Vacation (please channel Adam Sandler when you say that)

We finally returned from our two-week vacation extravaganza. And when you say vacation, please pronounce it like Adam Sandler's Cajun-Man. Thank you.

The first week was spent at my mom's lake home in northern WI. I can't share pictures because I uploaded them to Brady's laptop mid-trip and he's still sleeping. It's noon here. Don't tell Rob, whose left eyelid starts twitching at the thought of us having lazy summer days while he peddles insurance policies. We love you honey!
But week two was spent at another lake in northern WI, this time near Hayward, home of the World Lumberjack Championships. Week two was with Rob's family. Both weeks were fun and I think we all deserve a gold star. That's a lot of togetherness, doncha know.

On the first day we celebrated Abbey's and Jonathan's birthdays. (Excuse me - how do you punctuate that phrase? Abbey and Jonathan's birthday? Abbey's and Jonathan's birthdays? Abbey's and Jonathan's birthday? What?!?) Twelve years ago they were born 8 days apart. I remember when Rob's brother and his then-wife called to announce they were going "to try" for a baby, their first. It was only then that we looked at each other and realized, having been very young parents the first time around, that if we were going to go for child #2 we'd better get a hop-skip on it. When Rob's brother and his then-wife called to squeal "We're pregnant!" we got to surprise them with "We are too!" It was fun to have a partner-in-pregnancy, even though we lived 2000 miles apart.

The rest of the vacation involved a lot of biking, swimming, reading, fishing, and card-playing. We made all our meals together so there was also a lot of this:

We went mini-golfing in town one day, followed by shopping and a visit to the fudge shop.

Here's Missy, Terry's girlfriend. Missy likes to bike, read, eat 3 pints of blueberries per day, and play euchre (high-five, partner!). Missy also likes to eat peanut butter fudge balls from the fudge shop in town. I wish you hadn't taken me to the fudge shop, Missy. My thighs will never be the same.

Jonathan and Trevor busied themselves running from swimming pool to pool table to ping pong table to fishing pier to soccer field and back to the pool. They liked to have one of us throw a ball while they'd dive to catch it. One day they did 100 dives each. I was tired just taking the photos.
We also got our nature fix. Terry saw a bear on one of their bike trips, and we were visited by large snowshoe hares, chipmunks, red squirrels, and snakes on a regular basis.
We even got to rescue this little fella who bounced off the lodge's window and got his bell rung. We held him for a long while as he fluffed up and tried to gets his wits about him.

We spent many hours playing 'Washers' - a new toss game that Terry has discovered. You toss steel washers into a ring, and a sink in the center can scores more points. You can also eliminate the points your opponent scored by making the exact same shot. That's called 'elimination'. Please say that in the voice of Adam Sandler's Cajun-Man too. Thank you.

One time, Missy scored 4 points and I eliminated every one. What up now, Missy? We might be partners in euchre, but when we're opponents in washers, all bets are off. Then Missy scored a few more points and I did not eliminate them. That's when I decided I never wanted to play washers ever again.

My niece Abbey had the camera during one of our washer games and gave a running commentary on our throwing styles. It was determined that Rob did something bull-like with his feet, so that, of course, inspired us to 'act like a bull' before our shots for luck.

Looks rather intimidating, does it not?
I revved up a foot, getting ready for the stance...
Rob is the master, I think.
Because I just look silly.

The lumberjack world championships are held in Hayward every summer and we happened to be there for the final day. Big, buff dudes - and dudettes - compete in sawing, hatcheting, climbing, and log-rolling competitions while the crowd shouts a hearty "YO-Ho!" every once in a while. It was very entertaining. We even adopted the "YO-ho" as our own, shouting it during an especially auspicious euchre move, for instance. Combined with the bull-stance, it's really something. We also combined the "YO-ho" with an orangutan move, which, after its debut by Rob, caused uncontrollable fits of laughter. We joked that we just might be the first sober people to ever get kicked out of the lodge.

We get a little loopy on vacation. Jonathan and Trevor got to try their luck at log-rolling. It is harder than it looks!

On the final day we decided to take the group shots. We shouldn't wait until the final day to take group shots. We should take group shots earlier in the week. When people are less irritated about the 7-hour drive ahead. When we're not all bloated from too much fudge. When the kids are more likely to be calm and smile nicely for the camera.

Ya, not so much later in the week.Abbey is the only one who didn't act like a crazy nut when the camera came out. She doesn't want photo documentation of her silliness anymore. I can't imagine why, although Jonathan might explain it like this: "Mom! You have to take a picture of EVERYthing!"

Amost got one - but look at Trevor. Is that Trevor or John Travolta?

Trevor's motto might be: I will never give in. After a few dozen more tries, we got one! I think I like the silly ones better, though - don't you?Even the adults embraced their inner goofballs for a bit.Here's Rob's family. That's a nice shot. Here's grandma, grandpa, and Terry's family. That turned out, too.
And here we are. I don't think you can tell that Brady's thinking, "I don't care who wants to go, I'm never going on vacation for two weeks ever again." Or that Jonathan's thinking, "I'm going to start saving quarters for next year as soon as I get home!" Or that I'm thinking, "I can't believe I am going to lake #3 in 2 weeks to catch up with my women's group - I'm actually all chatted-out." Or that Rob's thinking "I can't believe my wife is going to leave me with the very-stinky vacation laundry - the nerve!"

Can you?