We're Home!!!

What an awesome week we had! I cannot believe how fast the time flew by, it feels like we weren't even gone! That's how it usually is though and to make it worse the weather is always, always perfect for water sports the morning we leave. I kind of kept track of our daily activities so I thought I'd blog the whole week! We'll see if blogger lets you have posts that long...

Saturday: We left Charlotte and flew to Chicago where we then rented a car for the drive to the cabin. It's in Northern Wisconsin, I'd tell you the town but the closest one is 45 minutes away. We're in the middle of nowhere where it's completely legal to ride ATV's to the grocery and completely necessary to have a snowmobile to drive in the winter! It took over an hour and a half to get our bags from baggage claim when we landed which of course set us back several hours for our drive. Matt was feeling pretty icky so I drove most of the way, until around 1 am then he took over for the last two hours. We almost hit a deer, but we always almost hit a deer up there. They are more common than people I think. We got to the cabin around 3 am and went straight to bed. Ari was SUPER good, he slept nearly the entire drive and minus the short game of peek a boo he wanted to play at 4 am slept the rest of the night in the cabin.

Sunday: We got up and had breakfast with Brad, Emily, the boys and Bea and Dave. That's the family we stay with every year. Brad and Matt have known each other since second grade and have been going to the lake together since 1989!!! Emily is Brad's wife, they have two boys: Tyler is 3 and Ethan is 9 months. Bea and Dave are Brad's parents, they own the cabin that has been passed down through the family since the 1920's. Anyway, we visit with Dave since he has to leave for home/work later that day and meet Tim and Katie. They are friends of Brad and Em and rented a cabin at the Resort down the road. Dave wanted to play a round of golf before he left so everyone headed for the course (literally down the road, walking distance) and played 9 holes. We stayed at the cabin and took a nap since we got in so late! When everyone got back from golfing we decided to make a run to town for groceries and other things we may need throughout the week. We had lunch at Angler's, a cute little sidewalk restaurant in downtown Hayward. After lunch we needed to go to the grocery and Wal-Mart (yep, that's right... my first time in a Wal-Mart. I didn't like it.). We had pork chops on the grill for dinner that night and played a CRAZY game called Strut. Yeah, did you read that??? Needless to say I quit after the second round because my head was spinning! We went to bed shortly after...

Monday: We woke to perfect water sport weather so after breakfast we head down to the lake. The cabin is right on the lake, you literally walk down the hill and bam, you're at the dock. They have a speed boat for water sports, a fishing boat (no need to say what that one's for) and a pontoon for pretty much anything else. It's totally kid friendly so we hung out on it pretty much every day. Oh, and a canoe for er, canoing... and the infamous "canoe test" that nearly every couple has failed. Matt and I have yet to take said test, maybe next year. Anyway, we hung out on the water, Ari went right in! We were surprised since the water is much colder than the pools around here but that kid, let me tell you! I think he was a fish in a past life or something. Matt skied while Em and I made lunch and apparently got right up on one ski! WooHoo, he's the only one up there that has ever been able to get up on one ski!!! (**I stand corrected, Brad can do it too he just doesn't like to, sorry Brad) We had lunch on the boat and Ari went down for a nap right after lunch. While he was sleeping Matt and I rode the torpedo (or hotdog as it's called up there), we didn't get pictures but man I wish we would have. We hit a wake and went about 4 feet in the air and landed! Right side up!! It was so much fun, I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. We made calzones and mini pizzas for dinner then played Rummikub and Chess until bed!

Ari had so much fun turning the boat lift wheel!

We wear wetsuits, the water is pretty cold. The lake freezes solid (all 20+ feet deep) and doesn't thaw until April or May. This year it was pretty warm, you could go in without if the sun was out!

Ari and Daddy in the water!

Ari spish splashing off the dock.

This little guy wanted nothing but to drive the boat and flip the switches. Wonder where he got that from...

Tuesday: It was fairly overcast when we woke up so after breakfast we headed to town to pick up some more groceries. 7 adults and 3 kids eat more than you think!! We got there around lunch time so we ate at Angler's again. Just as we were sitting down Tim and Katie see us and decide to join us for lunch! It was fun to hear stories about Brad and Em since we don't get to see them that often (they all live in DC). After lunch we went to Tremblay's for the required candy fix and swing by the grocery. We wanted to get home in time for outdoor fun since the sun was out. Everyone wanted to go golfing when we got back to the cabin so we loaded Ari in the jogger stroller and headed down the street. It was so funny, some random guy hit into us (nearly hitting us, his ball landed like 4 feet from Ari) so we let him play through. He felt really bad, he couldn't see us through the trees. As he was swinging, completely flustered and embarrassed, Ari lets out this deep belly laugh! It was hilarious, we all cracked up! The poor guy, he just put his club away and drove off. Hehe... that's my crazy kid! From then on Ari laughed at every swing. We let him out to run around and he wanted Daddy's club. He dragged that thing around and looked like a little Arnold Palmer, it was adorable. It got pretty hot so Ari and I went home at the 5th hole after scoping out turtles and frogs in the water trap. He napped the rest of the afternoon and Katie made a yummy casserole for dinner. After dinner we took the pontoon and cruised over to Enchanted Inn. It's a little Italian restaurant that you can boat to, very pretty! Tim and Katie were thinking about going there for their anniversary on Thursday but it's only open on the weekends. Ari was super cranky on the way home (it was way past his bed time) but he cheered right up when Matt took him for a ride in the tree swing! Overnight we got a massive thunder storm, the thunder was shaking the whole cabin and the power went out twice. It was freaky but none of the kids woke up!

Lil' golfer for sure!

Daddy took Ari for a dip after dinner

Looking over the edge as we cruise across the lake

Someone was cranky!

Not cranky at all in the swing!

Wednesday: Bea checked the weather and we had a 60% chance of rain :( It looked decent after breakfast though so we headed down for some water sports. I spotted for Tim in the speed boat while he skied and when he was done I thought I'd give it a try. I was so shocked when I got right up the first time! I'm not comfortable doing anything other than getting up though and when I went out of the wake I freaked a little bit and let go of the rope. I got right up again though and went for a pretty long run across the lake. After a while my back started hurting and I knew I was going to fall, when I did I put my hands out to keep from face planting and literally dove right out of the skis! It was crazy fun. Brad skied after me and then took Tyler on the Tube for a slow ride. I tubed after them and boy were my arms total jello for the rest of the day. I could barely get my wetsuit off! We came in for lunch and kid naps, Emily and Katie went to town and Brad and Tim took the ATV's for a ride through the woods. When Ari woke up Matt and I took him down for a swim. Bea brought Ty and Ethan down when they woke up and all three boys went on a cruise across the lake! Matt decided to stay and swim while we were out and ended up swimming across the lake to Dutchman's Point! We picked him up on the way back to the dock, by then Emily and Katie were back so we all swam. For some reason there were a ton of flies out and they bite! Ari kept swiping them off his leg and would cry when they bit him so we all came up for dinner. Matt and I made chicken tacos for dinner and after dinner we played Rummikub with Brad and Em.

Look at me go!!!

Three boys behind the wheel

Two friends and their boys

Daddy and Ari, believe it or not but Ari walked out this deep! No fear, that's for sure!

Thursday: Happy birthday Matt!! The only thing Matt said he really wanted to do was make a big breakfast for everyone. We had a nice relaxing morning and let Matt pick the day's activities. It was supposed to rain again but we attempted the lake anyway. We just kind of hung around the dock and swam around until lunch. We packed a picnic and drove the pontoon to Dutchman's Point hoping to swim. Tim and Brad dove off the boat first then Tyler went in to "paddle paddle" and I dove in after him. The water was great, just as I was coming back to let Matt go the sky got really stormy so we headed back to the cabin. We made it just in time, as soon as we got inside it started pouring! It rained through lunch and stopped pretty soon after so the guys decided to go fishing. We agreed thinking they were only going to be gone for an hour or two... three hours later Emily and I were totally stressing! We had all three kids and she had a sore back from earlier in the week. We had made beef au jus for dinner too! Matt came up around 6 but Brad and Tim stayed on the boat, they caught 7 keepers and cleaned them before they came in. We ate dinner and had a lazy evening in the family room and played a round of "Gardner Canasta". It was a long day, three kids is a lot when there isn't much to do inside!

This deer ran up the street during lunch!

Tyler heard this woodpecker during breakfast and when Brad went out to run he saw it in the tree!

Tyler "paddle paddles" all by himself for the first time! The water was 18 feet deep!!

Friday: We have mega plans to take full advantage of our last full day on the water. Thankfully the weather was perfect, we stayed out nearly all day! After breakfast we went right down to ski. Matt and I both ski'd, he got up on one ski and I got right up again too. Thankfully we remembered the camera today so I have lots of scrap material. We also hooked up the tubes and did "battle tubes". Matt and I did it one other day earlier in the week, I can't remember when though. Basically you hook up two tubes and bash each other back and forth while the boat is towing you. It's a blast, I fell off once and oh boy... you know how you can skip rocks across the surface of water? Yeah, I did that on my stomach! It was crazy, all I knew was just to keep my head up or I was going to be in serious pain! It was ok though, I got right back on. Somehow when I fell off it sent my tube over Matt and our ropes got tangled. He got stuck outside the wake and our ropes were under water spraying us in the face. Bea took us right back to the dock so it was ok! I really wanted to ride the torpedo with Matt again but he was tired from skiing and tubing so Emily went with me. We kept it slow and easy since her back was still messed up but it was fun. The torpedo kept doing this weird fishtail thing and we thought we were going to wipe out several times. Neither of us wanted to fall so it was a lot of screaming and laughing! It was pretty close to lunchtime after that so we got out of the water. Brad and Em had to take the speed boat out for the season, it was sad to see it on the trailer in the garage. We had planned to take the pontoon and fishing boat to the Dam to swim but we ran out of time. We had burgers and pasta salad for dinner. Matt and Ari swam with Emily and the boys all evening and after dinner we packed everyting up to head home in the morning.

My crazy mohawk baby! *I had extra sunblock on my hands*

Matt slalom's like a pro!

Mommy and Ari get some cuddle time!

I CAN ski!! It's not very pretty but it works!

Brad looks like he should be on the cover of a ski magazine or something! He's a rock star!

Emily and I on the hotdog/torpedo. We had a great time!

I dropped Emily at the dock and went by myself!

Oh, everyone (Brad, Matt and Emily) have this totally cool way of just letting go of the rope when skiing and coasting into the dock on their ski's... yeah, I tried it. Not so pretty! They make it look so easy and fun but when I let go of the rope I totally wipe out! Guess I'm just not that cool... Ha!

Saturday: We pretty much just pack up the car and say our goodbye's :( We headed to town for some candy for the road and doughnuts from the bakery. Yum! It's a 6-7 hour drive to Chicago, we planned to spend the night and fly home Sunday. Debbie from Crop Addict just happened to be in Chicago for CHA so we met her for dinner Saturday night. It was great to see her again (I saw her at Winter CHA in Anaheim) and talk scrappy things after a week away! After dinner we went straight to the hotel and went to bed. Ari was really good especially given the fact that he was in his car seat for about 10 hours total!

Sunday: We headed to the airport after breakfast for a 12:30 flight. It really didn't look good for us to get home, every flight was oversold until 5 pm but we thought we'd give it a shot. It payed off because two people didn't show up at the last minute and we got their seats! We landed in Charlotte around 3:20 and after stopping for dinner were home by 6. Ari went straight to his toys, he was a happy camper. He took a good nap on the plane but was ready for bed by 7. All in all it was a great travel day.

We are pretty sad and happy at the same time. It was sad to say goodbye to the cabin and our friends but it's good to be home too. We never did make it to the Dam to swim and we didn't get to take the ATV's out either. That's alright though, there's always next year! It looks like there may be a dog in our near future too, Brad's dog Sonny and Bea's dog Gracie were there this week and Ari was IN LOVE with them. He pointed and giggled and said "doddy" all week long! I just can't say no to that kid... I'm in trouble I know... well, that's all for now. You're brave if you're still here! See you later!