I took the morning shift on Sunday and popped Isaac in the car for a drive into town – Mama needed coffee.
We walked along Walker’s mini Main Street and then went down to the waterfront.
Isaac likes lake life as much as I do!
Back at the cabin, the kids cozied up while Shane and I pulled our things together for a day out on the boat.
Sometimes, when you’re trying to get things done, you just gotta put the baby in a basket.
We eventually pulled ourselves together, stopped by the lodge where Aunt Tiff treated Juliette to a sweet new hat, and got settled on the pontoon. Make yourselves at home, girls!
Oh, Isaac. While sister contentedly stretched out in the sun, Isaac crawled circles around us all. We should have brought that laundry basket…
Shane and I did our best to manage his mayhem, but that kid is just uncontainable sometimes. Snack, Ergo, drive the boat, snack, Ergo…
…and SLEEP! Finally.
We pulled into the Marina to hop out for a bit and grab some goodies at the general store.
Juliette picked up a book of Mad Libs which made for some afternoon silliness…
So easily entertained – I love her!
And now look who’s awake…
We docked again at a small stretch of beach so the kids (kid, really) could swim. Get it, Jules!
Isaac seemed undecided about getting in the water, but eventually I stripped him down and let him just go for it.
Water? Two thumbs up. Sandy hands? Not a fan.
Once Juliette got her swim fix, we all hopped back in the boat and motored over to another beach to do some exploring.
I know, Isaac, I KNOW! Lake life, right?!
By the time we pulled ashore, Buddy was ready for another doze. I put him in the Ergo and quietly sang You Are My Sunshine about 80 times while the water lapped at my feet. Naps are hard-fought sometimes, but the effort involved isn’t always so bad.
While I worked on naptime, Shane worked on frog-catching. When he was kid, he and a friend caught 100 frogs in a single afternoon, put them in a bucket, and put up a sign on the street corner hoping to sell them to passing fishermen. 100 frogs! A sympathetic old soul stopped by and gave them five bucks for the lot. Juliette and I have heard this story several times and figured Shane could easily snag a critter for Juliette to hold. It took a few minutes, but finally he delivered, in the form of a little brown toad.
Juliette wasn’t so sure she wanted to hold it after all, but since Shane went to all that effort…Â Check out the play-by-play!
A little green frog, though? He somehow seemed much less icky.
The frog was set free and we decided we’d had our fill of water and sun and would head back to the cabin. But…wait! One more dip. These girls can’t stop, won’t stop!
We did make it back eventually, Isaac still snoozing as we disembarked. Don’t mind if I grab a few Z’s of my own…
We gathered that evening at Grandma and Grandpa’s for a late first birthday celebration for Isaac and an early ninth for Juliette.
Hayden was heading back home that evening and we hated to see her go! Such a fun couple of days with this girl.
Know what goes well with birthday cake? MARGARITAS.
Isaac loved the ice cream cake so much that he bit a tine off his plastic fork! Making a mental note to use real silverware next time this kid gets dessert.
Juliette got over her toad aversion…
And then Shanay taught her the Boot Scootin’ Boogie. All in a day’s work!
There were some Funky Chicken lessons…
And gifts for the luckiest kids in all the land. What a perfect Minnesotan day…
We laid pretty low on Monday. Shane went out in the side-by-side with his dad while the kids and I bopped around camp. Isaac had been eying the small playground and sandbox on our walks to and from Denny and Pat’s and finally I caved – get dirty, kid!
Meanwhile, my clean kid…
Can I still hold her on my hip? Why, yes I can!
We went to dinner in Dorset that evening, making a quick pitstop in Akeley to say hello to Paul Bunyan. If this isn’t midwestern, I don’t know what is!
We said goodbye to Tiff and Shanay after dinner, as they needed to get home for work. Tiff had taken such good care of us that week, stocking our cabin with groceries and cooking us breakfast each morning and goodness, the way she and Shanay loved on our kids… We missed them the moment they pulled away.
Back at camp, we settled back into the porch and tried to snag a family pic. Look this way, Isaac!
Or…don’t.
Denny offered to take Juliette and me out for a sunset fishing session that evening and we jumped at the chance. It seemed a perfect way to round out a week on the lake.
Juliette quickly got the hang of watching her bobber and reeling in any slack on her line.
Success! One sweet little perch. He was tiny, but I hooted and hollered like she’d just snagged a 10-pound bass.
And then a second one to boot. It was thrilling, really.
We motored back to camp as the sun dipped below the horizon, Juliette’s hair whipping in the wind, Denny smiling ear to ear with his favorite first mate at his side.
The best dockside welcome wagon!
I took Isaac in for bed while Juliette drove her Grandpa back to his camper. Peas in a pod, these two.
Tuesday was go-day, which meant one last round of grandparent snaps and then some drawn-out, tearful good-byes.
Oh, good-byes are hard. Like, really hard.
And the long trek home…again, Isaac reveled in the thrill of take-off, turning back to Shane with a grin like, “Can you even believe this, Dad?” But the thrill quickly wore off and we did a lot of baby-juggling the rest of the flight.
Meanwhile, Juliette had a window seat in the row behind us and lived her best life, with unlimited iPad time and double Sprites. You deserve it, Kiddo.
It felt awfully good to walk in our front door, but it wasn’t without a tinge of those post-vaycay blues. We’re holding close a boatload of special family memories in that Minnesotan wonderland.