Reconnecting

Last weekend my big brother Mick invited me to spend the weekend with his family at a lake resort about 2 hours from my place.  All of his kids and their spouses would be there with their kids - 8 adults and 5 kids under the age of 10.

I arrived Friday afternoon just in time to help prepare for supper.  My great-nephew Andy loved my fruit salad, making me love him even more than I already do.  The rest of the night was spent talking, laughing, and drinking beer and wine until the last arrivals rolled in.

Saturday we spent some time in the lake.  Although the resort was beautiful, this lake had a horrible algae problem, with clumps of it floating on top of the water.  It made me appreciate the lakes near me, which are clear.  Later in the day we all went for a pontoon ride around the lake, admiring the pelicans soaring overhead and the loons popping up near the boat.  We also found some not-so-nice things, like giant dead fish floating near shore. 

For supper, we had yummy steaks grilled over real charcoal - I can't remember the last time I had anything cooked on charcoal!  The campfire S'Mores were a bust since the skeeters were so bad, so we went in to play Phase 10 after the kids were put to bed.  There was lots of giggling, and several more bottles of wine disappeared. 

Sunday was golf day.  I don't golf, but I asked if I could drive the cart and be the beer girl.  I was told that my titles wasn't beer girl, it was "beer bitch".  The golf course alone was worth a trip - no houses built along the edge, you felt like you were in the middle of the North Woods.  The view from the 2nd hole was spectacular, where you could see the lake from a hill through the trees.

It was great fun until the rain started.  We went as fast as we could to the rain shack, but we were all soaked through by the time we arrived.  After 9 holes I had to say my goodbyes and head home, since I had to prepare for a trip to New York Monday.

The weekend brought back memories of childhood vacations spent much the same way on a lake, where the adults played cards, children played in the sand, the women spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing delicious meals, and everyone slept soundly, exhausted after fun days in the sun.