This past weekend we spent up north by Aitkin, MN at Cedar Lake. It was a gorgeous lake with crystal clear water. There were 25 of us Carters either by blood or marriage and fun was had by all! Whether you liked to sit and relax on the beach, go scuba diving, build sand castles, or knee board we had it going on:) Dan was able to sneak away and come up on Friday afternoon. He had planned to stay until late Saturday afternoon, but got one of those calls you hate to get and had to rush back. A PLC member had died of what they think was a heart attack at 60 years old. A very sad day for the community of Paynesville. We were sad to see Dan leave, but at least he made the family picture!!!
My cousin Katie helped Svea fish off the end of the dock. I think her smile says it all:) I was so thankful she did that with her since I couldn't:) My family was awesome at helping me when I was on my own and helped us give Svea a ton of great experiences in and around the water!
Our beach was fantastic! Tons of sand, shallow water to swim with a sandy bottom and no weeds until it got up to your waist, which kept all of the kids away from the 25 foot drop off beyond that...whoa!
Kieran was super busy at the beach and enjoyed climbing up and down on the chairs, playing in the sand, and getting into items that were placed on the retaining wall behind the beach. Mama was BUSY making sure he was safe and not putting rocks in his mouth. I kept his paci in his mouth at all times to help with that!
Svea kept asking and asking for a "boat ride"! I told her I would take her once her Dad got there. As soon as he arrived and were down on the beach together we went. She had to bring her baby with and loved it the whole time. She was very quiet at times and loved to go by the "weeds" and lily pads.
See her baby? I was so paranoid she'd lose it and would be devestated. We kept her safe though and she made it safely to shore.
Kieran gets so smiley and giggly everytime he sees Uncle Scott!
Daddy's here!!! Even if it was short he enjoyed his time there. I was exhausted and went to bed early that night, but he stayed up late with my cousin Josh and Cindy (we shared a cabin with them) and they formulated a plan for a get together with them this fall. I hope we can make it happen! I think this picture of the two of them is adorable!
The view from our cabin. We were way up a steep hill. Svea would walk down and up all by herself. "I strong, Mama" she would tell me:()
Can you see the beach way down there? See where the grass cuts off...that's where the earth drops 34354 feet. That's a lie. It's about a 25 feet, but almost straight down.
Right in the middle of the property they had this funky rustic looking barn. Apparently there are living quarters above it, but they were not for rent.
All of the cousin's kids! Left to right....Baby Lydia, Quinn, Owen, Svea, Sophie, Kieran, Jonah, Lara, and Luke!
All seven of us back together again all at the same time on a dock. It happened 28 years ago out at Big Pine for my Grandparents Anniversary. I'm guessing it was their 40th at the time??? Me, Jill, Amy, Josh, Katie, Joe, and Kelly.
My Aunt Connie giving Svea a little ride:)
Jill and Matt with Joe's baby Lydia. Lydia is 7 months and does not even remotely crawl yet. I remember when Svea was this young and didn't even attempt to crawl until 10 months. I was jealous of Lydia's parents and wished for one weekend Kieran could only sit and not move! Ha! Both babies had great weekends (during the day) and were so good, happy, and content. Nighttime was another story, but that's not the most important story. Jill turned 35 weeks on this day!!! Their baby boy will be here soon!
A large crew headed out for a boat ride. I never made it, but Svea did twice with one of my aunts and Daddy.
Kieran and I hanging out and eating some cereal. One of our many relaxing moments!
Svea wouldn't even touch the water at Lake Lida two weeks ago. The first two days at Cedar Lake she MAYBE allowed her feet to get wet. By the end of Saturday my Aunt Jane had her in the water throwing rocks. She was super giddy and having a great time. After this all fear of the water was gone. See photo below:)
When I asked her at the end of the night what he favorite part of the day was she said, "Swimming Lessons"! I asked her who her teacher was thinking it would be me, but it was "Tophie" who you see at the bottom right. She was swimming around us with goggles on. She is obsessed with her and loves her to pieces! Svea let me do this and float on her back. At one point she put her head back and closed her eyes and just smiled. We might have a fish! We'll see:)
After about a half hour she started shivering, but she wouldn't get out. I had to eventually drag her out and wrap her up in towels to get warm. The beach chairs from Gaga were a hit! I think every little kid there tried them out and loved them.
Lydia and her mama Andrea. I was disappointed her bib was in the way.
Saturday was my Aunt and Uncles 40th wedding anniversary. They played the newly wed game. It was pretty fun!
Svea (2.5) and Sophia (5) Svea keeps saying, "I 2 and a half now. I a big girl"!
Last night at the campfire! Kieran's baby monitor would reach all of the way down that incredibly steep hill and farther than his baby monitor has ever made it before. I was astounded, but also thankful that we could still hang out with my family down at the beach after he went to sleep. Svea handled going to bed at 10:00 every night like a champ! She napped 2 out of the 3 days and slept in a room with Quinn and Sophia. They each had their own twin bed and she did so good minus the first night...but that's another long story that just makes Mama tired thinking about it:)
My cousin Amy, her husband Erju (he's from Turkey) and their 2 year old Lara...not Laura...Lar-a. She's super cute with little ringlets and talks very well for her age!
Quinn being Quinn, which means just like her Dad Josh:) Jill's husband Matt! I can't wait to see how handsome their baby boy will be! Matt was drinking Moscow Mule's all weekend. It's vodka, ginger beer, and some lime juice. Did you know ginger beer is N/A? Well Dan didn't and when he saw Matt making himself a drink and pouring a full beer and a shot of vodka in together he just about fell off his chair. They had a good laugh:)
I a twirly girl! The "dirty girl" phrase has been solved people. I didn't understand how when I would tell her that she wasn't a dirty girl she'd say, "No, Mama I'm not icky"! Twirly...twirly...got it;) Here she is dancing, singing, and twirling in the grass outside the ring of chairs around the fire. Nonstop singing and dancing all weekend just like at home!
Big group of Carters! We had a blast and I was sad to go. We made a ton of great memories and are already hoping to plan another one possibly at the same place. It was crazy 70's and our cabin was only missing a disco ball, but for what we were there for it was perfect. We even had a half moon shaped green couch! One of my favorite parts of the weekend was something Dan told me. He had stayed up until 2:30 in the morning hanging out (solving the world's problems with Josh and Cindy) and Josh had teared up and talked about how I was like a sister to him and his siblings. I'm so happy that I have such awesome cousins. I don't feel deprived being an only child when I have them:)
Kieran played in my suitcase while I packed up all of our stuff! Until next year!!!
