It was decided that some people would take an evening sunset fishing trip out on the lake.  Many children, three grown ups and a dog climbed aboard the pontoon.  Now, the first thing you need to know is that the pontoon is an old and crumbling, yet appreciated boat.  You…

At the cabin hair gets wet in the lake and blown in high speed wind on jetskiis.  Showers are optional and maybe a bit scarce, so hair gets interesting.  Auntie Dot swoops in to save the day with her mad-hairbraiding skills.  She can do every kind of braid in existence:…

Possibly my favorite part of our cabin weekend this year was that my oldest niece brought her trumpet!  She happens to be a terrific trumpet player and was practicing some important music for the start of school.  She actually plays Great Grandpa McGinty’s trumpet, which was handed down to her…

Back by popular demand:  the annual cardboard boat race!  This year we divided the crew into three teams:  two teams mixed multi=age children and teenagers, and one team of grown ups.  Grandma Kathy and Papa Richard observed.  Auntie Amy Iowa was the unofficial moderator.  Uncle Don was the duct tape…

Ranking high on my cuteness scale:  three small kids wearing almost matching life jackets out for a slow ride on the hot dog.  Cousin time doesn’t get much better.  

Auntie Amy Texas gave this little one a xylophone.  You should have seen him go to town!  He was a xylophone slamming maniac, and all the pounding was accompanied by some amazingly throaty, yet sometimes screechy vocals.  He performed with gusto.  

These two nieces of mine look so much alike that they could be sisters.  

She ran up to me and asked if I’d like to take pictures of her pretty dress.  Of course!  It brings me great joy that she requests to twirl and smile at my camera.  She and I had a lot of fun reading books together and snuggling after she woke…

Papa Richard got a slide for the cabin, much to the delight of the small cousins!  The big cousins love it too, but the small ones spent hours and hours climbing up and whooshing down.  Their favorite thing was to bounce off the slide onto the winged floaty tube for…

They might be the rats of the air, but they are more beautiful than a ground rodent.