fun on the beach

Once we got here, we couldn't go directly to our house because none of our stuff was with us. We decided to rent a lake cabin instead of staying in a hotel so we could have a little more room and a bit of a "vacation." I am really glad we did.

Here is our little lake house. The only thing little about it was the bathroom...and the beds. I have decided that this trip should be called "the full bed fiasco" because that is the size bed we ended up on pretty much every night. Cozy!

And here is the view from the cabin's yard down to the lake. The sand is so soft and gorgeous and the weather has been perfect. It really was a great little vacation before we settled into the mess of unpacking.

As soon as we dropped our bags in the cabin, we all headed down to enjoy the sand and water. We spent a lot of time there the next few days. Friday night we had a hot-dog roast on the beach as well. It was lots of fun.

Jed loves the sand. He loves to roll in it, to run his hands in it, to throw it...we have to learn some sand etiquette, apparently.

I love this cute boy!

Dave and Hannah scrounged us some wood to build our fire and we got things cooking.

I love this huge Lake Huron already. It's big enough that it feels like the ocean, and the sand is incredibly soft, but it's still a lake, so there are actual trees that grow on the shore and you don't have to worry about sharks and jellyfish and stuff lurking below (although I'm sure there are other lurkers, but I refuse to think about them).

Jed was so hungry that he dove into his hot dog sideways. I don't think he's ever eaten a hot dog roasted over a fire--we couldn't have one in our backyard in Texas--and we had a good laugh at the mustard all over his face. We still couldn't get him to eat a roasted marshmallow, although he did try to roast one for a little while. He only likes "cold" marshmallows. What a boy!

Pregnant-faced Mommy and mustard-faced Jed. What a combination!

a little smooch

I had forgotten just how challenging it is to eat in sand with a child. We let Jed get good and sandy while we started the fire and got set up, but we made him rinse off in the water when it was time to eat. While his second hot dog cooked, he had such a hard time staying out of the sand and every three seconds I had to get after him. When he had eaten his fill he asked if he could get back in the sand and it was a huge relief for both of us that I could say yes. Mom and Dad, our annual trips to the sand dunes growing up now have new meaning!