We spent an amazing week at Cass Lake with all of Chad's siblings, their families, Chad's mom, and his Uncle Jim and his family!
It was our first ever extended family vacation, and it was wonderful! I am so very lucky to truly adore and enjoy my in-laws.
Here are my favorite moments from our week!
The lodge had a big water trampoline.
It was in fairly shallow water... the older kids could walk to it... but it was too deep for Joshua.
So his super siblings pushed him out in a canoe so he could jump too!
They made sure he was safe
AND having FUN!
One of Grammy's favorite parts about the beach was the ducks who came begging for a treat.
Not being too much of an animal tamer, these birds by my feet freaked me out! I did manage to stay in my seat, but I was much more relaxed when the ducks left!
Brenna and Kaden gave us a little scare when they climbed WAY too high in a HUGE tree! They are fearless climbers and saw nothing freaky about it.
The grandkids talked Grammy into making them (and us!) french toast one morning for breakfast. Yummy!
All the cousins had a great time together.
Above are Tyler (who is nearly 15!) and Jamison.
Joshua had never been able to spend much time with his Cousin Addisyn (who is 4). He had such a great time getting to know her!
Sierra is a baby magnet!
She grabbed baby Ahlera every chance she got!
Joshua though she was pretty special, too!
All the hard play made for loooong naps!
Joshua slept in his own bed all week AND did a super job of going to sleep!
Daddy had to do way more work during this vacation than we had wished. That was stinky and stressful! Luckily he has a very good "off switch!" He does a really good job of blocking out stressful details and enjoying the moment!
One of the surprises at Cass Lake was...
CRAWFISH!
The kids were totally fascinated with them!
Kaden, Sierra, and Brenna spent hours catching them.
Jamison and Tyler had a few crawfish fights!
And then my good natured hubby boiled them up!
Eating them was a little gory!
But they sure tasted good!
Kaden was the head crayfish hunter. He negotiated with Uncle Chad until they agreed on a "price" of 10 cents per crayfish. He totally cracks us up!
One of the best parts of the week was hanging out with Reed and Emily. We have not been able to see them much since they moved to another state around 5 years ago. We have really missed them, which made 6 days together such a treat!
JOshua gave Uncle Reed a little competition. He really liked Auntie Emily. One night Joshua even sneaked Uncle Reed's spot next to Emily at the campfire. Uncle Reed is a very kind and patient man, but I think he may have been happy when Gubs went to bed that night. :)
Auntie Emily also taught Joshua how to flip!
We all had sooo much fun in the water!
JOshua loved pushing the canoe around in the shallow water.
Sand is always a hit!
And where there is sand, there is someone being buried in it! sIERRA WENT FIRST.
She cane out of her "Bed" caked with gritty sand!
Brenna had the next turn.
Finally, our little copy-cat had a turn!
One day we played at an Island/sandbar.
The kids took turns swinging from a rope like Tarzan... or maybe Jane?!?
Sierra sliding in!
Krissy helped Joshua try out the lay-down tube.
Our fearless water-bug LOVED it!
AND Jamison rocked the wakeboard!
He had a lot of fun boarding with Uncle Reed, Uncle Jeremy, and Auntie Teresa.
Can you even believe how high his jump is getting?
Every time I watch him board he gets better. It is really fun!
Joshua is too little to jump with a wakeboard, so he has to jump off the back of the boat instead!
I think Joshua's very favorite part of our trip was playing with Callie, Uncle Reed and Auntie Emily's dog. He banged on their cabin door and begged to walk Callie every chance he got. We were never really sure if he walked Callie, or if she walked him though!
One night when I was tucking Joshua into bed he told me, "Joshua walking walking Callie. I walk Callie so much. Callie pull you Joshua! Joshua pull you Callie. Joshua working hard! Joshua legs are hurting really, really bad from at working so much!"
Good-bye's always come too soon. Brenna and Kaden stayed up way late enjoying every last moment before we had to say farewell!
But eventually we had to leave the lake!
Hopefully we will all be together again soon,
sitting around a campfire and staring at the moon!
Thank you Grammy, Teresa, Jeremy, Ryan, Miranda, Addisyn, Ainsley, Ahlera, Jim, Darcy, Maria, Isaac, Reed, Emily, Tyler, and Kaden for all the wonderful memories made at Cass Lake last week. We love you each so much and cherish our moments together!
