2019 Trip to Bottle Bay

In late August (yes, I am WAYYY behind on posting ... please forgive me!), the kids, Huck, and I had a long weekend in Idaho ...  Bottle Bay on Lake Pend Orielle, to be specific. We were hosted by my brother and his family at their new cabin, which is next door to the cabin my sister and brother-in-law own. (How handy!)

We drove to Lake Pend Orielle on Thursday after Annika finished the final day of her middle school study skills camp at Blanchet. Fortunately, the drive went off very smoothly. Huck proved himself to be a champ on a long drive (whew!) and the kids were really good about keeping themselves occupied to help past the time. On our final approach to the lake, we were lucky enough to see a wild turkey and a deer. Fun stuff! We got to the lake around 7 PM, so quickly unloaded the car and got settled at my brother's place before it got too dark.

Huck, my co-pilot

This was the first time I'd been to my brother's new place and wasn't quite sure what to expect, in terms of layout, accommodations, etc. The kids, Huck, and I were in the "apartment" above the garage and it worked out swimmingly! We had our own space to spread out and not disturb people when our kids woke up before their older cousins. It allowed for us to not be on top of each other and to keep me from stressing about getting in anyone else's way. So nice!!

Our first full day at the lake was Friday and we filed it with walks, swimming in the lake, a boat trip to Sandpoint (hello, Starbucks!), and catching up with our various family members. The kids and I had a quiet start to our morning with a little lounging around, followed by some breakfast, and a walk (with Huck) to the end of the road. We took in the beautiful views and enjoyed the serenity of the lake. Anna arrived later in the afternoon once she was done at work, which was an added bonus to the day.

Annika, Ian, and Conor at Starbucks

Conor and Annika on Lake Pend Orielle

Captain Troy, at yer service

Lake girl

Conor and Huck checking out the lake

SPLASH

Cute kiddos

Staci paddling around Pend Orielle

Ian mastering his new paddle board

Annika trying out Ian's paddle board

 The big news of the day was Annika decided it was time to learn how to water ski. Uncle Troy drove the boat while Uncle Randy coached her from the water. After quite a few failed attempts, Uncle Randy had the idea of having the boat "walk" her for a bit so Annika could get the feel for being pulled by the boat. That was the trick! After being "walked" for a little bit, she gave us the "hit it!" command and she was up!!

Randy showing us how its done

Troy taking a lap around the bay

Randy coaching Annika

 

She did it!! Annika's first time up on skis

Huck says the lake is fun but tiring

Unfortunately for Conor, the day took a bit of a downturn when a sharp lake rock and Conor's foot became one. Fortunately, Auntie Suzanne was on hand to evaluate things and deemed stitches unnecessary (whew). That said, having a big slice on his foot kept Conor a bit lower key and we decided to let his foot heal before trying to learn how to water ski. (Next year, buddy!) 

Playing a dice game with Conor while he kept his foot up

Annika and Huck chilling out after lots of lake fun

Ian and Conor playing catch before dinner ... yes, Ian wound up
in the lake many times over the course of their game

 The other big news of the day was it was Ian's 18th birthday. We had a fun family dinner at Troy'Staci's main cabin, complete with chicken alfredo and tiramisu (Aegis style!) for dessert. Yum and yum! Welcome to adulthood, Ian! :)

Singing "Happy Birthday' to Ian and belated b-day to Annika

Day two at the lake was much like the day before. We started out with a quiet morning ... the pace at the cabin is truly a marvelous thing. We went for more walks, relaxed by the lake, played games, read, and enjoyed being with each other. The Nelsons and the Olsons opted to hit the Bottle Bay Marina for lunch after hearing the rave reviews from Suzanne and Randy about the improved food. Staci and I walked to the marina while Troy and the kids boated over. We got two tables right next to the lake (oh darn...) and wound up having a lovely lunch together chatting about life, Ian's upcoming move to CWU, and how we should spend the rest of our day. All in all, quite a lovely outing.

Troy and Randy wound up running some errands earlier in the day, which took them into town and to a sporting goods store. They came back with a two-seat inner tube for the boat. Win!! Needless to say, THAT was a big hit with the kids. (Considering Conor's foot was still less than perfect ... having the inner tube was a pretty perfect thing. Fun behind the boat without the need for more bandaids than we were already using!)

Conor and Annika ready for some fun

Kat ... all geared up and ready for some time on the water

WHEEEE

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Troy and Kat enjoying the inner tube

With tubing time behind us, it was back to donning the water skis! Anna started us out with a brave plunge into the cold water. She was up her first try ... cold water will motivate you to get it right! She took a lap around the bay, showing us her parade princess wave, and made the whole thing look so darned easy.

Anna's turn to show us how it's done

Conor mastering the kayak

 Annika enjoyed the previous day's skiing efforts so much that she was HUNGRY to try again. God bless Randy for spending THAT much time floating in the water with her ... and after she got up and took a lap around the bay! Fortunately, Ian and his new paddle board proved to be quite the handy "lake lyft".... Ian "rescued" Randy and wound up shuttling various skiers back and forth between the boat (or where they let go of the ski rope) and the dock much of the afternoon.

Annika up for a full lap around the bay

Not to be outdone by everyone else!

We finished off our last full day at the lake with more family time and a big group of very tired people ... but tired in a good way.

Huck and Bo ... vacation dogs

Our drive home on Sunday was timed on getting to the fruit stand in Ellensburg before it closed at 6. We packed up our things, cleaned the cabin, helped with a few last-minute tasks, and headed down the road at 11:58. (My goal was to leave by noon. Mic drop!) We drove across the state without incident and got to the fruit stand in plenty of time (yippee) and I happily bought my 20-pound box of peaches that were turned into peach butter a few days later (YUM!). The portion of our drive from Ellensberg to our house SHOULD have taken just under 2 hours. Thanks to a previous accident and funky traffic flows caused by construction projects, it took us over 3 hours. An extra hour plus at that point in our drive was truly painful. Yes, we made it in one piece ... but one very tired and glad to be home piece.   

Annika's 12th Birthday

The teenage years are officially on the horizon. Too close, if you ask my opinion. Not close enough if you ask Annika! 

Last night before she went to bed, Annika asked me to recount the story of her birth. (Yes, she was stalling, but how can a mother resist such a request???) I told her all about Eric's huge eyes when he woke up enough to process the fact I told him my water broke, how we had to return a rental car en route to the hospital, how the theme of her birth was "THEY LIED" (in terms of how labor would most likely ramp up... there was no ramping!! Contractions were 3-5 minutes from the get go!), and how I left a message at work from the rental car return parking lot while Eric got gas in the rental car to let them know (a) I was in labor and (b) what I'd been working on most recently, how we made a U-turn on the Montlake Bridge because we overshot the ER entrance (good thing it was midnight and no one else was on the bridge!!), how I wanted an epidural but there wasn't enough time, and how she was about 20 minutes old before I was able to (finally) ... Daddy got to see her first and tell me all about her. I told her about how much love we had for her from the first moment, how fun it was to surprise people with the news that she arrived during the night (3 weeks early!), and how cute her 1st night hiccups were. She heard all about how tiny she was (I wound up going to Babies R Us the day after coming home from the hospital because we needed preemie clothes and diapers), and how she was so little that we had to feed her with a tube.

Looking back, so much of that story feels like ancient history ... but so much more of it feels new and very recent. It startles me to think that she's 12. Then I stop to think about all of the things she has done, how much our family has done and experienced over the years, and how much she's grown (5' 2" at last measuring) and the math adds up. Our little girls is knocking on her teenage years... loudly at times.

Annika, we are so proud of who you are, your empathy, your willingness to lend a hand, and your ability to see challenges as opportunities (even if sometimes begrudgingly). You are a blessing to our family.

Annika's 12th birthday was a fun-filled one. She, Conor, Emma (nanny), and Huck (our pup) went to Greenlake to swim and enjoy the beautiful summer weather. For her celebration dinner, Annika requested chicken enchiladas and green beans (I threw in a bonus salad for good measure). For dessert, it was all about the Oreo cheesecake. 

Happy 12th birthday, sweet girl! Here's to a great year ahead of you!

Annika's 12-year-old interview

Favorite thing to do in your free time: Irish dancing and playing on iPod

Favorite food: Schnitzel

Favorite drink: Fanta (orange)

Favorite book: Evil Spy School

Favorite color: Seafoam green

Favorite song: "Wonderful Life" (from Smallfoot movie)

Favorite TV show: No Good Nick

Favorite movie: Smallfoot

Favorite subject at school: Art

Memories from being 11: Breaking my left arm on the monkey bars (again!), going to Ireland with Bestemor and Bestefar, doing MacBeth with my 5th grade class, finding out I have dyslexia, doing my first feis (and taking home a 2nd place trophy and 2 bronze medals), getting a new puppy (Huck!)

A week of fun... and now I need a nap

Last Sunday, the kids and I headed up to Whidbey for the annual 3-day kids' golf camp at Useless Bay Golf and Country Club. Our kids adore going up to the island for this camp. They get an extended stay at Bestemor and Bestefar's house (win!), they get to go swimming (win!), they get to have fun playing some golf (win!), and they get to play with Bestemor and Bestfar's dogs for a few days (win!), Conor went trout fishing with Bestefar (win!), we celebrated Annika's birthday (win!), and I went salmon fishing/crabbing with Bestefar (win and win!).

This was (I think) the kids' 4th year at golf camp. Each year, they have so much fun, get to meet new kids, and they grow as golfers. This year was no exception. On Monday, they swam for almost 2 hours and then did golf camp for 2 hours. Whew! Tuesday's weather wasn't as cooperative, so they opted to skip the pool that day. (I was grateful for the overcast sky because it meant sunburns weren't an issue.) On Wednesday, the sun was back, so out came the sunblock again! Conor is a huge fan of hitting balls at the driving range. Annika liked being out on the actual golf course for the first time ... it made her feel like a real golfer!

Entertaining themselves with the "Coca Cola Went to Town" song

Pool fun

Conor at the driving range

Our little golfin' dude 

Annika at the driving range

Great swing!

He hit a 150 yard drive!!!

Bestmor and Bestefar gave Annika an incredible birthday gift ... a scrapbook from their trip to Ireland! For each day, Bestemor wrote a short summary of the day's events, included photos, and a few mementos. Annika LOVED the book and we love seeing her smile from ear to ear as she looks through it and remember her amazing trip with her amazing grandparents. She giggles are things remembered in the book, and tells us so many stories that the photos and write-ups remind her of.

Annika reading her bday card

Looking at her scrapbook

On Tuesday morning, Bestefar and Conor hit Deer Lake to go trout fishing. From what I was told. things started off reallllllly slowly. Not a nibble or a bite for a long time. They wound up catching 2 trout the last half hour (or so) that they were on the lake, though, so all was not lost! (Thanks for catching a future dinner for us, guys!!)

Conor and Bestefar say "WOO HOO!"

 I worked from the island Mon-Wed and took Thur-Fri off to go salmon fishing with Eric's dad. I'm pretty sure it was his life's goal to have me catch a salmon. He's taken me out a number of times over the past few years and the only thing we ever caught were dogfish, a flounder, and rocks. This year, he was determined to change my salmon fishing record.... and we did!! We were up very early both mornings and at the boat launch no later than 5 AM. The only thing we caught on Thursday was a crab (yum, but not exactly what we'd hoped for in the big scheme of things). Friday was our day! We wound up with 9 keeper crabs in the traps. I also caught a pink salmon (hooked and reeled it in myself - boo yah!), and Jack hooked a king salmon that he had me reel in. In addition, Jack caught one heck of a ling cod (40-ish pounds!) that we threw back after taking a few photos.  Talk about a fish putting up a fight!!!

Early mornings

Jack navigating to good fishing spots

That's one BIG ling cod!!!

My king!!

:Look at my pink!

On the ferry heading back home ... with our annual "post golf camp" ice cream treats

After fishing and cleaning up the boat on Friday, the kids and I repacked the car and headed home. We were tired, but in a good way! (I'm sure as soon as we headed up the driveway, Eric's parents were in their chairs with half-closed eyes!) Unbeknownst to the kids and me, Eric sneaked down to Tacoma the day before to bring home our new pup (Huck). The original plan was I'd pick him up on Saturday after Annika's Irish dance competition, but Eric had an even better plan in mind! Talk about a surprise!!!! The kids had NO idea that we were adopting a new dog ... I had no idea he'd be at the house waiting for us! 

Annika and Conor meeting Huck

Isn't he cute??

Huck checking out the back yard

As if spending 6 days on Whidbey and bringing home a new pup weren't enough, Annika had her first feis (Irish dance competition) on Saturday in Tacoma .... AT BELLARMINE!! So, we were (once again) up bright and early so we could check in at 8 AM. Annika had quite the cheering section - Fr. Fred, Troy/Staci/Kat/Ian, Drew/Sandy, and my best friend Kate were all there to watch her dance! She walked away with 2 bronze medals and a trophy for 2nd place. Not too shabby, if you ask me!

All ready to dance!

Annika all ready to jig

After the feis and lunch at The Spar with Troy/Staci/Kat/Ian, Annika and I made a quick stop at Johnson's Candy (DUH!) before driving back home. I'm pretty sure I would have been a lump on the floor upon arriving at home had I not been welcomed home by a very waggy little puppy who likes to nibble on ears that are within reach. :)