Home Is Where Family Is
This past week, we drove up to a cottage on Secord Lake, near Gladwin, MI, for a week’s vacation with my family. This year’s emotions were a bit different, since we didn’t have to drive from MN to get there, but also not have to say goodbye for a few months. It was always a tearful trip, knowing that it would soon come to an end. Though this year, we could just truly treasure the time spent together and not dread the end of the week. Let’s be honest though, it’s always hard to see vacation end, which this year was no different in that aspect!
We had wonderful weather, minus 2 days that it rained on and off, but one of them, they sprayed the lake with weed killer, so we couldn’t go in the water anyways. We spent our days playing games, making puzzles, swimming, sitting on the beach, reading, crafts, fishing, taking rides around the lake, rocking on the porch chairs, eating way too much, golfing, and just spending time together. It’s difficult to find a place that can fit us all comfortably within a reasonable price, but that is why we drive 3 hours north, to find it. That time together is just too precious to give up!
Here’s a small sampling of what we did this week:
I was able to hitch a ride with my sister and her girls, which made for a fun ride for Mazy! She had her own little Leap Frog computer that she used, and pretended to have headphones in it, to be just like her cousins!
Our home for the week even had a little “park” as the girls called it
One of the most fun activities we did, was use my niece Addison’s birthday gift – glitter tattoos!
Craft time was always a hit – especially when the weather wasn’t the best!
Even though the rain came, it didn’t stop Mazy from wanting a ride on the boat!
Our two 1,000 piece puzzles we made, with each puzzle missing 2 pieces. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find a piece and realizing it doesn’t even exist! Yes, that is our type-A personalities coming out I suppose…
Last year Mazy refused to wear her life jacket – this year we had NO problem getting it on her!
More tattoos! Dan and I even got in on the fun…Dan got a green-glittered frog on his shoulder and I got “Princess” tattooed across the small of my back. It was quite the site to say the least – especially when we went to the rope swing, aka, out in public with my suit on, and I had a black-glittered tattoo across my back. Yeah.
Oh tubing was SO much fun!
Dan caught a good-sized northern pike and smallmouth bass!
More crafts!
What fun we had and we are just so grateful that our family is still able to gather for a vacation! We know that some day it will become more difficult, but we are going to milk it for as long as we can! And now it seems that summer is over, but we know life here in Michigan has just begun!
On Monday Dan and I head back to Ann Arbor for more tests. I have a TEE, where they will stick a camera down my esophagus, to get clear images of my heart. Then a few hours later, after I come out of sedation, we meet with the surgeon. We are very eager for Monday, considering that we have had this open heart surgery hanging over our heads for a few months now, and really even years. We are unsure if we will be able to set a surgery date on Monday, but we see it as just one step closer!
