10 people, 3 cats, 2 dogs 2 weeks at Lake Winnipesaukee 2012
So, so much fun (so, so very exhausting!)
Worms on hooks and fish caught; fishing lines tangled, smaller fishing poles purchased (Owen being happiest with Meera’s princess pole!)
Izze for the kids, chocolate milk for Meera and Beer and Gin and Vodka tonics (what did we do before the basement fridge?)
Tubing and waterskiing (over and over and over again!)
Don mastered each kids skiing speed (he is so patient)
Janet swimming to the point with the kids and them diving for golf balls (Kyle can really dive deep!)
Determination and success of waterskiing in and out of the wake (my rule is they have to be able to do this before they can ski double next year so that was the goal)
Taking the boat for gas became an every other day event with all the kids and Neptune (they give out ice pops and dog cookies!)
Washer and dryer in full use (guess how many beach towels a family can use in a day?)
Food was consumed in large amounts. Tenderloin steak, lamb chops, shrimp and pesto pasta, mac and cheese, hamburgers and hot dogs, marinated steak tips, salmon and swordfish, BBQ chicken, burritos, Lobster and steamers, salads, sandwiches, french toast, pancakes, blueberry muffins, english muffins… (grocery shopping more than once and the bill $$$$$!)
Ice for our well-deserved nighttime drinks (how many times did we need to run out for ice?)
Town Docks Restaurant in Meredith by boat and wow! do the boys love their Caesar salad with steak tips (how fun is it to park at the dock by the restaurant?)
Pop’s Clam Shell in Alton (great fried clams, fried shrimp, onion rings and fries (gotta do fried food once a year!)
Baileys Bubble in Wolfeboro by boat; Meera loves her vanilla ice cream with sprinkles; the kids get a kick out of Neptune putting his paws on the counter to order his vanilla in a dish! (just how many times did we go there?!)
Johnsons Restaurant in Alton for the biggest ice cream cones ever (did anyone finish their ice cream?)
Meera making friends with Jean and Artie our neighbors and their company and hanging out over there (Meera is so, so outgoing)
StoryLand with Janet and Braydon, Meera and Sadie (Sadie was such a big cousin helper so Braydon and I didn’t have to go on the spinning rides!)
Boston Red Sox with Don and Heather, Kyle and Owen (Don’s dream come true is having grandsons who love baseball!)
Owen and Braydon kayaking all the way to Diamond Island and back. Kyle and Braydon kayaking to Rattlesnake Island and back. (we bought a 3rd kayak this year so the boys would each have the same kind of kayak)
Playing baseball at “Little Fenway” in Alton (mud sliding one day and then “riding in the car back to the lake without moving and jumping in the lake clothes, shoes and all to rinse off!)
Hudson and Quinn joining our family for 2 years and meeting their “sister” Dottie for the first time (oh my 3 cats = once a day kitty litter cleaning)
Sadie getting to join her cousins for 4 sleeps, Stina, Mark and Charlie here for the weekend (having our whole family together is my dream come true)
Aunt Betsy and Uncle Ken coming for the day on Sunday (thanks for coming in off your sailboat on the Maine coast to see us – we love you!)
Videos and The Olympics (thank God for a few minutes of quiet now and then!)
Heather and Braydon relaxing as much as possible with their pending move on the horizon, work issues to deal with and the hopeful sale of their house on their minds. (I think I saw Heather read a few times and Braydon did leave his phone upstairs!)
Brand new couch (and cleaning it constantly – why did I buy a new couch right before they all came?!!)
Walk to Locke Hill, walks around the point, walks to ”little beach”, walks with Neptune (where are the boys anyway?)
Watching for the Mount Washington Boat to go by and going over the wake on our boat. Flashing our lights to it from the cottage at night (been doing that my whole life – still excited when they flash back)
And the last 3 days we got to spend with the 3 kids all by ourselves! They kids were so good, so much fun and so happy the whole time. Yes, they missed their parents but they were having too much fun to think about it. I slept in the bunk room with them, went to bed with them and got up when Meera did (she is almost always the first one up). We did all of the normal activities and even got Jean to be a spotter in the boat when Meera and the boys went tubing. My goddaughter Betsey came for the 3 days to help (so thankful for her help). Friday we met Braydon ½ way in CT and said goodbye until the next time. I cried for a while on the way home and then fell asleep. (not surprising huh?!)
What thrill for me to have grown up summers here and now to have my grandkids love it as much as I do. So many of my memories are their memories now too – how wonderful is that? So often over these past two weeks I have looked up and thanked my grandfather for finding this beautiful spot and I am so thankful to my parents for passing it on to my sister and I. A dream of mine had always been to have a close relationship with my kids and grandkids and I feel so very fortunate that they love to spend time with Don and I in this place.
As our cottage neighbors said after we returned from dropping off the kids on Friday “you ran a camp for the past 2 weeks and you both are unbelievable – it was go, go, go for the whole 2 weeks!” That may be the truth and I would have it no other way!! Can’t wait til the summer of 2013 – 3 weeks maybe?!
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