Soggy Bliss

Every year we look forward to concentrated time & quality fam bonding @ our beloved cabin on Lake Merwin. This past week in Aug. was no exception with lots o' cousins to add to fun regardless of fact that sun decided not to show up:( even if occas made a few valiant attempts to tease us...Hard to believe when we had such a heat wave for the previous 2 wks? Just our luck, eh?In fact, I ran outta dry, warm clothes mid-week & endured few challenging nights in tents; boys even joined Aunt Brooke for a couple nights in back of car-ugh! Hard to admit we're growing outta cabin:) but kinda sentimental re: rebuild although lots o' people in Woodland Park are doin' it!Warm Welcome even in rain to Laytons (drove up from Palo Alto, CA),



















Marshalls (flew up from Douglas, AZ),



















& Websters (drove up from Heber, UT)!














Didn't dampen our enthusiasm for steady naptime (considering 5 kids under age 3),














lots o' walks, few runs, skiing/wakeboarding, kayaking/paddleboating,
tube rides,
blackberry picking=Tiffin's fav,fishing (this Tiger Muskie actually caught himself?!), plus great food, movies & card games!! My boys played for hours on beach even in downpours, which usually was @ its finest en route to/from dock...Much appreciation to Ryan & Ed for being such great playmates despite age difference:) Seriously they were so content to have duels with driftwood weapons,


















build l to r: fort/castle/"planning room"; not pictured=ship complete with cannons not to mention sand creations...possibilities are endless with little boys! Great to have Zac too!!Even Huey got in on the action once he realized that didn't taste good for the umpteenth time-binkie helped defray the ingestion but not the only one as constant battle for Grayden & Leah too:) Last but not least, initiated my second bro-in-law, cousin's spouse & middle son on hike to waterfall-

Rest of us had been up multiple times, but cool to see how it had changed so dynamically & what new natural water features we could enjoy...Our fav little waterfall was no longer, so we claimed new one.



















Still had natural waterslide near top, but I was only one who tried it out-Amazing that winter weather just widened whole way up overall, but those brave enough to venture into pool below would attest same frigid temp as in years past!!