{lakehouse}

Some of my fondest memories I have from my childhood (and those who know my know I don't remember ANYTHING from when I was a kid so it's a big deal when I can remember stuff from a long time ago) are when we used to go to my grandma's cottage. She had a small little summer place where they'd spend the summer on Lake St. Clair in Canada. 

My family used to go up there several weekends throughout the summer and I remember rolling down the hill with my cousins in a big inner tube, jumping off the dock and floating in tubes in the lake, I remember all of us kids gather around on one couch and a tiny TV learning how to play Mario brothers on the Nintendo, I remember riding a banana seat bike down to the main street in the town and using all my Canadian coins to buy candy from the store, I remember the attic being lined with twin beds so everyone could pile in and sleep at night, I remember learning how to play fun basketball games on the little cement court, I remember family and food and oh so much fun at that place.

So needless to say it was heartbreaking when my grandparents moved on and the cottage was no more. So just a few years ago my parents purchased a small house on a lake just about 15 minutes from their house. I think my mom wants those same type of memories to be created there and to continue for her own kids and grandkids now. 

So every summer we try to get down there as often as we can to spend time floating in tubes, jet skiing and tubing, building sandcastles, paddle boarding, fishing, having fires and making s'mores...all memories that my kids are now creating and looking forward to - at the lakehouse. 

This summer ended up being crazy busy and we weren't able to go down as much as we would have liked but here's a few snapshots of when we actually did...

My sister's varsity jacket had just gotten completed one day when we got there. So proud of this oh so sweet varsity lacrosse player - it looks great on you Lis!

Chillin' and getting cozy with Lis in front of the windows that overlook the lake. From the looks of it we must have just eaten spaghetti for dinner - a favorite at grandma's!

The girl's love to go explore with Papa - this time they loaded up cups full of blackberries and Brooklyn was thrilled to find this toad!!! 

I'm so grateful to have my family somewhat close by and for my kids to be able to create fun lasting memories from their own childhood that they will hopefully one day hold dear to their heart.