On my dad's side of the family, in 1988 (I was only 3) they (grandpa, uncles and aunts) bought an old cabin for a hunting lodge. Well 24 years later it is anything but an old hunting lodge. Through multiple renovations, and pretty much every weekend when the weather is nice, there is a project to make this cabin an even more awesome place. It is difficult to adequately explain what this place means to me and to my family members, but it truly is our favorite home away from home! :)
Two weekends ago, Mike went to visit some of his college buddies and I decided to be brave and take Evelyn and Indy up north for the weekend. Well my mom, dad, sister, brother, his girlfriend and aunt and uncle and cousin and kids were up there too... so not like I was really roughing it on my own. Normally I am fortunate to have Mike with me and we function as a complete family, utilizing a lot of tag-teaming for our crazy child. This weekend however, was the first (I think) for either of us to be a full weekend solo parent. I like to think I passed with flying colors... you can ask my mom or sister if you want the complete truth! :)
Below are some picture of the cabin, or what we (my family members) like to call "The Avenue of the Giants". This name was chosen for two reasons, the big tall pines surrounding the place, and because of the fact it originated as a hunting lodge and we have deer mounts in the cabin so they are the 'giant' bucks! :) These pictures show how amazing the cabin is today, about 3 years ago we found out that a back room of the cabin's roof was pretty much rotten and was going to fall in on us, well we needed to repair this, and pretty much just made a big addition (maybe one day I can dig up before and after pics)! :) Also the cabin is a short walk from our lake, Lone Stone, which you can imagine is a place we love to spend lots of time. Here are pictures of the fun short weekend up north.
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| Here is the Avenue of the Giants: left pic is east facing side, middle is south west facing, and right is the west facing side. Isn't it pretty! :) |
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| Lone Stone Lake: left pic is Indy enjoying the wather, middle is the shore without the piers in, and right is everyone hanging out & throwing stones in the water. |
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| Evelyn and Milli being the best of buddies again, they are fun together! |
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| Evelyn looking like a boy in some of her warm 'outdoor' clothes, she thought she was a big shot with all the room to roam. |
It is so special to have a family retreat. It is and always be a place to go to when you need to get away from the stress of everyday living.
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