Cabin Adventures

We made sure to fit in a trip to the cabin this summer, especially since the kids were asking everyday in the middle of winter! I have black and white photos on the wall in our main bathroom that are all bits and pieces from around the cabin. So everyday, they get to see those photos and say, 'remember when we went to the cabin and........' and it makes us all smile.

Makes me tear up thinking about it honestly. Why am I so sappy all the time?? I'll tell you why. it's kids. Having kids makes you cry at a Pampers commercial. The music and the baby toes and everyone laughing....instantaneous tears.

But really, my family is looking at getting a new 'cabin'. Something closer would be ideal. We all want to spend more time up north but this place is starting to become less and less ideal for us as an extended family. But the nostalgia and the memories and the 20 plus years that everyone has been coming up here, makes us all sigh at thinking of moving on.

One of the first things to do after getting out of the car is running to feed the horses carrots. Ava has become more brave over time when it comes to animals.

But Austin just gets right in there without hesitation!

Grandpa always puts on his waders and gets in the water to clear out junk under the deck. You may think he does this just because he likes cleaning but it actually gives us a clear view of the hundreds of minnows and the infamous larger than life snapping turtles.  Oh, and can you imagine a cabin trip without Red Vines? Thanks Mom!

Grandpa found some clams during his cleaning :)

Oh and there is chicken coops now! Love those black and white ones!

We spend a lot of time down on the dock. Watching the fish and feeding them spaghetti. Waiting for the turtles to come eat their cut up hot dogs. We wait to see how many turtles show up. This time there were 3 extra large ones.

I couldn't resist watching Grandma and Ava on the other dock splash their feet in the water.

We collected pine cones for the firepit.

And took canoe rides to pick flowers from the lily pads.

We caught frogs quite fast this year. Thanks to Grandpa and his amazing frog catching abilities. Austin loves to hold them (or squeeze the life out of them really!). And Ava doesn't even like to touch them!

Grandpa caught dragonflies to tie on fishing string so the kids could have dragonfly pets. They weren't a fan. As soon as it would try to land on them they tried to run away while still holding the string. Funny to watch but not so much to the kids. (haha!)

I love this photo of Ava. Reminds me how girlie she is but at the same time look at her face? She doesn't mind getting dirty at all! I love that I can see all the baby hair surrounding her braids.

Grandpa makes sure to point out the bright colored belly of the frog. What would we do without you!? He has such love and knowledge for nature.

Probably about the only thing Ava would hold was a minnow. And I can imagine that I snapped this photo in the one second she let it lay in her hands before it probably flopped and made her jump!

S'mores. Sticky goodness that is a MUST no matter what when we are out in the woods.

And a beautiful sunset to end the night. We only stayed one night which is about all we really need. I never get good sleep on our trips with the kiddos. Austin stayed with me and did ok for the most part but Ava was up throughout the night asking when it was time to wake up. Plus, if you can imagine all of the above happened in ONE day. We can pack a lot of fun in and that also includes walking down to the dam and in the creek to find more clams and shells and even a snake!

I will miss our cabin adventures here. But, a new place will give us new memories and hopefully with it being closer, we can go there many more weekends in the summer.