Our Staycation - August 2015

My sister has been travelling from Virginia with her kids for a week in the summer for the past few years.  Sometimes her husband comes along, but most of the time he stays back to work.  The past couple of years she has also brought along my niece from South Carolina (my brother's daughter).  It's so much fun to have her here, get to hang out and chat with her, watch the kids play and interact together.  We only see each other a couple times per year so it's all that more exciting and special when we do.

My parents have friends with a small cottage on a lake here that they rent out.  Both last year and this year my sister has stayed there.  It's great - we get to spend the week at the lake, in the water, like we're on vacation.....but we (as in my little family) get to sleep in our own beds.  We all know nothing beats that!

My brother and sister-in-law also flew in from South Carolina for a few days.  It was great having everyone here, even if it was just for a short amount of time.  We spent the majority of the weekend just enjoying each other's company and the lake.

I love how, even though they haven't seen each other since November, Redmond and his cousin Declan can just pick up right where they left off - like they see each other all the time.  They are each other's only male cousin - so they have to stick together :)

One of the highlights for the kids (but definitely not for this mama) was fishing.  Uncle Dan (my brother) supervised the fishing for the first day.  The kids did great and they all caught at least one fish!

 

 

 

One place we went while my sister was here was Shipshewana.  It's a little Amish town about a mile away with a huge flea market and awesome shops.  My mother-in-law and I go every May and I always find some cool stuff.  Our first stop on this trip was to Rise n Roll Bakery for some Amish made donuts. 

Redmond chose a powdered sugar donut and Ashlyn opted for a Bavarian Cream filled (a girl after her mama's heart!).  The kids loved them! 

We also had everyone over to our house one night for a cookout and s'mores!  We invited Jason's parents and had a great time - it was the first time that we used our fire pit since we moved in.  Can you believe that!?

These two don't like burnt marshmallows.  The look of defeat....

 

 

 

 Then, it was back to the lake for the rest of the week.  We had so much fun.  Here are just a few highlights:

We decided to make this photo a yearly occurrence.  Crazy to see how much they've grown in just a year!

 

Ashlyn has opened up her own Beauty Parlor.  *A tough scalp and a high pain tolerance is recommended ;)*

 

We went for dingy boat rides:

 

 

Did a lot of floating in the lake:

 

 

 

Oliver joined in the fun....and even joined me on my raft:

 

 

 

 

We ate dinner together:

 

 

But, most importantly, enjoyed each other's company and had fun!

 

 

 

We had such a great week together!  The kids had so much fun hanging out and playing with their cousins - we made some great memories!  As much fun as we had, it's nice to get back to our normal.  Time to get back on our schedule and hit the gym to burn off all the beer I drank and food I ate!  Until next summer!!

 

~ Sara :)