finally some sun at the lake!

so far this year everytime we've come to our lakehouse it has rained and i haven't been able to take a kayak out onto the water or go for a swim in the lake.  but not this time!  it is beautiful up here today! the sun is shining - there is a little breeze - cooler temps (well in the 80s as opposed to upper 90s at home).  we took a sailboat out this afternoon, swam a bit in the pool and lake and had a competitive game of bean bag toss on the beach.  a major highlight was watching a watersnake completely swallow a dead sunfish.  we got to watch it from the moment it swam up to the fish to the final moment when he got spooked away by some crazy old grandmom and swam away with a fully ingested fish no longer visible.  the worst part - I HAD FORGOTTEN MY CAMERA AT HOME!!!!!!  lucky for me some nice man took my email address and offered to email his pics to me (i really hope he does b/c he got some great shots!!!  it was like the snake was putting on a private national geographic show just for us)

since i have no camera - here are some pics from a month or so ago.........since i basically take the same pics whenever we come up here - i was planning on taking some different types of shots this time around - but alas i'll have to wait until next time.

tomorrow we get to visit with friends who have a house about an hour north of ours.

they have a lakefront house

and a boat.

we are really excited about finally being able to connect with them up here.

what do you do if your headache won't go away?

go to mom and beg her to please do "the mal occhio"

(yep - bad grammar and all - but that's how we've always asked for it!)

it works everytime.........

and no its not snowing here in PA - far from it

i just wanted to remind myself how much i begged for this heat 5 months ago!

its hard work being beautiful..........

with 100 degree heat (and oppressive humidity) outside the best time to weed the patio is 7am

...before the sun hits the pavers

...and as you can see before i get out of my pajamas

but lately i don't mind the work. 

its quiet at that hour

even though i'm not the only one working

and when its all said and done

i can proudly stand back and admire my work

more 4th of july fun

with temps in the high 90s

celebrating the 4th in a pool was a perfect way to spend the day

july 4th

find the red, white and blue in your day!

beach week continues........biking, books

for whatever reason we don't tend to vacation alone as a family very often.  we are always traveling with another family or two.  there may be an occasional day trip or weekend trip where it is just us - but for the most part we are with others.  this week we decided to spend the week down the shore...alone.

the past couple of years i've had myself convinced that i am not a beach person.  i'm more of a mountains kinda girl - prefering leaf litter to sand.  but this week i've come to realize that its not that i don't like the beach - its that cleanup after the beach that i hate.  you see we bring too much stuff onto the beach...and once we get back to the house - i have to take everything out and hose it down and put it back.  then its washing the sand off the boys time.  and dealing with sandy bathing suits time.  sand, sand everywhere! all this made going to the beach the last thing i wanted to do when visiting the shore!!

now this is where my revelation comes in.  after lugging that contraption to the beach - and back home again - and taking it all apart - and hosing it down - and setting it out to dry................i've decided we really didn't use half that stuff.  all we need to bring are 2 chairs (the boys never sit on them), the boogie boards - and an umbrella.  that's it.  oh and a bag that zippers to keep my book sand free! (b/c try as i might...my virgo-ness can't handle all that sand everywhere.........)

blankets and towels - forget about it! jersey sand sticks like glue.  cooler of food and drinks? ok i guess but we don't usually spend all day on the beach and our house is close enough to walk back if we are really that hungry.  sand toys? the boys had a ball with nothing more than a big shovel........of course it helps that the boys are older now...as much as you want to keep them young - at times its so nice when they aren't!  so today i think we are just gonna hit the beach renegade style......everyone carrying what they need - so that mama gets some time she needs.......

one thing however that we do love to do while down the shore is bike. 

this is the first year the boys are confident riding on the road.  at home we don't live in a development so the boys ride on trails.  they don't get much - if any - road time.  down here we are about 10 blocks or so from the beginning of the bike path that leads to the boardwalk.  this year the boys didn't complain once (past years have been brutal) - and they kept up with us the whole time.  we have been riding every day and been a highlight for all of us.

i usually ride behind the others.  i absolutely love seeing my 3 boys together together ahead of me!

and finally - what books did i bring this week?

a little bit of this and little bit of that. 

beach or bay?

how does one choose between the two?

luckily....we don't have to choose. 

3 blocks to one - 3 blocks to the other.......

and us - smack dab in the middle

and we couldn't be any happier