winter visit from my aunt and uncle promised them of jet skiing, swimming, boat rides, and water skiing. Everyone was excited to get there again!

And we were not disappointed.

Jet skiing:

Lance with my cousin's daughter Marissa.

Luke with my cousin Wendy.

Kate with Wendy.

My cousin's other daughter Danyelle and Kyle.

and with Trent.

Swimming:

Lance, Kyle and Trent enjoying the lake.

Luke and Kyle humoring Chevy with a splash. She loves it!

Luke.

Boating:

Kyle trying to catch something. He only thing he did manage to snag was the tree the boat was tied to!

The kids thought the boating Aunt Audrey and Uncle Bob had promised was only limited to Uncle Bob's awesome boat. Little did they know that some of their friends had kayaks and were nice enough to let the boys take them out.

Trent on the lake.

Steve with Luke.

and with Kate.

Kyle had the best time on the kayak. The kayaks seemed to call his name whenever they were close by. This may be a new-found passion for him! He REALLY wants one now and has decided to switch his saving of an X-Box to a kayak.

Kyle with Luke

Water skiing was part exciting and part frustrating for the boys. Thankfully they had some great instructors with lots and lots (and lots) of patience. Lance was the one with the most determination and was able to get up for a bit. I tried to get a picture of him on the skis, but the effort proved to be futile.