Summer at the Lakehouse 2019
As you read this, I’ll be 30,000 feet in the sky headed back home after three weeks at the lake house. It was the recharge we had no idea we needed and I’m hoarding each memory made this month. We have thirteen nieces and nephews on O’s side and getting all the kids together always feels like magic. We’re the only ones that don’t live in the area and while we FaceTime and check in often, there’s just nothing quite like a sleepover, roasting s’mores by the campfire of running around the backyard for hours. Keogena and Oshiolema must have set a world record for how many times they can say the word “cousin” in a day because they’re just so thrilled to have time with them. I often look around the room and have one of those music montage scenes in a movie where the lighting is dreamy and everything moves in slow motion. When I met O, there were five grandchildren and here, ten years and eight more grandchildren later I feel the weight of how special these summer vacations are more each time. Here’s a peek into three weeks at the lake house.
Three weeks always seems like an eternity but really the full days and late nights make time pass far too quickly. Here are the seven highlights:
1. Clearing out clutter to prepare for a future renovation. We don’t know exactly when renovations on the house will begin seeing as we still need to buy/build our full-time home in Texas and continue renovating a few flip projects (read: saving pennies where we can) but the enormous project is one we think of often. We’ve had the house for ten years and my brother and law lived here for quite some time and designed the whole place a few months before O and I met. That on top of my in-laws being the ultimate hosts who like to keep the house stocked for whatever may come up meant the house just started collecting things and it felt so wonderful to fill two dumpsters with whatever wasn’t staying. I also got all new dish ware for the house which really felt like the start of something new. If High School Musical is now stuck in your head, you’re welcome.
2. Sleepovers galore. The kids had a wonderful weekend away sleeping over their cousin’s house in galore which gave O and I a vacation within our vacation. We also had a giant family sleepover where all kids and adults filled every floor, bed and couch in my cousin-in-law’s house and it felt so nostalgic I could have burst. I was up most of the night with both my niece and nephew so I got plenty of peeks at my whole crew sprawled across the floor-all my people in one place totally at peace. It was pretty magical and I can’t wait for the next one.
3. A day at Cedar Point. I shared some videos of Cedar Point on Instagram and so many of you were able to point out and recognize the rides we were on which is pretty impressive! O and his family grew up going to Cedar Point and has raved about it for years even going as far as telling me how much he preferred it as we walked through Disney World. I’m happy to report that while I do NOT do rides (shared my panic attack story here) I am always more than happy to carry bags, take photos, watch all the kids and be your hype-girl at the amusement park. We left our house at 6:50am, caravanned our way to the park, played the entire day and pulled into the driveway at 11:15pm. It was a full, exhausting, wonderful day.
4. A day at our little beach. We have a small beach near our house here and it’s full of rocks and seagulls and sharp sand but something about it feels vintage and lovely and transports me to a different time. We skipped rocks and shot some photos for Minnow swim which was lovely.
5. A family day at Seacliff beach. Now this was a beach day. We gathered some of the cousins together and dedicated a whole afternoon and evening to acting like kids. We skipped rocks and played football and built sand castles and passed out endless snacks and it was just perfect. The sunset absolutely blew me away and as we started that 40 minute drive home from the beach with the babes falling asleep in the backseat and the sky glowing sorbet all around us I couldn’t stop praising the Lord for his good, good gifts.
6. My first trip to IKEA. This needs no introduction. I only bought a lamp and some toy storage boxes but the day was a blast.
7. Seeing O recharged. We all know there’s nothing quite like coming home. In 10 years we’ve always come at least twice a year but last summer didn’t allow for a trip and moving to Memphis to coach football for the spring made a trip impossible too. Family is so incredibly important to us while we visited O’s sister and our brother in law in California twice last year and saw his parents many times, he hadn’t been home. Getting the whole group together is something we cherish and my guy is headed back to Texas with his love tank filled.
We love our little corner of the world here and already can’t wait to be back here early next year.
