It’s that time of year again!  Time for the ‘annual lake visit’ post where everybody reading this blog falls asleep looking at variations of the same photos I’ve posted every year regarding this trip.  People smiling!  People doing water sports!  People drinking!

Look, I get it.  You know that people go to the lake and it’s really fun.  You don’t need to see photos of it year after year.  However, the simplest way for me to get said pictures in front of the faces of the people who care, is to post them here.

So deal.  : )

Also, there are babies this year!  And TWO dogs instead of one!  And people smiling!

The first day there deserves no photos because it was dark, rainy, windy and overall shitty.  I don’t want to talk about it.

Luckily, Miss Charlotte showed up with her parents and brought smiles and sunshine our way.  

Day two was much better as the sun came out and we got out on the water for a bit.  Have you ever seen anything cuter IN. YOUR. LIFE????  Look at those chunky legs.  : )

We made the routine trip to Zorbaz for terrible food and average drinks where we met up with the last piece of our amazing puzzle who had just arrived from Minneapolis.  The Strub Family!  We like them because they bring Miss Ellery.

As you can see, Charlotte got passed around quite a bit.  Poor girl never got a break from us.  : )

That evening, Jon and I gave Ellery her birthday present to celebrate her 2nd birthday.  I think Jon ALMOST had more fun picking it out than Ellery did playing with it…almost. Push a button and it drives.  What more could a two year old want!? This night was SO beautiful.  Jon, Michael, Jessica and I drove four wheelers up through shanty town to lay in the grass and stare at the insane sky full of stars.  There aren’t many places I’ve ever been that you can see stars like you can in MN on a clear night.  It was great.The following day was pretty crappy weather as well, but when the sun peeked out for a brief moment we made the most of it. These three (soon to be four) were so sweet cruising the sandbar that I had to snag some shots. I just love these photos of a beautiful momma with her almost two year old.  The wheels almost came off on Saturday when the weather took an ugly turn.  Not to be defeated, we chose gun shooting and beer pong to keep our spirits  up.  Everyone looks all cute shooting the BB gun.  Below, you’ll find out why I’m never in any photos. Because THIS is what happens when I hand my camera over.  : )Not to let weather get the best of us (but mostly because of the beer pong) we jumped into the ocean like lake before dinner at Spanky’s.  It was a wonderful way to cap off the weekend, both the freezing lake jump AND the dinner.   : )On Sunday Ellery celebrated her 2nd birthday with singing, world famous cormorant cinnamon rolls and a bunch of old people.  It was awesome!Before heading to the cabin, I asked Jon (knowing already what my answer would be) what he was looking forward to the most.  He said ‘it’s going to be good for my head, to slow down a bit’.  I said I felt similar, that it was going to be good for my heart, to spend that time with these people.

It was.