Andi wasn't scheduled to arrive home until Friday evening, so I took Tory and Aden to the lake by myself on Thursday afternoon. I'm not sure the kids and I have ever been to the cabin without Andi before (and it did feel a little strange to be there without him. Aden kept walking around the house yelling "Dad? Dad!"), but we quickly settled in and enjoyed a wonderful long weekend at the lake.
Thursday afternoon, the kids and I played at the beach for a few hours. It seemed like we had the whole lake to ourselves with no other sounds than the birds chirping, bull frogs croaking and my children laughing filling the air. Tory wanted to take the pontoon boat out for a spin on the lake, but I told her we'd better wait for Andi to arrive. "I know how to drive it," she told me, "I can show you, Mom." I bet she could have, that little stinker.
Later that evening, I packed up the kids and took them to dinner at The County Line Tavern. Having dinner at CLT is one of Tory's favorite things to do at the lake these days. I'm not exactly sure why, but I think the Shirley Temple drinks loaded with six maraschino cherries on top might have something to do with it. I did catch a few surprised looks from other restaurant patrons as I wrangled two little kids at dinner, but I didn't care. It was worth it times one million to see the look of pure delight on Tory's face. She thanked me about a dozen times for taking her to dinner and said I was the "best mom ever." Of course, that filled my love bucket right up!
Friday, the kids and I played outside again and ran a few errands in town while we waited for Andi to arrive. Once he did, we hit the lake for a quick boat ride. Andi was exhausted after a long week of work travel, so we kept things low-key.
Saturday was Aden's first time jumping into the lake from the dock! Our little dare devil isn't afraid of anything, and willingly jumped right into Andi's arms. He wasn't as confident swimming in the lake though (the water temperature is about 70 degrees now), and kept chanting "uppa! uppa!" as Andi helped him climb up the ladder.
Tory isn't as excited about jumping into the lake this summer. I think she's been spoiled by the comfort of the heated swimming pool at her weekly lessons. With a little coaxing, Andi was able to convince Tory to swim out to our new floating swim platform where the kids played and jumped around with him.
Later that evening, our cabin friends Oscar and Deanna stopped over for a bonfire. It was the perfect night to sit around the campfire and eat s'mores.
I woke up early on Sunday morning (Father's Day) to make breakfast for everyone, but much to my surprise Andi, Tory and Aden all slept in late. Tory woke up around 8:00am and helped me put the finishing touches on breakfast, but Aden slept in until 9:30am. Guess I'm doing a good job of tiring his little body out this summer! I'd planned a breakfast menu to-go thinking we'd eat on the pontoon during a morning boat ride, but Aden's long slumber foiled my plans. So, Tory, Andi and I enjoyed breakfast on the deck overlooking the lake instead.
Andi's parents Janie and Jim joined us at the lake cabin mid-morning on Sunday, so we celebrated Father's Day with them by going for a pontoon boat ride, opening presents and playing in the lake.
I'm thankful daily for the thoughtful, silly and devoted husband / father Andi is to Tory, Aden and I, and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate our favorite guy together on Father's Day.
I think everybody had ribs for father's day and well frankly I just feel left out! I need some for the fourth is what I'm thinking.
ReplyDeleteI'm as always completely jealous of your cabin weekends. Such a nice kind of vacation weekly, almost weekly, all the time, etc.
And 6 cherries! Queen of the Shirley Temples. That was always my go to drink as a kid. I don't seem to get as many cherries when I get it these days. Must be that getting old thing.