Away From It All...

There are certain places that hold vivid memories for me, memories deeply rooted in my soul, and the minute I felt the crunch of pine needles under my feet and breathed in the fresh air I felt a rush of emotions. My grandparent's house in Maine is where I spent the majority of every summer during my childhood. It is where I learned to swim, where I laid in the hammock and read book after book, where I collected seashells and built sandcastles, and most importantly, it is where I spent time with my family every summer. No matter how busy our everyday lives were, when we were at "The Camp" the real world fell away.

There is nothing more beautiful than looking out at the lake in the early morning. I stood in my grandma's kitchen with my Dad, sipping coffee and catching up, as the rest of the house started to wake up.

I love that the living room windows are almost always open, letting the fresh breeze off the lake float through the house.

The dinner bell is guaranteed to bring the kids running, whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

The front porch still has the same wooden circle with our family name and has the name of our cove: Pirate Cove. There's even a sunken boat!

The men congregated on the dock, talking about boats and making sure things were level before they backed my Dad's boat down the ramp.

We lounged on the beach, looking out at the lake and because we could...we jumped in...in our pj's. We all laughed and swam around, jumping, flipping, and we were all just so happy to be there, to be together.

The boys worked on screwing boards together and making sure the dock was secure.

We could not have asked for better weather. Sunshine, swimming, laughter, that was our day.

We have one of the last natural beaches on the lake, where we made sandcastles and sifted through pretty rocks.

My Dad worked on the 3-wheeler, which you can always find someone zipping around on, down the trails and through the woods.

We were excited to have a weekend to spend in Maine but we were nothing short of ecstatic when we found out that Lauren, Drew, and Matt were coming up! It was just like old times, ALL of the cousins were together. Opportunities like this don't happen often with all our crazy schedules. So we took the opportunity, with both hands, and we had an amazing time.

There was wakeboarding and waterskiing.

And as if our memories came back to life, we all stood with mouths wide open as we saw the ice cream boat cruise around the cove. We waved it down and even Grampy had to go investigate. When we were little we loved when the ice cream TRUCK came around, but the ice cream BOAT was ten times better. Like most things, the ice cream boat only lasted a few years. The kids that ran it grew up and moved away and every summer we talked about how we missed it, so imagine our surprise when it was resurrected and showed up on our beach!

My Dad bought everyone ice cream...because he's the best Dad ever.

And Grampy insisted on taking a picture of all "the kids". There were ten of us. And looking at this picture brings tears to my eyes. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, to childhood, when things were simpler. I have such love for every single person standing on that dock. We're all growing up, and fast. There is not one of us who is a child anymore but I truly hope that we stay close and even if it only happens every once in a while, I hope we keep our memories alive, and one day bring our own kids up here.

We spent most of Sunday on the boat. We all took turns tubing, hanging on for dear life as my Dad turned the wheel with a devilish grin, sending us flying through the air laughing hysterically.

The sun was shining, the water was cool, and there was a lot of laughter.

Sahara LOVED the lake. She loved giving Bethany kisses even more.

We spent the entire weekend outside, under the crystal blue skies. We never even thought about TV and only went inside to eat and sleep.

We read magazines and books...

we spent time with our loves...

we enjoyed the beauty of being 'away from it all'.

And though we have all grown up and a lot has changed, there are some things that never change. Like the American flag that my grandfather has always posted at the end of the driveway next to his name and address plaque.

The garage that has the squirrel sign with the family name. And the tiny curtains that my Grandmother made with love...even though it was a garage...she was all about details. I loved that about her.

The boat that we all learned how to row in, every single one of us.

And as the sun started to set, we all got quiet because we realized that this weekend was coming to an end. We all piled into the two boats and went for a ride around the entire lake.

It was Sahara's first time on a boat and she wasn't sure what to make of it at first. She liked sitting in the seats...which was pretty funny since it was the only place she would relax and she looked like a little person sitting there.

And as we picked up speed and she let her ears flap in the wind, she LOVED the boat.

She loved it so much she decided to take a nap on the floor.

We enjoyed the lull of the motor and the breathtaking views around the lake.

And my Dad sat next to my Mom, and was just HAPPY. This is what he loves...being with his family on the lake and riding around on his boat.

We procrastinated leaving until the last possible minute. We napped, we packed, we decided we needed to go swimming one more time, we ate dinner, we walked the beach to make sure we didn't leave anything when we knew we had already checked three times, and we finally all said goodbye in the driveway. Then we met up again ten minutes later to enjoy one last ice cream at "The Mosquito", the local ice cream place, where the procrastinating and goodbyes happened all over again.

This weekend was simply wonderful. And we all realized how much we have missed spending quality time together. No matter how old we get or how busy life seems, we all need an occasional weekend at the camp. So, we're going up again...the next chance we get. :)