Second Family Vacation

We had the privilege of two family vacations this summer. Our first was out west to Yellowstone and involved a lot of driving. Our second was much more relaxing and felt more like what a vacation should be.

We rented a cabin on a lake in northern Wisconsin for a week. We just kind of cocooned as a family and hung out together. We read books, individually and as a family, the girls worked on sudoko's and crossword puzzles, lounged in lawn chairs down by the water soaking in the warm sun, fished from the dock, went swimming in the lake, took a boat ride, rode a jet ski, went horseback riding, drove race cars at the Go-Cart track, and took lots of naps.

We had some adventures, too. Two mornings in a row we had a group of bats sleeping between the inside and outside doors to the cabin. The outside door was missing a screen which made it easy for the bats to move in. My husband was chosen as the one to rouse them out (as the girls and I were prepared to die in the cabin and never attempt to leave. I'll never forget him trying to pick one bat up with two very long sticks to toss it into the woods (it had a broken wing and couldn't fly)as we prayed he wouldn't get bit by the bat and have to endure rabies shots. We were able to avoid that situation.

The hot water heater decided to break during our stay and it was out of service for two days before getting fixed. Funny, how we take things like a hot shower everyday for granted until you can't have it.

I believe God used this experience to humble us because it was during these 'no shower days' that we were asked by another couple to ride on their boat with them and then go out to eat with them - at the fanciest restaurant in the area. To top it off, our youngest daughter had a complete meltdown in the restaurant which resulted in the biggest temper tantrum in the history of the world by a two year old. The stares of all the older people in the restaurant and their looks of "Why can't she control her child?" were contributing to my other problem of not having showered in two days.

As my husband keeps telling me, "These days will soon pass and I will miss them" so I will laugh about it now but it was not funny as it was happening.

I did want to mention though that by the end of the week my teenage daughter was initiating hugs with me and telling me she loved me. That hadn't happened in a long time so I guess cocooning as a family is just what she needed.

I am thankful! God has been very good to us!