Sunday, July 08, 2007

Vacation Re-cap!

WHEW! What a great week off! We could not have asked for better weather or a better time. Warning, this is a LONG update!
Friday evening before we left for nine days of fun and sun, we went to a going away party for a friend moving to AZ. We all had a really good time and I am going to be very sad to see Brenda go, but wish her all the best. It was a beautiful night and we had a great time, so I knew we were off on the right foot.








We got packed up and ready to get on the road Saturday morning, after a couple stops at grocery stores we were all set.


We got up to see my sister and her family and just had a blast with them. For my sister vacation in no cooking. Like she cooks anyway. But the boy and I had done some very crafty planning and planned every thing pretty much down to a science and we were prepared. I did most of the cooking while we were up there, but the first night we did get a pizza to share.
The guys went out and did some fishing, we climbed some cliffs, did a lot of floating in the water and reading, had some great fires and of course did a lot of eating and drinking. My sister had requested some of her favorites. My guacamole which we all love and a big green salad with a little bit of everything. The boy had requested a pasta salad that I make that has a little bit of everything in it so that was on the menu as well.
After a couple of days of letting the kids wear us out, we hit the road, checked out a couple of antique and junk shops along the way (no treasures though, I think we are both at the point where I have so many projects at home that need to get done, lets get those done first before we buy anymore, we didn’t even see anything to tempt us though). We stopped for some incidentals that we went through at the first lake or just plain forgot and then we got up to the lake. We were the first to arrive which was really nice because we had a TON to unpack and put away, a lot of food. We had planned for three dinners, and with 14 of us up there, it requires a lot of food.
Everyone slowly but surely trickled in, that night we were all on our own for dinners. Some had hamburgers, some hot dogs and some brats. The boy and I had stopped for a late lunch, so we threw a couple of brats on after we all went out for a pontoon ride around the lake.
It was nice that we could all be together up at the lake, it was the first time in a long time. Even the boys brother was able to get some time off of work and join us. He lives up on the Canadian border so we don’t see him that often.
Waking up on the fourth with all of the anticipation and excitement of a little kid, I could hardly wait to get ready for the day and put on my red, white and blue dress I had packed, just for the parade viewing that morning.
I had been told that there was a cute little parade that went around the lake and could hardly wait for it to start. Who can resist front row seats to a small town parade where a bunch of candy gets thrown?
They also had one of my all time favorite cars in the parade. What preppy girl can resist a classic Triumph?
We had decided on kebobs for dinner, so I got a few different kinds of meat marinated in different marinades. Pork, beef and chicken. I got all of the veggies cut up and then we all sat around the table skewering them. It was a lot of fun and the first time they had all made them. They were quite the hit too, something different is always nice, and before we went up we all commented on how we wanted to try to stay away from the whole burger and dog thing as much as we could. I brought up some of my fresh herbs as well which really helped with the marinades that I did.
Every day was more gorgeous than the one before, we truly were so very lucky. We had such a good time just hanging around enjoying one another, playing yard games,
floating in the water,
and having some great bonfires.
At the end of the day on the fourth, we all headed down to the end of the dock and onto the pontoon, to start our evening of fireworks, it was the perfect end to a very memorable 4th of July!

Lunches got tricky up at the lake, as a group we did not plan for those very well, we all just kind of brought dinners. Luckily we could improvise. The boy’s brothers girlfriend brought a wonderful gigantic pot of pasta fajioli soup. Here is the recipe. I don’t think about soup very often during the summer, but this with breadsticks was perfect. The kids as well as the adults really can work up an appetite with all of the swimming going on. For dinner I cooked up some BBQ ribs. I parboil mine first in a big pot with water, onion, seasonings and some beer. We had picked up some corn on the cob so that with a baked potato really hit the spot.
We all headed over to his brothers “shack” for a bonfire that night.
He has a place about three miles away and while it is not on a lake, it is across the street from a lake and is very wooded. We had a great time and I brought along this book called Zobmondo, that has a lot of gross and interesting “would you rather” questions in it. We all had some really good laughs about that, there was also a lot of information shared that probably didn’t need to be shared, but it sure was funny. A lot of the questions provoked some great conversations and really gave us some great insight to one another. What also made it great was it was something that everyone could participate in since we ranged in age from 9 to 70. I also went on my first ATV ride that night. I let the boys nephew who is 14 drive. It was a lot of fun, but I can see how those would be very dangerous, especially for young boys.
Taco bar was on the menu for lunch the next day. What a great thing for a large group of people. I also whipped up another batch of my guacamole, look for my recipe of the week for the recipe later this week! Oh how I love me some good guac!
The boys sister and her two girls left later that afternoon. I was sad to see the girls go, but we did have a lot of fun together. The boys niece Emily had the cutest swimsuit with the Jolly Roger. I guess since she probably weighs about 60 ponds that helps! Their brother Zach stayed to play with the rest of the boys.
We all had more fun in the sun,
drinks and some good eats.
Later that evening the boy and I decided maybe it might be nice to get out on our own. I guess after 7 days straight of a lot of people and activity we needed some downtime. We got cleaned up and headed over to the Pine Inn which is a local watering hole.
We had a couple of cocktails and watched the Twins devour the White Sox, great game. We had a good time mixing with the regulars and such. The crowd was good and cheered on the Twins, but there wasn't a lot of Lilly there! A great place all the same.
Our last full day of vacation was the hottest day yet. In the cities they recorded temperatures in the 100’s.

We definitely hit the high 90’s so the majority of the day was spent in the lake, Frisbee,
swimming,
skiing,
tubing
and just relaxing.
I think most of us stayed in the lake the whole day. I grilled some salmon with a mango chile salsa and made the boys pasta salad again and we just relaxed our last full day away. His brother and his girlfriend along with her two boys headed back later that evening and we had a perfect ending to our last full day on the water. We headed into town for an ice cream. We had seen earlier in the week that the feature flavor was New England Cream and Blueberries. MMMMM. Our last sunset was also beautiful and we enjoyed that as well.
The next morning we woke up, dreading having to go back after a fun filled nine days off, but it was cloudy, windy, overcast and chilly, so I guess the weather was telling us something as well. We cleaned things up, got the truck packed up and headed down the road, his parents and nephew Zach leading the way. We stopped off for a late lunch early dinner at the great little place we had found earlier in June and then got back home for laundry and catching up on emails and such.
I am off now for a week in Green Bay, but I will post and catch up with the rest of you when I get the chance. The boy has drills next weekend, so I will be busy getting some things done and caught up on, then in two weeks it is back to the lake for the weekend!

8 comments:

Libby said...

That was an awesome recap Jilly! What a *perfect* summer vacation at the lake. We used to play a lot of "would you rather" type games too- good stuff!

(ps: the two of you look completely adorable at the going-away-party)

lisagh said...

Wow! What a great week. One picture is more lovely than the next, but I just LOVE that pic of you and the boy at the going away party. You look gorgeous!

Suz said...

Sounds like a wonderful vacation - you certainly fit a lot in. Glad you had such a great time, thanks for sharing.

Tres Poshe Preppy said...

What a fun time! Great photos! Yes, I agree that the photo of you two is just beautiful! Glad you had a great time!

RED said...

wow! What an awesome vacation re-cap! Looks like you had a fabulous time! I'm with L - each picture is just better then the last!
And, are those chairs on your skirt in that one picture? BEcause if it's as awesome as it looks I think I need to know were you got it from - super cute! Love your look for the going away party - the black necklace looks so sharp!

Kimba said...

GREAT RECAP!!!!!!!

I love the chairs in the water!

You are just such a cutie!

tulipmom said...

I'm glad to hear you had such a fabulous time at the lake. From the looks of your pictures, it was a vacation you won't soon forget!

Meg said...

Such great pictures...you have spoiled us!! I love the picture of you and the boy on the rocks. Looks like you have such a nice family, Jilly!

 
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