At the Lake: Part Uno

Pin It

Our lakehouse. One of the best places in the whole entire world. It started out as a dusty dirt lot with a motorhome on it. That's where I had my third birthday and played Dick-duck-goose for the first time. Over the years, it has become the place we count down all winter to finally go to. We pack our bags with swimsuits and pajamas and head to the lake. It's five-hour-drive and the last hour is the longest. And still, I get excited when we turn the corner and can finally see it. Every summer, growing up, we have come here with our cousins. We'd all pack into cars with snacks and walkie-talkies. Right when we would get there, we would run down to the lake to feel the water with our feet, which I still do, every time. The grass has soaked up lots of melting popsicles and lake water from dumped lifejackets. And it's mowed every summer by my grandpa- holding a Diet Coke or sometimes a sleeping baby. We all learned to ski here and ride a wave runner. We have turtle races at the pond and go four-wheeling in the hills. We've snuck into the orchards and onto "secret" beaches. We've eaten lots of hot dogs and flank steak and watermelon. We've pull each other on rollerblades with jump ropes behind bicycles. We've built sandcastles and made "soup" with sand and lake water. On the Fourth of July we lay on the hills and eat pie and watch fireworks. We play kickball and make s'mores and eat my grandpa's buttermilk pancakes. We take lots of pictures of naked baby bums in sand and go through lots of sunscreen and aloe vera. We blast music and watch the boys wakeboard or play Crack-the-egg on the trampoline. It's where we made our first clubhouses- and climbed into our first tree fort- and opened our first "businesses" ($2 massages anyone?). We drive eleven hours from college for one weekend in the summer. We play kickball and jump off cliffs and swim to the deep part of the lake. We eat cherries in July and peaches in June and my grandma's cookies almost every day. We bathe the babies and rush to get a hot shower in the evening. We stay up late playing games and laughing. We are always sad to leave.

This was my first summer not bringing-a-boy-from-college-I-need-to-impress, not just-had-a-baby, and not pregnant. It was my first summer in a while I could do whatever I wanted! It was so nice. I wore my swimsuit and sweats and that's it! I never cooked- barely cleaned- and played all day. I stuck Jonah-with-a-naked-bum in the sand (which he hated), and taught Jax how to make lake soup. My grandma made pie and lots of cookies. My grandpa made homemade ice cream. I took Jax four-wheeling and we made lots of sandcastles. We found shells in the lake and fed the turtles. There were a few years back there I thought I couldn't build sandcastles anymore and look for shells in the lake. Now I have kids, so I get to start it all over again! Take me back.