Cabin Family Vacay

This year, we were one family member short for our yearly family vacation at Nana and Bumpa's cabin; Connor had two summer jobs and was unable to take even one day off.  We missed him!!!

We stayed for about a week and enjoyed time with Nana, Bumpa, Uncle Troy and Auntie Sarah, Uncle Cory, Sadie and Isaac, and the puppies (Max, Bailey - hiding during every photo opp, and Riley).

So first... the puppy pics!

It took a little while for Jango to get acclimated with the other pups again, but once he did, they played quite a bit.  And... when they got tuckered out, they laid like broccoli.

Now... onto pics of time spent with Nana and Bumpa!

Chillin' out on the back patio, playing with Kinetic Sand.

And inside, sitting on Bumpa's lap, playing Star Wars and chatting about heroes.

Bumpa has a nice raised garden out back with lots of delicious raspberries and strawberries.  The strawberries weren't ready to pick, but there were a ton of ripe raspberries.

And... lots of swimming of course!

Jango retrieved his duck while we swam.  And, if Ramsey got too far out, Jango would try to "rescue" Ramsey.   This is actually how Jango jumped off the dock for the first time; he thought Ramsey needed help and jumped right in!   We continued to throw the duck for him while he plopped off the dock to retrieve it.  Sidenote: He did this for ONE DAY.  The next day, he had decided he didn't want to jump off any longer (most likely because he hadn't quite gotten the hang of it and sunk right away before coming back to the surface).

I blew up the water trampoline (OMG that took forever!) and Daddy sandbagged it and put it in the water.

Ramsey and Eric played a game of "Swamp Monster" too.  Incidentally, Ramsey wasn't as thrilled when lake weeds were placed on his noggin!

While Isaac and Sadie were still at the cabin, we had to go tubing!  This was Ramsey's FIRST TIME tubing.   I was grateful that his nice cousins were there to help Ramsey be brave.  :-)

We promised Ramsey we'd go really slow. 

We trolled for a little while.  Bumpa gradually bumped the speed up.

When Ramsey would do "thumbs down" as to ask to decrease the speed, we'd all just wave at him and smile. hehe  

After a nice long ride, Ramsey seemed to be about "tubed out", so we reeled him in and let Isaac and Sadie go for a speedier ride.

They did everything in their power to try to get dumped.  The Big Mable isn't a "dumping" kind of tube though!

And now for some fishing pics....

A cold front had come through over the weekend.  It finally started to warm up more on Wednesday.  Eric, Bernie and I went out and caught some nice keeper fish.

In the evenings, Eric and I went out to try to slay during a night bite.  The views were gorgeous!

Evening 1 was beautiful and proved to be productive, given the weather was just starting to turn around.

The next evening, storms were rolling in around us.  The picture doesn't show it (at all - weird), but there were two rainbows behind me.  Stunning!

Admittedly, as the sky was dark, I was a bit uneasy, but Eric assured me we wouldn't get strike by lightning and die (ha!), so we stayed out.  And, we hauled in with a nice catch.

Our time at the cabin always seems to fly by so swiftly.  It's wonderful to be able to see family and spend our much-needed time away with loved ones.

Happy Independence Day!

 Happy Independence Day! 

Our Fourth of July pics this year don't include Connor.  He wasn't able to get off work to come join us this year.  :-(     So... just Ramsey this time in Nana and Bumpa's beautiful garden of flowers in the back and side yards at the cabin.

That evening, we enjoyed time together visiting and playing games (the kids and Nana played "Chicken Foot").

When it was dark, we donned our glow-in-the-darks.

Eric and Troy played Cornhole while neighbors lit of fireworks.

(Photo cred: Sarah)  ;-) 

The Circle

Ramsey was playing outside.  Eric was packing for our yearly trip to the cabin.  The boys came in and brought this little guy into the house.  He was lifeless, but still so very beautiful.

Ramsey could tell by my demeanor that my heart was saddened for this creature.  Also, whenever I see a dragonfly, I remember our sweet Peggy - dragonflies were her favorite.   Bittersweet memories. 

A dragonfly is a symbol of change, transformation, and self-realization.  It represents the love of life.  It represents rejoicing and having faith even amidst the utmost difficulties in life.  Its associated meaning is powerful.

Ramsey is a wise little boy though.  Knowing I needed a bit of consoling, he gave me a pat on the back and said, "Mom, it's OK.  It's the circle of life."

Ya buddy, ya it is.  

As long I am being sentimental here (and also speaking of our fine flying insect friends), here's another little story about my gone-too-soon sister-in-law, Peggy.

Peggy had battled ovarian cancer for 13 years before her body could fight no more.  During some of our conversations, I always told her, "When you cross over, show me a sign when you're there so I know you're all right.  Show me a purple butterfly."   That was our thing.  Her death was inevitable and my need to know [about the afterlife and her spirit] was strong.

On the day of her funeral, we went to the church to celebrate her life.  As I walked in to see all of the beautiful flowers that were sent by her friends, my eye immediately went to a beautiful bouquet.  And, as part of that bouquet was this:

A decorative purple butterfly.

Coincidence?   Or a sign?  It's easy to rationalize either way.  I like to think it's the latter.

I've kept it all of these years (it's been nearly seven - November 2nd, All Soul's Day, 2014).  Its long bendable wire used to stick down into one of my plants in the east-facing window of our living room.  The wire has since eroded.  Even in its rather faded and rickety state, it adorns a shelf in the family room downstairs where it will remain as long as it is intact.  

TV-Watching Doggie

"Life is a series of dogs." ~ George Carlin

Eric and I have known a lot of dogs in our lives.  This is the first dog either of us has known that will sit and watch TV with actual interest!  It's quite humorous, as most other dogs may have glanced at the TV a few times, but couldn't care less.

This pup was enjoying America's Got Talent/AGT with us this evening.

He seems to especially enjoy the dog acts!