Beaver Lake 2011

We were excited to be able to go back to Beaver Lake this summer. My family goes every year, but last year we felt Eli was too teeny tiny to fly with, so we stayed home.

Here's our family last time we were at Beaver:
A lot has changed since then...

This time Alison is now old enough to get excited about packing. So I gave her her own suitcase and told her to pack what she thought would be important to have at the lake. She filled it up with cars and animal crackers. She laid the water towel on the floor to practice swimming and jumping in the lake.
Seriously. Why do my children never have clothes on?

I have to say, our kids are fabulous travelers. I was nervous about sleeping in a house full of so many people, but they did great! I, on the other hand, didn't sleep very much because I was so worried about my every move/breath waking them up.

It was great to have some quality time as a family.
Isn't it weird how we need time that forces us to spend time with eachother? There were no computers or phones to take away our attention. I didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning or teaching or planning. The only thing we had to do for the day was spend time with eachother, and it was fabulous.

Personally, being right here is one of the most refreshing things for me. It was exactly what I needed.

Ben taught Alison how to swim in the lake and she was even able to overcome some fear and swim without a noodle.

Alison and Katherine had a blast playing together in the water. Katherine was slightly more adventurous than Alison and would help her come out of her shell a little.

We got to meet Jonathan Owen, the newest member of our rapidly growing family. Eli loved patting his head and Alison just said over and over, "he's SO cute!". He is a very sweet baby and I loved getting some snuggle time with him.

There were 7 kids all together, and Alison was the oldest!

Katherine, Jonathan, Eli, Alison, Maggie
Anna (2) and Sally (4 mo.) were there too. It was fun to see all the kids play together.

Eli had lots of practice making his "cheese" face.

Highlight of the trip for me:
Ben's driving the boat.
My dad's holding the kids at the back of the boat.
I'm skiing on the best water of the year.
My babies are waving to me with BIG smiles on their faces.
Best moment ever.

Coming home from the trip left me longing for more time with my family. Jumping back into "real" life is always hard, and my kids were good at reminding me how nice it was to have lots of cousins around to play with. Where are those cousins when you need them?

5 grandkids in less than 4 years...we like to keep these grandparents on their toes.
Makes me wonder what this picture will look like next year.