We had an awesome two week vacation at the cottage this year. Week 1 was our family week. The ten cousins, aged 11 months to 12 years, had a fantastic time together, and we parents thoroughly enjoyed how mature the group is getting and how well the kids play together. The "little kids," Mazie, Olivia, and Crosby, played at being pirates:
and generally required very little supervision. We still watched them while they were in the water, of course, but even there they're getting to be pretty strong little swimmers (and acrobats):
so our job as parents has gotten pretty easy! The weather was fabulous -- the hottest week we've had up there for a while, but with temperatures in the low 90s it was still a wonderful break from the heat wave and wildfires back home, and the lake provided a perfect escape from the heat. Like last year, Nana joined us for part of the trip... she arrived on the 4th and wasted no time jumping in to the fun!
And of course, Athena kept us all entertained and enjoyed being passed around to all her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
She even took her first steps on the porch/deck overlooking the lake!
On Saturday July 7th the Dickinson crew moved out and our friends arrived for Week 2! Following the reunions we held at the cottage in 2009 and 2010, the 2012 event was much anticipated... and our numbers have increased substantially since that first trip! In 2009, the Booher-Mitas, Ekblad-Gray, Lupien, Collins, and Dickinson crews were in attendance, and the 10 adults fared pretty well looking after just 2 kids (Mazie -1 year, and Miles - 2 years). In 2010, the Lupiens and Collinses were both home with newborns and didn't make the trip, but the Smiths were able to join the rest of us with their 2 sons (Tobin - 4 years, and Evan -1 year), giving us a 2:1 ratio of adults: kids. This year, newborn Mallory kept the Collinses close to home once again, but the other 5 families made the trip... and found that our advantage over the children, in terms of numbers at least, has been whittled away to nothing. 10 adults, 10 kids, and with those children aged 6 (Tobin), 5 (Miles), 4 (Mazie), 3 (Evan), 2 (Sarah Beth), 1 (Ada), 1 (Lauren), 11 months (Athena), 6 months (Hazel), and 4 months (Silas), we were plenty busy taking care of children! I had one moment when I needed to help Mazie with something and was holding Athena, so I turned to find someone to hand her off to -- an incredibly easy task during the family week with Athena being the only baby -- only to find that every single one of the women I was with was holding a baby of her own! We played a week-long game of musical naps, with one baby going down for a nap as another one woke up... I'm guessing there were only 3-4 hours each day when the whole crew was awake! Here we are during one of those rare moments:
Of course, we thoroughly enjoyed the chaos and had an absolutely wonderful time swimming, relaxing, and chatting together. The big kids played very nicely together, with very few exceptions, and we even managed some fun grown-up time around the campfire each night after the hoard of children went to sleep (although every 10 minutes or so one of the 47 baby monitors would squeek and one parent or another would have to take leave of the group for a while).
It's a pretty amazing group of friends, and we feel incredibly honored that everyone made the trip happen again... plans are already underway for the 2013 reunion!
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