Stormy Lake 2011

Last week we took our annual week-long trip to Matt's family's cabin in northern Wisconsin on Stormy Lake. And I am sure I have mentioned this in the past, but Matt's mom has been vacationing there ever since she was a little girl and it has become a tradition for Matt's family as well as many of their friends that come up each summer.
Each year seems to be more and more fun for Matt and I and the kids....and this year did not disappoint at all! As I was going through all the pictures I took that week, Matt said, "Man, that place is really so great. We should go for 2 weeks next summer." With Blake being 2 1/2 yrs old next summer, I will probably be spending even more time up there even when Matt can't join us, just because the drive will be easier with the kids all being a bit older. But it's such a wonderful time because neither Matt nor I do any work, projects, emailing, texting, etc. We have made a concerted effort to be completely present while we are there and thankfully Matt can do that with his job.
As is the case every year, my post recapping our time at Stormy is a picture overload.....so feel free to skim or skip the post entirely, but since this serves as sort of a 'journal' of our family, I will be putting lots of pictures on here for us to look back on in future years.

Love this picture.....all my kids feeding the ducks (don't you love Sadie's helmet?)

At least once during our week at Stormy we have a rainy day and can't be outside. This is the day we reserve for our trip in to town to Tremblay's for fudge and The Country Store (=candy store) and the kids get to pick out whatever they want!

A new tradition Matt and I have started with our family is eating at Soda Pops, an old fashioned soda fountain and burger joint. They have something like 100 bottled sodas and the kids love the little booths. So we had lunch there (I had left my camera in the car since it was pouring rain, so I only had my phone).

Not sure exactly what day I took this one, but Matt had spent a serious amount of energy trying to barefoot behind his parents ski boat (not a barefoot boat) and was so beat up. His entire body was covered with bruises and he was so sore and stiff......he sat in this chair with a blanket over him and sweet little Sades wanted to make sure he was going to be okay.

Getting ready for a morning ski....

Doing work....

Papa teaching the kids how to shoot a BB gun

Checking the bullet holes

SMORES!!!

Papa teaching Wyatt how to "Prepare Arms" from his days at the Naval Academy

Wyatt thought it was so fascinating that Papa was in the Navy and kept asking if it was 'for real', since Papa is a great story teller, I think Wyatt thought we weren't being honest with him! I hadn't realized it before, but we may never have told the kids that he was in fact at the Naval Academy in Annapolis

Blake sitting like all the guys do...however, his little leg can't quite get up all the way to cross it.

Such a happy boy as long as he has space to run and climb ALL DAY LONG!

Matt's special SMORES ingredient? Peanut Butter

Sadie loves holding anything....babies, dogs, voles (see earlier post)

In fact, shortly after this, Sugar wanted to get down and Sadie stomped her foot in frustration and said to me, "Mommy, I just want to hold someone!"

Several games of 'norwegian golf'

Whenever we didn't know where Blake was, we could just walk in the garage and find him on the snowmobiles

One of the greatest things about Stormy Lake is the safety.......it's one of the reasons Matt's parents loved going up there in the summers as well. All the families know each other, the kids play outside virtually all day, and it's SO incredibly remote that its hard to find even if you know where you are going. It allows the kids to wander and explore, which Matt and I both feel is so good for them. Matt remembers spending hours with his friends in the woods with a slingshot, trying to hit squirrels or chipmunks and only coming inside for lunch.

I just love Sadie's pink inner tube......she is the "accessory queen"

I mean, who could go exploring in the woods without it?

Matt's brother and his wife came up for a few days and brought the newest member of their family, Ozzie. Talk about a cute puppy!

Do you think my kids want a dog?

Another tradition is the trip to Bob's....it's actually "Dairy Maid" ice cream place, but we all call is Bob's because Bob is a staple at Dairy Maid. Bob is a guy there who is mentally disabled who has a microphone along the side of the building and sings songs all night.....and he's been there since Matt was a kid. Everyone knows him and I'm not sure people would come if Bob wasn't there.

So we call it Bob's......

Attempting to move a concrete planter...

Blake walked right into this group of kids, sat down, and acted like he belonged there.....this kid seriously cracks us up sometime!

Sadie loved the waverunners and especially liked going fast on them.

Wyatt liked them, but wasn't crazy about going fast. Matt took him on a few slower rides and then we told him we would both ride with him if he wanted but we were going to show him how much fun going fast could be. Matt drove and I sat behind Wyatt and we had a blast! Matt, however, did flip the waverunner and we all flew off, which freaked Wyatt out at first until he realized that his life jacket would in fact save him and then he was bragging about it all day to Sadie and everyone else. It was great for him to see that he would be safe, even if it did flip over. And it was a lot more fun too!

One of Wyatt's favorite things up there is the kids snowmobile helmet.....he loves to ride both his and Sadie's bikes and pretend his is a BMX guy.

And Blake's favorite activity......mowing

KARTWAY......we go one time each summer and the kids talk about it all year long!

We had never played the mini golf course there, but Wyatt loves to play and had begged and begged, so we obliged and Kyle and Christy joined us. it's an 18-hole course, however, and we opted to end after 9!

Wyatt, Kyle and Sadie all got a hole-in-one during our round!

We had 2 extra tickets at the end of the night, so Wyatt and Sadie wanted to use them to ride these.......I guess it paid off that we don't have motorized toys at our house because they said this was their favorite part of Kartway this year!

more shooting...

early morning skiiing on glass

I am usually the designated photographer in the boat, but Matt snapped a few of me this year.

I noticed I look angry when I am skiing.....and I am actually having a lot of fun, but I was trying really hard to get some better cuts this year.

Now on to those elbow-skimming skiers!! I need to take some more tips from these guys

(love the reflection on the glassy water)

the eagle!!!! the wildlife up there is so beautiful!

Back to skiing....

What a handsome guy!

And an impressive skier!

(no comment)

Grammy and Sadie making breakfast for those hungry skiers about to come in!

Christy was taking off her toenail polish and Blake came over, sat down and put his feet right by hers

I didn't take many pictures of us swimming, but the kids have gotten to be such good swimmers this year that it was so much fun to play in the water everyday. And the water was so warm due to all the heat we have had this year as well, so it made it even more fun. Sadie loved jumping in and then swimming back to the dock on her own, without a life jacket on, but I asked her to please at least wear the tube in case no one was around her. I also tried to really enjoy the time with the kids in the water=no pictures and no camera because I was having fun!

Blake LOVED the wave runner....possibly more than any one else! He even fell asleep on it several times!

more wildlife!

more fun behind the boat..

love the free spirit of this girl!

Blake usually fell asleep once a day on the boat.....Tyler was trying to wake him up but it just wasn't happening!

some serious air!!!

The guys like wakeboarding when they are too tired from slalom skiing because it doesn't take as much endurance and is easier for them.

And then the battlewounds.....

(mine were from the spray off the slalom ski)

(Matt's were from barefooting.....and there were many more which can't be shown!)

The kids 'skiing' and 'wakeboarding'

We tried to get Wyatt to ski this year, since he is plenty old enough and definitely athletic enough, but his apprehensive personality just couldn't do it this year. He did go tubing, though, and had fun doing that. Maybe next year!

If you ask Blake to ski, this is what he does

Sadie's hairdo one morning

And our last day there, Sadie was so tired that she went under the table and laid down with her blankie.....poor thing was probably looking to lay down with Sugar.

As we were heading out, my in-laws neighbor arrived, via his 'float boat'. Wyatt and Sadie had been waiting to see it all week and we caught it just before we left!

Another great year in the books.......

(We do go up to Stormy throughout the summer, but we only spend one full week up there each year. And maybe next year it will be two! Who knows?)