Sunday, July 6, 2008

And a good time was had by all

The vacation had to come to an end at some point and that point was today. We were originally supposed to return home Tuesday, but we woke up to blue skies, sunshine, and warm air that morning and were in no mood to pack and return to town. I made a call to my sister to see what time they would be rolling in (calculating how fast I had to get cleaning the place up) and she convinced us to stay with them. It took a lot of convincing: "Really? Are you sure? Okay! See you this afternoon!"

So... we all crowded in the camp for the rest of the week and had an awesome time. Growing up at the tail end of the family, I'm always amused to hang around with her family because her kids are getting bigger and to me they are sort of like younger brothers and sisters. It gives me the feeling of what it might have been like when my family stayed at the camp 30 years ago before I was ever around. (For those of you who don't know me that well- I'm the baby of my family- seven years behind the next one up, 23 years between my oldest sister & I. I like to give them a tough time...Like I said to my brother the other day, "WHAT? You're turning FORTY next year! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I have years to go before I'm even thirty!"- Truly, though, there have been many times in my life when I've wished the age difference wasn't so great so I could remember things like camping with my brothers and sisters. By the time I remember staying at the camp it was pretty much just me and a friend... Not that being the baby didn't have it's perks- it most certainly did/does, but that's another story for another day.)

On Friday evening, we took a drive up to the Harbor to visit some friends and family who were camping there. We watched the fireworks from a quiet beach- perfect view and not all the riff-raff that you have to deal with right in town. It was a beautiful Independence Day!

So we sauna'd and we swam, we sat in the sun until our cheeks turned red, we drank coffee at 10:00 at night, sat by the bonfire till well after 1 (hey, this is a big ordeal for us), 'invented' a new s'more (new to us): saltines, peanut butter, dark chocolate, and of course a marshmallow- mmmm!, took a couple of walks, ran to the pier at midnight to see a sailboat (it looked a lot bigger than it actually was), and I almost finished an entire book. I had one requirement for yesterday and that was to finish that book because I'm afraid I may never know how it turned out. Welll...I guess that's not entirely true. I will make time to finish it but it will probably take awhile.

And tomorrow is back to daily life. It's good to be home to the conveiences of warm water and showers... But there's just something so comforting about staying out at the lake. No washing clothes or worrying about bills, no schedules, no set plan, just simplicity. Waves on the shore, sand underfoot, sun up above, and family to share it with. It doesn't get any better than that.

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