Stormy Lake

I just looked on our blog and saw that it's been almost a month since my last post. I can't even believe how fast our time off has gone. After our first week off in Madison, we headed up north to Matt's parent's cabin. And I have to laugh a bit because if you are from WI, you know where "up north" is. But many of my friends laugh when I say "up north"...."Isn't Wisconsin up north? How much more 'up north' is there?" is what they often say. So we headed about as far north as you can go in Wisconsin to Stormy Lake---a place my mother-in-law has gone to every summer since she was a little girl and a place Matt and his siblings have many fond memories of. We were really excited to be able to go up for over a week, as opposed to going just for a weekend as we've done in the past.

The kids enjoying the lake

It was an interesting week for Matt and I as we really got to see our children's personalities come shining through and deal with that. Wyatt, as you may have read in past posts, likes to be in control and know what is coming next. The first few days at Stormy were a bit rough for him as he was very apprehensive about the ski boat and didn't want to go anywhere near it. Matt and I have always tried to be understanding of what he may be thinking/feeling and this week in particular, we tried to be patient and realize that he'd been through a lot of changes in the last week and was living in another new place without the comforts of home and our daily routines. We answered all his questions about the boat/skiing and let him just observe for awhile. But after awhile, we told him he needed to go on the boat with Mommy and Daddy and see that it could be fun and he'd be safe. This was not his idea of fun. He cried the entire time as we put his lifejacket on him and tried to explain that everything would be fine. We could see in his eyes that he was just very fearful of the unknown--yet, we know from past experiences that if we don't push him to do something, he's very unlikely to try anything new. And as his parents, we want him to learn to deal with things in life that are uncomfortable at first but may bring him joy once he gets over his fears. Each day we'd take him on the boat and it did seem to get a bit better by then end of our time there, but he didn't ever fully get over his fear. We'll keep trying. In the meantime, he really liked sailing and would repeatedly say, "I like this boat because there's no motor".

Matt and Wyatt sailing

Sadie, on the other hand, was a completely different story. She loved everything about the boats and the lake. As you can see in this picture, she was ready to take off on the waverunner before Matt was even on!

Each day when we took her out on the boat, she'd fall alseep in the arms of whoever was holding her.........funny how something can be so calming to one of my children and so terrifying to the other.

After about 4 days of Wyatt's anxiety just overwhelming him, we decided it might be better to take him away from the lake for a bit and spend some one-on-one time with him. Two of Matt's cousins (I think that makes them Wyatt's 2nd cousins??) were going horse back riding with their parents (Matt's aunt and uncle) and I took Wyatt. I wasn't sure how he'd do on a horse--such a big animal that many people are afraid of. But he loved it! Every minute of it--and he was completely comfortable on the horse. We had a great time just the two of us and it was good to spend time together.

A family tradition---going to Kartway one night and riding go-karts Reagan, McKenna, and Wyatt watching the adults on the big go-karts

Sadie---lounging on the tube--i put her on the tube and would pull her around the shallow water and she just laid down and soaked up the rays (not really, she had sunscreen on!)

A friend got this suit for her last year--check out that belly!

If you click on this picture, you'll see a frog in Sadie's hand that Matt found. Sadie loves animals and wants to touch them all.....Matt had to hold her hand to make sure she wouldn't squish it....and the frog even looked right at the camera!!

As I said, Matt's mom has been coming to Stormy Lake since she was a little girl and there are many family traditions and memories surrounding Stormy Lake. While we were up there, many of Matt's cousins, aunts and uncles, and his grandparents were also there and we had a blast spending time with all of them.

Matt and his Grandad

Right before we went up to Stormy, Matt and Wyatt got their hair buzzed. And they started a trend...........Matt's brother Ty getting his hair buzzed

Colin before

Colin after....well, not fully completed. We had fun with his hair and did several different styles (including this mullet) on the way to completing it
Karsten before

Karsten after

Spending 4th of July at Stormy......Wyatt's deep concentration on his sparkler

McKenna helping Wyatt

Those fireworks were even too loud for Uncle Ty
Watching fireworks from the top of the boathouse

Auntie Cammie and Sadie on the 4th

Matt and his brothers....after their haircuts, they look even more alike!

All the cousins in our "boatcrew" t-shirts

Sorensens

How precious is that little face?

And this face......I love my children's laughter!

Matt's sister Mollie took this picture and I just love how she framed the picture of Matt skiing with Wyatt and I watching him

Sadie wanting to drive the boat





How could you not enjoy being in a place that looks like this? It's so refreshing to get away for awhile and spend time with family.....no computers, TV, cell phones. The sky was absolutely beautiful at night and we never got tired of looking up at the stars and marvelling at God's beautiful creation. We saw an eagle several times on the lake and watched it soar above the waters as it searched for food. I saw several deer run right in front of me when I would go for a run and each morning we'd wake up to the sound of the birds chirping (after our kids woke us up, of course!) We had a great time and can't wait until next year to go back.