wisconsin vacation, part 2 (and a video!)

Each year Justin’s family rents a cabin in the middle of nowhere, and it’s just the perfect week of relaxation and family bonding. There are now 10 grandkids, so everything is a giant production. We move slow, and we tend to split off a bit during the day, and come back together in the evening.

Justin’s mom makes breakfast for everyone in the morning, which the grandkids look forward to. The adults all sip their coffee and manage the chaos while the kids dig into their monkey bread, pancakes, muffins, or whatever other delicacy Grandma has prepared that day. We’re all on our own for lunch, and each family takes a day to make dinner for everyone.

Another fun tradition we have is that each day we try different flavors of a category of snacks. For example, we were in charge of getting 7 types of gummy candies, and the other families were in charge of 7 flavors of Wheat Thins, Oreos, M&Ms, or Goldfish. It’s the perfect way to provide everyone with an afternoon snack, and it’s so entertaining for the kids!

We fill our time with swimming in the backyard pond, playing yard games, board games at night, reading, chasing our kids, and heading into town. Evenings are spent around the campfire, roasting marshmallows, sipping wine, and playing musical chairs while we take turns putting kids to bed. Traditionally we go to a waterpark, but this year I stayed back with Lewis. It didn’t make much sense to bring an infant to a waterpark where we would have to find shade or nurse the entire time. It was kind of nice to get a day of quiet, and I got plenty of reading and blog work done while everyone was gone!

The slower pace of the week, and the fact that Pippa and Teddy had plenty of cousins to play with meant lots of reading time for me! I devoured 3 novels during that week, which is more than I’ve read the rest of the year combined! It reminded me of how much I love to bury myself in a good book, and inspired me to borrow three books from the library this week.

Honestly, I just love the chance to catch up with my in-laws and hear about what everyone is up to lately. We only get to see our nieces and nephews a few times each year, so I always feel like they’re growing up so fast when we see them on vacation. It’s so good for Pippa to see the 3 girl cousins she has that are all within a year of her, and for Teddy to see his 2 boy cousins who are also within a year of him! (Soon Lewis will join the gang of little boys!)

So that wraps up our family vacation! Wisconsin in summer is paradise compared to Florida in summer, so we soaked up the mild weather and family time. We are also happy to be home now, back in our routines and back in our own beds.

And I finally finished our video capturing our two weeks in Wisconsin. The kids are begging me to watch it over and over so they can see their grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins all over again. Enjoy!