Lake Weekend

There's something about a body of water that brings relaxation with it.

Add four of your favorite friend couples {+ their little ones} and you have one wonderful weekend.

Emily, Allison, Jennifer, moi, Brooke, and three littles you can't see yet!

Fun fact - Brooke and I are due on the same day...

Adam and Jenn kindly asked us all out to their beautiful lake house a few weekends ago for loads of fun and a whole lotta eating.  It's the perfect arrangement.  Each family picks a meal to bring and prepare.  The others relax or tend to the babies.  Chris and I are the only couple without children (outside the womb), which I've determined is why we are invited to these family fun events...  Two more sets of adult hands to help with the cute little people.  We might be dis-invited once we bring another soft skinned love muffin to the table, but we're living it up until then.

Living it up by sun-bathing on the dock...

and taking leisurely paddle boat rides...

Chris and Drew didn't start out as the only two on the love ride.  Allison, baby Joel, and I initially joined them.  That is until the men had enough of either the constant complaining of the bugs or the crying baby.  Allison called our trip short, because of the very unhappy baby, but it wasn't a moment too soon for me.  I was already plotting my escape off the back.  Into the sweet lake water and away from the spiders.

The big ones could save themselves...  I would have taken that baby with me though.  He was in a life jacket.

Living it up this weekend did include lots of dips in the water...  by the baby pool on the dock or by floating in the lake.  {Disregard how green that water looks in the picture above...}

Allison and baby Joel - both were relieved to be off the paddle boat.

baby Luke

Another fun fact...  Luke and Joel were born on the same day at the same hospital.

All these sweet little babies made me so excited for our own little wee one to come...  Time will come though - ours has to bake. 

After showers and before dinner, Chris brought out his guitar to play a few tunes, which also brought out the dance moves of the older two children in attendance...  Blair and Liam.

Dancing toddlers could not be cuter...

Just a side note - you can also see in the kitchen that Jennifer and Allison were up to something.  That would be the ribs that Adam and Jennifer made for a meal that evening!  They baked practically the whole day and turned out perfectly.  Chris is still talking about how delicious they are.  It was Jenn and Adam's anniversary, so luckily we all got to celebrate with them.

I said earlier that dancing toddlers could not be cuter, but dancing toddlers with ruffle bottoms?

So cute!

Thanks for hanging here with me, even when I've been absent.  On the end our lake trip, we got word that my great Aunt Hannah had a stroke.  The Lord took her home with Him the next night and a few days later the family gathered together to say our goodbyes.  She was a beautiful lady with a spunky spirit and will definitely be missed.  At 84 years old, still independent, and with a legacy of touching people's lives, her life is easy to celebrate.

Not to mention the week after, I caught a case of food poisoning that really knocked me off my feet.  The bounce back period took me a bit longer than anticipated, but I'm thankfully back to feeling good again.

and celebrating these wonderful people God has placed in my life.

whether it be a lake weekend of fun or a lifetime of family memories,

we've gotta hold tight to those we love!

xoxo