I just spent the most amazing 5 days up in the north woods of Wisconsin over the holiday weekend.  You know those places that make your heart flutter at just the thought of it? ….a home away from home…a place you feel free and child like and simply…happy….without a care in the world?  That place is Wisconsin for me.  (I know what you are thinking…WISCONSIN!?!)  Yes. It’s true.  Probably mostly due to nostalgic memories I have of summer vacations spent at my grandparents cabin on the lake.  Almost every summer as a kid me and my sisters would pack our bags and head to Eagle River Wisconsin to visit our grandparents and squeeze in as much FUN into 14 days as we possibly knew how.  We have a big family, and if we were lucky….all our cousins would meet us up there at the same time.  Sometimes close to 15 rugrats terrorizing the north woods!  We would swim and tube and ski and wakeboard….we’d bike and build forts and catch fireflies.  And boy did we eat!  Giant sized pancakes with grandpa’s homemade maple syrup (which he also poured over his ice cream for dessert!)…..grandma’s famous eggs in a nest, lucky charms,  klondike bars and otter pops…OH MY.   At night we’d gather around the campfire and make smores and laugh til our stomaches hurt.  On a warm night we would sleep under the stars out on the dock and dream about the future and what boy would be our first kiss.  It is all still quite magical in my mind.

How ironic that the man I married grew up doing the SAME THING in a town not too far from where we vacationed in Wisconsin! (We learned this a ways into dating).  Sam is originally from Minnesota and his family owns three log cabins on a plot of land spread 80 acres wide, dense with forest, in a small town called Solon Springs.  They call it Hathaway (just the name of it sounds enchanting!) It has been in the family for over 40 years.  This was my first trip with Sam to this place I had heard so much about.  And it was even better than I had imagined it would be.

I wanted to take this jeep on the plane back home with me!

Sam reeled one in on his second cast.

This is my new family (but certainly not replaced) who I am so incredibly thankful for.  Meet the Larson’s……Me and Sam, Hannah, Jesse, Mary, Mark, Nell and baby Andrew, Jared, Amy and Benj

Friends of Type

Since there was no show to be seen from the lake….we bought our own fireworks.  The boys had their fun! HAPPY 4th!

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