Monday, July 6, 2015

4th of July at the Lake

Some things just belong together.  The 4th of July holiday and being at the lake are two of those things.  I am very thankful that I live driving distance away from my parents lake home as the 4th of July is just not the same if I'm not with family at the lake!  This year Phil got to experience it, too.  Here's how we filled out weekend!

We arrived around lunch time on Friday.  Our first drink of the weekend was rhubarb slush.  This is my mom's signature drink.  It's so good!  


Friday was  low key day for us.  I knew that Saturday would be a little bit crazy as my parents were hosting a get together for my dad's side of the family so it was nice to have a quieter day on Friday.  We went kayaking and lazed around that afternoon before going over to my aunt and uncle's house for a family BBQ. 

Smoke from the forest fires had moved into our region last week so the sky was kind of hazy but it made for an interesting and unique sunset on Friday night.


On Saturday morning I got up and headed out for a 10 mile run.  At the beginning of my run I randomly ran into a guy who was visiting his in-laws who have a cabin just down from my parents.  He was also training for the Twin Cities Marathon and wanted to run 10 miles so we ended up running together.  I'm so glad I had some company on the run as it made the time go by WAY faster as we chatted the entire time.

My parents hosted a get together on Saturday with my dad's side of the family and there were A LOT of people there - 43 to be exact, 19 of which were kids that ranged from 17 months to 13 years!  Phil definitely got a taste of what it's like to be part of a big family (his family is very small) but he handled it well.  


My niece Evelyn and I.
We had a bean bag tournament in the afternoon which was really fun.  We were randomly partnered up.  Phil ended up getting paired with my aunt Laurie, and I got paired with my brother-in-law Jason.  We ended up playing them in the second round and won.  Woo hoo!

They were good sports about losing to us.
The day went by really fast and we definitely stayed busy as we kayaked, went for a paddle boat ride, played king of the mountain on my parents' water raft with my older nephews, and went stand-up paddle boarding.  We definitely had lots of fun in the sun.  And we ate a lot! 

End of the day selfie on Saturday night!
On Saturday night, we had our own little fireworks show as my parents had bought a bunch of fireworks (thanks mom and dad).  We crashed after that as all the fresh air and activity tired us out.

We headed back to Minneapolis on Sunday morning so that Phil could spend some time with his mom that afternoon.  The weekend went by so fast but was so much fun!

How did you spend your weekend?  Did you go a 4th of July or Canada Day celebration last week?  If so, did you bring anything to share?  I brought a corn and black bean salsa which is pretty much my standard contribution to any summer family meal. 

16 comments:

  1. Rhubarb slush sounds really good; I'm a big fan of rhubarb. Speaking of rhubarb, we did celebrate Canada day, and we brought dessert to share - a strawberry rhubarb pie, and decorated sugar cookies. Your niece is a cutie-pie!

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  2. Great recap of a perfect weekend! It was great Phil could join us and he did handle that crowd well! There were only 14 people missing from that side of the family, so we did pretty good to get that many there!
    Looking forward to having you both come and spend some time on a quieter weekend soon!

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  3. Friday we went out for breakfast, put up our pool and had a bonfire with smores. Wine for the adults later. ;) We went out on the lake Saturday with friends and my sister in law. Then we ate a ridiculous amount of food with my inlaws and took Isla to see fireworks at my aunts. Then yesterday we went to local gardens and explored with a picnic lunch.

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  4. We actually went down to the lake too! Havent been to visit Kelley's mom in a while since she keeps coming up here to stay with us. Had the whole large family together at her lakehouse. so much fun.

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  5. This sounds like a great holiday weekend. It's great that you could spend it with Phil and your family. It amazes me that you have such a large family with so many kids. It must be so great to spend the holidays with them.

    We did not have a holiday weekend. It was just very, very hot over here.

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  6. Wow, that is an insane amount of people to have at the lake house! That must have been so much fun, though. Your weekend sounded like a blast - so awesome to have the lake house to come to during holidays like these. I can understand why the 4th of July and the lake are so synonymous for you!

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  7. That sounds like a pretty great weekend and an awesome 4th July. I have a big family too but I live really far away them and I'm sad to have missed my sisters birthday party on the 4th July where lots of family attended. I'm planning to visit next year though and that will be so much fun!

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  8. How cool that you ended up having a running buddy for your ten miler!

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  9. Sounds like such a fun and busy weekend! I wish I lived in Ontario so I could go to my mom's cottage...it's a couple blocks from the beach and so much fun in the summer! Did the guy you met up with have the same pace as you? Funny how that worked out!

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  10. Sounds like an amazing weekend at the lake! Perfect 4th of July! And how great is that you were able to have a random run partner for your long run! I bet that made it go by much much quicker. Your moms rhubarb slushes sound so so good!

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  11. That sounds wonderful, Lisa! We both had lakeside fourths -- fireworks and yummy food. We were short on family but went roadtripping to a nearby Fourth Parade and a picnic, then home for the rest!

    Is Phil an only? I can relate to the big family shock! I'm an only and Rick had/has a big family!

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  12. Sounds like an amazing weekend! You know I we were there!

    You are such a rockstar at bean-bags! I'm terrible. Pitifully terrible. To the point where I don't even volunteer to play - because it's so frustrating ;)

    That is cool that you found someone to run with for your 10 miler! Not a LOT of options around the cabin for running, so it's nice to have company! When we went last summer, we drove to Glendalough one day - and I LOVED running there! Gorgeous running trails!

    My 4th was very simple. Ryan and I did some work around the house, read in our floaties, make home made pizza, and watched fireworks in our back yard!

    The day after the 4th, we had Ryan's family over - and I made Juicy Lucy burgers & an "Italian" potato salad! It was delicious!

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  13. That rhubarb slush drink looks AWESOME! Yum! What a great, fun weekend! We spent time with family over the 4th but really the weekend was rough because of the fireworks for P - some of which I expected but here's hoping we don't have that problem next year!

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  14. I so loved all the pictures that you posted from your fun!!! I'm so thankful that you are back close enough to be able to do this again!!! I think these kind of 4th of July celebrations are how it's meant to be celebrated! And with that I'm going to start to tear up.... OK pulling it together :)

    I was with my family too and I wouldn't have it any other way! I didn't see any fireworks this year as I went to bed because I had the 8 prayer service, 9 service and 11 nursery, busy day!!!

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  15. What happy summery photos!

    I wish I took more photos during my 4th of July. I had a really picturesque one but I guess I was a little camera shy around Sugarface's family. I spent it with his family on a pretty lake and went boating with them. We spent the entire weekend in our bathing suits and barefoot and coming in to amazing meals cooked by Sugarface's mom.

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  16. Oh my, what a fun weekend! :)

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