Vacation Day #1

So, we planned on going down to Missy & Dave's cabin for the Memorial Day Weekend (Thanks for sharing Dave & Missy!). Kelly and I both took off Friday from work. The boys were very, very excited to go on vacation since they knew that involved playing in the water and also fishing! How can you not be excited about that? We had originally planned on leaving Thursday after I got off work. However, because the WHOLE week had not gone as planned, I got NO packing and preparations done for leaving that quickly! And, after the hellish day I had on Thursday, I sure was in no condition to frantically pack for vacation. Does anyone see the irony in that statement?

I told Kelly that I just didn't want to rush. Vacation is vacation and the cabin would still be there WHEN (and IF) we got there! I am not rushing...GOT IT! So, we packed a bit on Thursday night and then did some more packing on Friday.

The boys were still feeling a bit under the weather and were super, super whiny...of course, all they wanted to do was "go on 'cation!" None of this packing stuff...let's just go! Logan kept saying all week (with his arms spread out wide), "I'm gonna catch a HUGE fish!"

Kelly would ask me to do something and I was till working on something else. Big breath, sigh...we can do this! I could tell that Kelly was getting a bit on the frustrated side (with me, with the boys, who knows what else!), the boys were still whining and my anxiety level was climbing by the minute! Again...big breath! After a couple of hours of packing, we were finally on the road (by 8:30am, I might add)! Let's get in the car and go on vacation!!!

Carson was content in the back with his movie and headphones (thank god for technology) and it didn't take long before Logan was fast asleep. Kelly and I discussed our sleeping arrangements for the cabin. We decided to have daddy and Carson sleep upstairs and have mommy and Logan sleep together downstairs in the bedroom. So much for sleeping with my hubby, huh? Oh, the things we do to maintain peace for the family....

We made excellent time to Shelton, so we decided to stop at good 'ole Walmart to pick up a few odds n' ends to complete our weekend (no cabin vacation is complete unless we have a variety of Drumstick Ice Cream Treats and since Kelly and I have a fettish for coconut creme lattes, we had to pick up some coconut creme creamer as well...gotta make all vacation participants happy). As we approach the car to load our purchases in it, Kelly uses the remote for the van and opens the very back van door (not a good idea if you have vacation randomly packed in it) and my new $--- (not gonna tell you how much) espresso maker comes tumbling out of the van, bouncing a couple times on the asphalt! My mouth drops open, Kelly has this look of horror on his face as her continues to say "I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid!" I just watched in amazement and didn't say a word (aren't you proud of me)! I just had a feeling that Starbucks made their espresso makers to withstand some abuse, so I just kept my fingers crossed until we could check it out at the cabin.

Back in the car we go to drive to the cabin (a mere minutes away at this point). Kelly and I started reviewing the cabin rules with the boys. Carson is good at remembering these:

1) No going past the rocks in the yard without FIRST putting on your life jacket!
(If the boys continue going past the rocks, then next comes the beach, docks and the lake...yikes, really a scary thought for our very impulsive, can't think past our nose, excited about 'cation kinda boys!)

2) If you go past the rocks with no life jacket, then you lose water privileges for the ENTIRE day! (Believe me, the boys know we are serious 'cause Carson lost his privileges for the ENTIRE day when we came to the cabin the last time!)

Those are pretty much our only two rules! Wanted to keep them to a minimum to emphasize the important ones...water safety (and believe me, with our boys around water, we really have to focus on safety!).

By the time we got to the cabin and unloaded the van (yes, the boys even helped...they were anxiously trying to locate the life jackets), it didn't take long before we were all down on the dock (after we, of course, verified that the espresso maker still worked)! The boys completely striped down and just wore their life jackets and water shoes (Can you tell I tried to keep packing simple? No need packing bathing suits and water pullups...who needs those?...we're in the wilderness for goodness sake!). They were in complete heaven...water, sunshine and fishing...what more could a little boy want?

The sun was shining and it was wonderful sitting on the dock soaking up the afternoon sun! WOW...maybe it was a bit possible for me to RELAX on this vacation!

My three boys were fishing as I laid back in my lawn chair, reading my book. It wasn't too long before Kelly had a fish on his line. "Carson, come reel this one in!" Off runs Carson to pull in the big one! Logan also wants a front seat view of the adventure, so he tries to get a bit closer to the action. Just as Carson pulled the fist fish up onto the dock....SPLASH....Logan falls into the lake! Yep, falls into the lake! It was actually a bit comical to be honest with you. We were all trying to cheer Carson on with the first fish and at the same time, daddy is on his hands and knees trying to pull Logan out of the water (he's gasping for air 'cause the lake is pretty cold...and he's not quite sure what just happened)! I grabbed our pile of towels and am trying to dry off Logan (thank god for the life jacket!) and I'm also cheering Carson as well. Got the camera out and shot a couple of pictures of the big 'ole fish...oh yah, also trying to calm and dry Logan...I'm telling you, fun times here on 'cation!





After that fiasco, we decided we should probably get off the dock for a bit and maybe go for a walk to the park! We had a wonderful time swinging and running thru the forest (playing tag with Carson) and before long it was time to head back to the cabin for naps. Carson became very distraught when we said we were headed back to the house. After figuring out what the fit was over, we discovered that he thought we were going "home" and he wanted to go "on vacation" (what he called the cabin)! OK...so he was a bit confused, but his heart was in the right place! No, no...we won't be going back home for a couple of days...no worries Carson!




Time for naps (mom included)...YEAH!!

After naps, the afternoon continued along with us all having a lot of fun, enjoying our time together. The boys were out on the dock fishing again and I was trying to unload the lawn chairs from their winter hideaway when all of a sudden I hear another "SPLASH" and then crying! Yep, you guessed it, Logan went into the lake AGAIN! Yikes...that boy has NO balance! Good thing the cabin has a washer and dryer 'cause mom didn't pack enough clothes for this kind of water activity!

After a late dinner and more fishing...it was soon time for our evening to come to an end! Off to bed the boys went while mom and dad enjoyed the peacefulness of the cabin...doing our own thing!