Goodbye Lake....

It seems like just yesterday we were driving up to the lake on Memorial Day weekend. Z squealed with delight as we pulled up and he saw the familiar pine grove, beach and cottage. It had been 7 long months since we had last been there and we were all thrilled to be back.

The lake means a lot to my family (those of you who frequent this blog have probably figured this out by now ;)). My uncle bought the property in the 60's and since that time it has become a huge part of my family's existence. Our lake is not only a place where we go on vacation...it is our second home and so many important life events have happened here (both happy and sad). Happy life events include, my parents honeymoon, my first birthday (well most of my birthdays), my first summer crush, my middle sister got engaged on the beach and my baby sister will be married on the lake this winter. And two very sad memories....my uncle who bought the lake had his funeral here and was buried on the grounds and my grandfather (one of my most favorite people) passed away on the dock while fixing a boat.

I have been going to the lake since I was a few weeks old and from that time it has become a part of me. I am so blessed to be married to a man who loves this place as much as I do and does not mind spending most of his vacation time there. We now love watching our son fall in love with the lake and giggle with delight whenever we mention going there.

Much of the day Sunday was spent packing and preparing the cottages for the long winter. It was hard to believe that the summer was over and it would be 7 long winter months before we were back at the site (my sister is getting married 20 minutes away). I held in the tears (as I always do in October) as we said goodbye to all of our "lake friends". I then turned to Z and said, we need to say "good-bye" to the lake. He looked at me and said, "NO". He rarely says no (believe it or not) and this took me a back. He looked away and stared out at the water....this is when I started to cry. I hugged him and told him how blessed we were to have such a beautiful place in our lives. I told him that we would be back before he knew it and in the meantime we have lots of beautiful pictures to look at and memories to share. I picked him up just as S came over to us. We had a family hug and turned to walk up the hill to the car.

I know May will be here before we know it but I don't want to rush the time away either. So much can happen in 7 months....in the meantime I will work on Z's scrapbook so that he can remember all of his big summer buddies and his most favorite place in the world...The Lake!