Vacation Fun at the Lake House

David playing at the train park

I just got back yesterday from going to the Lake House with the kids, my friend, and her four kids.  We planned this little getaway because my friend's husband was gone on a junior high boys canoe trip.  We ended up picking a fabulous weekend to go to the lake because it was festival weekend.

We left Thursday afternoon after swim lessons (our kids are taking lessons at the same pool).  Friday morning we walked to a park with a wooden train the kids can climb on, around, over, through.  They played lots of games running all over the train.  In the afternoon we took the kids swimming in Lake Michigan.  While we adults sat warmly on the beach, the kids alternated between splashing in the water and playing in the sand.  David dug a hole four feet deep that he could sit in.  Lizzy and Joy tried to build sandcastles.  My friend's one-year-old contented himself with eating sand.

Playing on the beach

Saturday was Take-a-Kid-Fishing day.  I decided to put my new worm-touching skills to the test and we took the kids.  It was a great event!  They gave every child a free t-shirt, a loaner fishing pole, and bait.  After fishing they served up a free lunch.  I touched a lot of worms and dodged a lot of flying hooks, but only Lizzy managed to snag a fish--a small largemouth bass.  Unfortunately, we were grossly under-prepared for getting her fish off the hook as I'd left the tackle box back at home (not that I would have touched the fish anyway).  The poor fish almost completely swallowed the hook.  I stood around doing my best to look like a damsel in distress praying a dad in our vicinity would take pity on me and offer to get the hook out.  Thankfully my ploy worked and a nice dad asked if I needed help.  It took two guys and a pair of pliers to free the fish, but eventually he made it back to the water.

Deer we saw while sitting out on the deck

After fishing we went to the Solstice Festival across the bay where they had a bouncy house and kids games.  The kids bounced, they played games and won silly prizes, but they had fun.  We went back to the house and ate dinner.  After dinner I was looking out the window and saw the resident eagle in the water (he lives on the sand dune across the bay from the house).  We pulled out the binoculars and watched the eagle walking around in bay on a sandbar.  He was making us laugh--he'd stand still with his feathers down and then he'd raise his wings up like a lady holding her dress out, walk a few steps, and then put his wings down.  Over and over he did this.  We must have watched him for a good half hour before he finally flew away.

Sandhill Crane in the bay

After bird watching we made s'mores over the stove.  I bought the fixings not taking into account the fact that I've never started a fire, my friend has never started a fire, and while the boys insisted they knew how, we didn't take them up on their offer.  I discovered that I actually prefer my marshmallows roasted over the glass top stove!  No smokey flavor.  The evening concluded with the kids running through the yard catching fireflies while waiting for the fireworks to start.  Around 10:45pm, it was finally dark enough to set off the fireworks.  They were beautiful and the kids loved them.

Sunday is was time to pack up, clean up, and head home.

Saturday before the fireworks, when we asked the kids their favorite thing from our trip, we got a variety of answers.

David--Swimming
Lizzy--Playing on the playground
Joy--Eating ice cream at the fishing event

My friends' kids answered very differently...
The 8 year old--Hooking mom with my fishing hook and getting a worm on her
The 6 year old--Hooking my brother with my fishing pole
The 4 year old--Hooking my brother (the other one) with my fishing pole

Clearly, flying fishhooks were the highlight of their weekend!

But after Saturday night they all agreed that the fireworks were the best part.

(These are all old pictures from vacations past because I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!!  But we did do or see all of these things, so I figured they'd fill in.)