Before I say anything, I have to put my official disclaimer out there that a good portion of these pictures aren't taken by me. I even found a bunch on my camera that I didn't take, and I'm so grateful for Amber, Dan, Debbie, and others who posted pictures online that I could steal for my own use :)
Twin Lakes. It's just a super fun vacation that I look forward to every year. We didn't go in 2016 when we had a new baby and were moving, so I was even more excited this year. There are so many family members and pseudo-family members that we only see at the Lakes, and I desperately want my children to have that same experience of growing up with their cousins (and second, third, once or twice removed, not even related but we call them cousins...) with the independence and safety of Twin Lakes.
On Friday morning I loaded our car, and we pretty much just sat around waiting for family to get to our house. We are a little more than an hour away from Spokane, where we used to stay in a hotel and do grocery shopping, so we have become the pre-lake gathering place, which I totally love.
I asked Carter to help me load the towels into the under seat storage, and he climbed up like this and said 'OK Mom, I will help by sitting here and you can laugh at me while you load the car.' Done and done :)
We had some pizza, stayed up late playing games, and were officially ready to go in the morning. This crowd drove to Spokane in the RV that my parents rented. Olivia was super excited to be included with the big girls and not to have to use a seatbelt :) Mom and I rode up in Alex's car (he was staying 1/2 the week so he needed his car to get home. Alex, Dan, the Grover boys, and my three youngest stayed at home for another couple hours to play and get out of the house slowly.
Mom and I were ahead on the drive up to Spokane, and we saw the start of a fire on the side of the highway. We couldn't really do anything to help, so we called in the fire and kept driving (it was on the opposite side of the highway). A few minutes behind us, my dad realized that he had 50 gallons of water in the RV, a fire extinguisher, and a little more knowledge about how to help. So they found the closest turn around and went to fight the fire until firefighters got there. They mostly worked with a few other couples (one of which sacrificed beautiful blankets from their car) to prevent the fire from reaching a nearby house. Amber held the hose up to the sink, Tash took out the extinguisher, and Maely documented their adventure. The firefighters arrived soon to take over, but not before my dad had melted his shoes and burned all the hair off his legs. Olivia won't soon forget getting to help put out a fire, and we were able to see on the drive home that the fire didn't damage the nearby house at all.
We used Walmart's grocery pickup (somewhat successfully...) for most of our groceries, so after half an hour of grabbing produce and deli stuff, we were ready to go. It really is amazing how organized my mom and Dalita are about food for 30ish for the entire week. We had some great Walmart reunions with the Stays, and we were ready to head up to the lake.
My mom needed something from Cheney (about 20 minutes away) so we headed in Alex's car again and left him with all the younger kids. Zach was amazing and offered to drive with him and help with snack tossing and sippy cup hunting for the 2ish hours left in the drive.
My mom and I ended up 1 ferry behind them, so we didn't see them until we arrived, but Amber took these great pictures of the kids waiting for the ferry.
I feel like it's always a comedic event unloading into the cabin. There are so many different things that go in different rooms (or tents, or cars, or boats) but everyone works together and makes it all happen. I took my standard place at the can cupboard and organized the food according to meal while others made sure produce/fridge items were labeled by meal or for snacks, checked off each item that we needed, moved blankets/pillows/suitcases to the correct rooms, and got kids sunscreened and ready to swim :). Before too long we were all headed down to enjoy the afternoon greeting everyone we hadn't seen in a year or more.
Hunter is a total outside/water kid, he loves everything about it. He takes after his dad that way :)
I loved seeing this...Olivia and Teagen were 'snorkeling' (without snorkels) for treasures, just like their dads do each year :)
The tight grip on the arm of someone with a camera is a dock symbol for 'I don't want to be pushed in'. It is pretty successful, but certain uncles have their way around this rule :)
Makenzie was quick to work up her courage to jump off the dock :). I am really glad that the kids had swim lessons and a week at Black Butte before the lake, it definitely helped their comfort level in the water.
Wonderful older cousins (Lily and Maggie) who will catch her even when they don't have life jackets on :)
Megan and Carter got to work on the 'hot tub' that appears every year. The kids have a blast creating different games and structures with the rocks and sand by the water.
Enjoying some sister time, and perfecting our selfie faces, per the usual.
Caleb, Olivia, Maely, Teagen, and Kade playing Forbidden Island while they all waited for dinner. Pictures like this are my favorite. Cousins, cousins once removed, ranging in age from 6 to 13; all just playing together, teaching the younger ones, and having fun
SODA!!! The 1/2 soda she is allowed each day is one of Olivia's very favorite things about the lake. and 2 months later she is ready to go back so she can have soda more :)
After the kids were in jammies, we played a quick game of Uno Flash. I definitely realized that my older kids are ready for some older games, we have been playing toddler games forever and their game skills are surpassing the games we regularly play.
I honestly can't remember what we did after the kids went to bed that night, but I'm sure there were snacks and games and laughs involved :)
Sunday morning we relaxed and hung out before breakfast. That morning we have brunch with all the Twin Lakes Family, so the kids eat cereal early, and we always debate whether or not to get them dressed for church. Alex and I decided that semi-dirty at church was a risk worth taking, so we got everyone in their church clothes. The attire at breakfast is very much mixed :)
All the little ones enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's RV, especially the secret little bed on top. We have expanded and outgrown the Grand Cabin, so were really grateful for this extra space. I'm sure the space dilemma will be solved in different ways each year :)
O was totally thrilled to have Lily braid her hair :) my braiding skills aren't up to her standards, but older cousins can do no wrong ;).
M playing with cousin once-removed Caleb
Mid-morning pancake brunch. Thank you so much to the Sorensons for starting this tradition, and to Kristin for coordinating it each year! It's a wonderful way to see everyone just as they are arriving, and to try to guess which kiddos go with each set of parents. I might get it eventually, but the kids keep multiplying, so probably I will remain clueless :).
A miscellaneous group of Romrell and Sorenson cousins started up some hand and foot games. This early in the week feet games are pretty safe, but about Tuesday and Wednesday it's time to steer clear...
I can't even count how many times each day Amber and I see each other this way :) I'm so grateful for pictures to steal and the reminder to pull my camera out dozens of times throughout the week :)
Haha I wasn't involved with this picture at all, but here is my sasquatch husband :) The likeness is incredible ;).
After breakfast, we had a couple hours to hang out before church.Most of our prep was done, the girls had hair done and we just had to try to keep everyone out of the dirt :). Amber pulled out Trivial Pursuit cards, to an echo of groans from everyone except Dad. She kept pulling them out throughout the week, asking people to answer a card. I don't know how the scores all worked out, but I remember that Zach and Alex tied for the lead, and I got a measly 1 right. Thanks Amber, for proving your nerdiness and for the fun new game idea!
Kids on the stairs is one of the cutest, and most terrifying, things about the Grand Cabin. These gaps may not be up to code, but they make for an adorable picture backdrop!
At church we all gathered around and did introductions of each of the family members. This is one of my favorite parts, because we get little updates from the parents and get to hear little snippets of accomplishments from the last year.
After church, we napped and relaxed and let our two most organized boys sort the playing cards :). Seriously though, these two played together throughout the week and were caught just laughing together many times.
Corn husking and playing with cousins. Olivia was funny the first few days jumping from one group to the next, trying her best not to miss out on anything :).
Amber and I walked out of her cabin when they were getting settled in (they don't get their cabin until Sunday afternoon) to find the boys playing on the cabin, and she said 'boys, smile for a picture'. They immediately started running around and jumping down without saying a word. After a little while they slowed down enough to tackle each other into a hug on the ground :)
Sunday is a day of games and chatting but no water activities, and this girl had a really hard time with that. She is a total fish, and was ready to live in the water for the week. This picture really shows the beauty of our surroundings though. I already can't wait for 10 months from now when we get to return
Carter (and Kade) had a different approach. Instead of gazing longingly, they snuck down as close to the water as they could get without their toes actually getting wet. I'm sure they were told to get back onto the shore after taking this cute pic.
Just prior to the lake, we got a new lens for our camera. It was an unplanned purchase that we can thank an unnamed child with a temper for, but the lens is super cool, with a much wider zoom range, so Dan spent some time checking it out :)
The dinner pictures are in a backwards order for some reason, but I'm too lazy to switch them....so sorry!
Zach and one of his many photo bombs in front of Jeremy and Star :)
Another photo bomb attempt, but I really have no idea what the rest of this picture is either, so it's all good :)
These sweet girls had fun the entire week. I feel so grateful for fun cousins who include Olivia in all their adventures (they are all about 3 years older) without missing a beat or causing the drama that I know I caused when tasked with the same problem as a kid.
And for fun older brothers with a photobomb!
The guys were busy grilling...
After dinner, Blake hung up a couple of his huge hammocks that can hold an unlimited number of people :) we tested out this theory and got 8 bodies in before the middle person was actually sitting on the ground :)
The Sorensons had a nice game of baseball going that some of our boys joined. I took the littler kids around on a walk before bed, which gave me ample time to talk with my sisters, mom and aunts that I saw along the way, and gave the kids enough time to get their Sunday clothes totally muddy before getting changed :)
We also got to play with third cousin Dakota! You can barely see Hunter's pants through the mud, but they were all having fun getting to know one another.
Game night! We had a group of 30ish all playing group games, and competition was fierce :)
The midnight swim is an awesome tradition to swim at midnight on Sunday, because it's technically Monday :). O desperately wanted to join her cousins, but this was one time when the difference between 6 and 9 is pretty great. I tried to wake her up for a few minutes but she wasn't budging. I told her to try again next year...
A bunch of swimmers, and at least twice as many spectators, headed out to the dock at about 5 til and tried not to let our voices carry across the entire lake :)
Some of the older swimmers (we were joined by some Sorensons who aren't pictured)...
and the younger ones.
The rest of the days have a lot less pictures, but our adventures were just beginning :)
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