Summer wouldn’t be summer without . . .

Bear Lake, of course. I love being there any time, and Mike is especially fond of being there in the fall; and I am too, but there is just something about summer time – the lake, eating breakfast on the deck, opening windows to cool the cabin down. That’s when I feel my spirit practically wrenching itself out of my body to get there ahead of the rest of me (because it is simply too impatient to wait for the physical half of me to pack and clean and drive there)!

And it is a bit of a short summer window, really (what with snow often lingering about for Memorial Day, and occasionally trying to sneak its way back into the picture the minute August closes out).

Having nice weather this particular weekend seemed especially lucky. We’ve just been through one of the rainiest Mays I can remember, so getting a sunny and fairly warm weekend (you’ll notice kids still occasionally donned jackets at the beach) was fortunate.

I don’t know why or how, but something magical happens at the cabin with our kids. They just start . . . doing the kinds of activities that make me most happy to see them doing. Penny and Jesse spent hours outside breaking rocks open to look for gems. Abe, Daisy and Goldie laughed endlessly as they wrote various nouns on small papers, pulled two of those nouns at a time out of a bowl, and drew whatever the combination was (cookie slug, lama girl, watermelon whale, hot-dog panda, etc.) I suppose they still do those types of things at home, but they just happen more consistently and effortlessly when we are away from everything else. They just get to the cabin and it’s: “Start playing creatively. Stat.” I imagine it’s mostly the absence of internet, wii games, and any type of TV but the occasional DVD or old VHS; but, whatever it is, it makes me feel so content.

I’m already plotting ways to stretch our July trip up there out as long as possible.

Oh! And before I end: a few quick pictures from my cell phone.

During one of my childhood Bear Lake visits, my mom took my two sisters and I on a horse-back-riding excursion. I’ve always remembered that little adventure (and always remembered how strangely in awe I was when my mother – who was just my mother and certainly had no existence outside of reading me books and tucking me in at night and what not – suddenly set off confidently into a full and free gallop). Mike took our oldest four on that same ride this weekend. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect time to have them go. I mentioned all of the rain we’ve had, and honestly, I can’t imagine even Ireland has anything on us as far as lush and green at the moment! They got to head on a trail through mountains and flower-covered meadows for a full hour – each on their own horse.

Also, a few pictures from a stop at a little natural spring on the drive back home: