Chelan Spring 2009

We've been back home for at least a week now so it's high time for a re-cap of our time in Lake Chelan!

We enjoyed unseasonably warm weather during the first two days. It was 80 degrees, people. I turned on the air conditioning. I'm not a warm weather gal, really. We scoured the beach for rocks and tiny shells with Grammy and Gammy Carol and Gammy Linda or Mimi as I think she prefers to be called. These special ladies are my mom and her sisters. We all get confused- what are we supposed to call you?


Springtime at the lake is quiet, especially mid-week and we had the whole beach to ourselves. We brought the boys' bikes and Mercy's baby stroller for walks and enjoyed staying in the big three bedroom unit all by ourselves! (Usually, we happily share this unit with my parents and maybe my sister and brother. Since it was just the 6 of us, we were able to put Josiah in his own suite all by himself instead of in the master bathroom in his packnplay.)

Here we can see Michael and his rocks, big and small.


Daddy's birthday occured mid-week! We spent his day building forts on the beach with driftwood. There's Daniel before it was completed up there. One of Bob's specialties as a parent is his ability to really play with the kids. He and the boys spent a long morning firing at Star Wars bad guys from the safety of their space ship. Here we are with his cake. Do you recognize that video game controller cake? Yes, it's the NES controller decorated with cereal and chocolate frosting.



Josiah likes the sand!


Wait, no he doesn't. (Get used to it, bud. We're coming back here in July... and October!)


We were joined by our fun friends after a day or so! What a great combo for vacation- big spaces to play outside and special people to play with! We are so excited that this worked out for both families.

Kids in the spaceship fort...



To me, this looks like the three oldest boys having a discussion on "how it's gonna be" in the game they are playing. I love that my kids are friends with these kids!


Josiah and I are having a little chat halfway up the hill to the condo. I'm really starting to waddle around during this pregnancy and that's a big hill so I guess I had to stop and rest. If you look into the distance in this picture, you'll see the big boys playing at the fort. We could see them from our condo... When my cousins were middle school and high school ages, we would all come here together during the summer week and wander all over the resort. My Grandma Jane would sit up on the grass in front of the condo with her binoculars so she could watch us.



We took some great walks, played an impressive game of mini golf and made it our habit to spend the time between naptime and dinner at the indoor pool. The golf game was impressive to me because our group of four adults and eight kids eight years old and under dominated the entire course for atleast an hour. I think that's a long time for a group with such varying attentions spans to spend doing anything!

The big boys did some "real" golfing. Several children employed the golf and wander method. I don't think I saw anyone using their club as a weapon... I am not a mini golfer myself but I enjoyed the job of occupying my youngest two while the group played. This mini golf course has remained largely the same since I first began coming with my family as a little girl. I've always thought it was funny that the first hole requires that you hit the ball into a miniature outhouse.

Since I don't have any neat golfing or swimming pictures I'll share this one of all the kids lined up with their ice cream. Can you believe that two more little people will join this group this year?!

I'm so thankful for this retreat and for the opportunity to be there mid-week with family and friends! Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jane had the right idea when they saw this place as a family gathering spot. We'll be benefitting from their generosity to us for years to come- Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!