Brownlee Reservoir

We spent the weekend at my older sister Amy's cabin in Huntington on Brownlee Reservoir. We got there just as it was getting dark on Friday and the boys wanted to fish so bad but had to wait until the next morning. The entire weekend was so much fun, probably one of our best weekends yet this summer. All 5 of the boys cousins were there; Madelyn (15), Elena (13), Lucy (10) and the twins Reese and Perry (5). I felt like I had 3 amazing nanny's all weekend. The older girls were so willing to help out with the boys anyway they could, they played with them, helped them fish, swam in the water, put together Scavenger hunts (Elena), painted rocks and let the boys jump all over them.The best part is that all three of them are so responsible and careful with watching them and making sure all the little kids had life jackets and were safe at all times. It made the trip so much more relaxing and fun. They also all took turns entertaining Case, feeding him and even playing with him in the water.

Morning at Brownlee.....love the view.

 I have been coming to this cabin since I was 6 months old but haven't been back since before Colt was born. I did not realize just how much I missed it. It is such a great place, very laid back and relaxing. It is about an hour to the nearest town and their is no television so there is really no distractions and you can just enjoy being together swimming, water skiing, tubing, fishing, eating, running and of course lots of talking.

The cabin is only 2 rooms and since there were 16 of us we had a camp out on the deck. Dave and I stayed in one of the bedrooms with Jax and Case (since he was in a crib still) but the rest of the cousins and my mom and dad slept on the deck. Next year I am planning on camping right out there with them!

Perry and Colt stayed up till past midnight but were still up with the sun rising. This is not a place where you sleep in, I think everyone was up by 6:30.

DiDi and Reese.

The boys waste no time to get their fishing stuff ready and hit the water.

Papa and Andy helping Colt fish.

The 5 year olds : Reese, Colt and Perry.

Di Di and Case on the dock.

Some early morning rock painting.

Amy, Me, Mads and Elena.

If you know my family then you know a lot of activity always takes place when we are together. We got up both mornings and went running. It is such a great place to run, we had so many dogs at the cabin between the three families and we always had 2-3 dogs running with us. We ran 8 miles on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. Elena is training for a half marathon at the end of August so she had to get some miles in and Amy & I were glad to help her out. I can't believe how great both Mads and Elena did on the run, I know there was no way I could have run that far at their ages.

Colt finally got to fish, he does a pretty good job and can do most of it himself.

Jax still needs a little more help (but loves it just as much or more than Colt) so Mads of course was right there helping him.

We took lots of boat rides, the kids loved this!

The tube was a favorite to play on. Amy even got Colt and Perry to go tubing on Sunday and they loved it! Colt didn't want to get off. Leave it to Amy to get the kids to do it.

Fun in the water. It helps that the reservoir is so warm, the temps were in the 90's and it was perfect swimming weather.

Lucy taking care of Case feeding him lunch.

Di Di and Mads.

Elena had a blast playing with Case.

Oldest and youngest. Mads and Case.

Lucy put Case in this little tube and spun him around and around for probably 30 minutes, he just laid there very relaxed and a couple of times I thought he was going to fall asleep.

On Sunday the water was perfect for skiing so Amy put the boat in the water and we all went out and water skiied. I have not been up on one ski since before Colt was born so it was a learning curve for me but once I got up it was awesome. Amy and Andy were so patient and understanding helping me figure it out again. All of Amy's girls are incredible skiiers and Perry said she wanted to try so Amy got her skis all set up and then Mads and Elena stayed with her in the water and Amy drove the boat and got her up. It was so cute to see her on those little skis.

Reese pulled Colt around on the board.

More fishing.

All 8 grandkids with their Papa and Di Di.

I am already looking forward to next year and coming back, as my boys get older doing stuff like this is so much more fun and a little less work. Having all the older girls around and my mom and Amy helps too because everyone is so helpful and willing to step in and help out. We missed Marni & Ann but I doubt they missed us ( they are in Fiji together!).