We just got back from our annual vacation with the Bleeker clan to Evergreen Lodge on Big Sand Lake in Park Rapids, MN. It is an awesome sand bottom lake and a very busy bunch of Bleekers! Together, it works awesome! My kids love hangin' out with their cousins for the week and we adults enjoy seeing how much everyone has grown since last year. Besides the mountain of laundry in my house and a reminent of sand in the suitcases, the week was a complete success! Good weather. Great food. and Grand memories made.
Sunday was a little overcast and so some of the kids decided to go kayaking. Here is (from left to right) Caleb, Lauren, Jaron, Reese and Brooke.
One night after baths and before bed, I grabbed the camera. The books were out but these two were barely listening. Tired kids!! These two shared a room with Dayle. (Doc was roomin' with me! lol) Lucky for us all the little ones were extremely worn out from all the water and sand activities with their cousins. The lights went out and so did the kids.
We ate breakfast at the Logging Camp near Evergreen Lodge one morning. After some pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, ham and drink, we were all ready to conquer the world of mosquitoes. It was a really really really buggy week with biting flies, mosquitoes as big as quarters and bees.
Here is Reese on her "booster" seat at the Logging Camp...too cute!! She looks so proud! lol
Doc's boat put a lot of hours on it over the course of the week. Thankfully there is no limit to riders cause there were a lot of interested cousins wanting to grab a seat. We counted 14 in the boat (all with life jackets) and 4 behind the boat at one time. New record!!! Such fun!!
Here is a quick snapshot of the huge sand castle the kids worked on. Uncle Cory started it with his kids and as it grew so did the interest of the other kids. They had a lot of fun and worked together great! I wonder if this sand castle will turn up in the Evergreen Lodge Newsletter posted each winter. Guess we will have to wait and see!
Ya' gotta have smores! Yummm-O!
Card games were also a hit as there are no tv's to unwind with! I think they are playing "Peanut Butter" here...don't ask. I think the real name of the card game is "BS"? Lol
Dayle wake boarding for the first time since we moved from CA. She got up on Lake Kaweah near Visalia when she was 7 years old. But after moving to Iowa she just couldn't get up again. Well...a little persistence (and a couple years trying) paid off!! It took a few days of drinking the lake behind the boat but once she got up, she just kept popping up. Way 2 go Dayle!!!
Brooke has been looking great on the wakeboard. Her latest feat is jumping the wake. I actually caught a shot so she could see herself. Pretty cool B!
And then Lauren...this girl has had a BIG summer with many "firsts". First she dove off the diving board at the pool and then she did a flip. Then on to Big Sand where she double skied and then got up on the wakeboard. What a kid! Suddenly realizing she can do it! All it took was a good ole college try. (or two or three!) Congrats Spanks!
And the last pic is of Jaron, Reese, Seth and Andrew after our pizza feast on Friday night. I love how Reese is focused on her cousins and not the camera. So sweet! She just adores the business of her boy cousins and continually tries to keep up. Not sure how that will be looked upon in years to come but for now, so cute! It was a great week at Big Sand. Reality has set in as schools are starting to send out schedules and open house invites. Where did summer go? Guess I better go do some laundry...