My Sizzling Summer Vaction

We decided to take a weekend and head up to mother-in-law's cabin the first weekend in August. Things were crazy around here the few weeks before that, with me involved in a 5 week triathlon, dealing with neck & shoulder issues, and getting Funky Princess ready for camp. The week before we left I was running around trying to clean the house and get the laundry done before we leave, pack everybody's stuff, along with all the other stuff we had to drag up there. Trying to figure out what exactly we were going to eat while there, so I could get a cooler packed with enough food for the weekend. By the time we left Friday morning, I was ready for some R & R.

Launching the boat

Friday afternoon, after we unloaded everything and got settled in, we took the boat out fishing. We only take the boat out once a year, so trying to launch the boat off the trailer, for us it can turn into a big ordeal. First of all it took forever for Hubby to back the trailer down the boat launch. I was standing at the bottom of the launch trying to direct him into the water. I kept signaling him to keep backing up but he didn't trust my judgment and stopped so the only thing in the water was the very back end of the trailer. The boat was still a good 3 feet above the water. He got out of the truck to check how far he was from the water and said, "Don't let me forget to put the plug in." Then he started to unwind the wench and tried to slide the boat off the trailer. I suggested that he back the trailer up a little more before trying to push it off. So he got back in the truck and backed up more, so now the trailer tires are in the water and the bottom of the boat in actually touching the water. I was holding the bow line, he unhooked the wench cable from the boat and we give it a shove off the trailer. As soon as it hit the water I remembered the plug. We forgot to put it in. So we had to hook the wench line back up and crank the boat back up on the trailer, drain the water, put the plug in and launch the boat again. Believe it or not but this was an improvement from our experience last year.

Fishing
We finally got the boat in the water, park the truck and headed out fishing. Hubby found a spot to drop anker, got the kids fishing. He baited my hook and handed me my pole. I cast my line, and the next thing I knew, my reel fell off the pole and landed in the water. I threw down my pole and start to pull up fishing line, but I was thinking it's pretty much useless because the line is would just going to keep unreeling as I pulled it up. After I pulled up several yards of line I did finally pull up the reel. I guess the top part was loose and when I cast it came apart and the whole thing flew out of my hand. We managed to get it put back together and reel up all the line, but the button release on the reel was gone so it was pretty much useless. I used it the rest of the afternoon as a canning pole.

We weren't out there more than 20 minutes when Jepup Man announced he was bored. We were catching some fish, but not fast enough for him. I told him to lie down on the floor and take a nap; the waves would rock him to sleep. But when he tried that he said the sun was to bright. So somehow he managed to wedge himself under my seat to shield his face from the sun, but that didn't last long either. Then he was complaining he was to hot and he wanted to take his shirt off. But that meant undoing his lifejacket and it was a fight to get it on him. We told him he could take his shirt off, but the lifejacket had to go back on. Once he got his shirt off, he couldn't get his lifejacket zipped up and had to have me do it for him.

He doesn’t quite get that you can't run around in a fishing boat. He wanted to back by me, then he wanted to sit in front, then he wanted to sit on this side, then over on that side. Every time he'd move from one side to the other, the boat would tilt and he'd freak because one side was leaning into the water. Hubby had enough of this and yelled at him, "PICK A SPOT AND PARK IT!" The rest of the afternoon he complained about being bored and wanted to go back to the cabin. We were out there a couple hours and caught about 7 fish that were big enough to keep. We decided to pack it up and head in for supper around 5:30.

Loading the boat
Loading the boat on the trailer was just as big an ordeal as unloading it. Once again Hubby parked so the trailer was barely over the water and tried to load it that way. He did manage to get it loaded, but was a little bit flustered by the time it was done. I suggested that he have the trailer farther in the water next time, he gave me a crabby look and said "Yes, I know."

A bad sunburn
We headed back to the cabin to have dinner and it was then that I noticed how sun burned I got that afternoon. I had put sun screen on, but not very well, because I had stripes down my arms. I used some of that no rub spray sun screen and where most of it landed it didn't burn, but it left me with a stripe on each side where it did. Hubby couldn't figure out how I could burn so unevenly, until I explained that I tried spraying it while we were moving, so the direct spray hit my arm and the rest of it just blew away. Also I was wearing a tank top and didn't think to spray any under my arms and got burn pretty bad there too. My scalp, nose and the areas I missed with sun screen were pretty red and sore.

Fishing again
Saturday morning we got up and were planning on going into town, but changed our minds and went fishing again instead. This time we launched the boat like old pros, and found a nice spot. Hubby got Funky Princess's pole ready and as soon as her hook hit the water she had a bite. He didn't even have time to finish baiting Jepup Man's hook before he had to take Funky Princess's fish off, and as soon as Jepup Man threw his line in the water he had a bite too. That's pretty much the way it went, and we could even see the fish as they went after the bait. The minute we dropped a hook in the water there were at least 5 fish right there. It was fun to watch. The kids were pulling them in faster than I could get my hook in the water, so I just set my pole down and helped them. Most of what we caught were to small to keep, but they were having fun so it didn't matter. We were out there about 2 hours and brought in 10 keepers.

A visit from a loon

While we were fishing the kids noticed something black swiming towards us. They thought it was a dog, but it was coming from the middle of the lake, so it couldn't be a dog. About 10 feet off the back of the boat, it popped it's head out of the water. It was a loon. None of us had ever seen a loon this close in person before and it was just sitting there. I grabbed the camera, but it disappered underwater before I could take a pic. I waited and waited for it to pop back up but it never did, at least not were I was expecting it to. When it finally did pop up, it was to far to take a pic without useing the zoom. I zoomed in, and just as I was trying to focus, it disappered underwater again. This time it popped back up on the other side of the boat, but again disappered just as I was about to take a pic. There was no way this loon would have it's picture taken. We didn't see it again until we were heading back into shore. I tried to take it's picture again, but it was to far away and we were moving, so all I ended up with was a small black blur surrounded by blurry water.

Shopping

We went back to the cabin for lunch, and then into town to do a little shopping. In town we stopped at a small winery and sampled a couple locally made wines. We bought 2 bottles, a wild plum & a honeywine. Next to the winery was a small gift shop where they sold jellies from the local wild fruits. There was blueberry, chokecherry, grape, linden berry, crab apple and another kind I can't remember what though. They let us sample the jellies. They were good, but I decided not to buy any because my dad makes jelly from the same fruits. I didn't see any reason to pay for the same jelly I could get from Dad for nothing. Next we hit the bakery, they were getting ready to close when we got there and only had a few items left. We picked up some cupcakes and the last loaf of cinnamon bread. Next was the grocery store. I was hoping they would have some aloe vera or something for sun burn relief, but being a small grocery store they didn't have much in the health and beauty section besides a couple different shampoo brands and soap.

Swiming

Back at the cabin we put our goodies away, donned our swim suits and headed for the beach. The kids had been bugging us to go swimming since we got there Friday afternoon. When we were there in the morning fishing, the beach was empty by the time we got there in the afternoon it was busy. Boats were coming in and out, kids were playing in the water, and people were sitting on the beach. The kids jumped right in and started to play with the other kids there. Hubby and I took our time getting in the water. It was hot out, but the water was cold, so we kind of inched our way in. I was finally in up to my waist and decided to dunk myself and get it over with, after that the water wasn't so bad. Hubby doesn’t swim so he just stood in the water up to his waist.

We were standing there watching the kids play when I felt something along my backside. I looked up at Hubby and asked if he just pinched me, he said no, and then all of sudden he jumped and let out a yelp and said something just got him in the ankle. I hate when fish bite, so we scrambled out of the water and sat on the beach. While we were fishing Jepup Man asked if a fish could mistake a finger or toe for food. We said sometimes. A few minutes after Hubby and I left the water Jepup Man comes up to the beach complain that something bit his toe. I said "A fish must have thought it was a big fat worm." That didn't stop him from going back in the water though. Eventually the kids got tired of swimming and we headed back to the cabin. I was tired to so I laid down and took a 2 hour nap, while the kids and Hubby watched tv. When I woke up, Hubby was making supper (frozen pizza). After supper we went out for drink and the kids played a couple video games. We went back to the cabin and called it a night.

Packing up

Sunday we got up, packed everything back up and cleaned the cabin before leaving. It was just a weekend, and it was pretty relaxing, but by Sunday we were all ready to go home and sleep in our own beds. Hubby and I have talked about buying a cabin of our own someday, but if we're this tired after 2 days of relaxing, imagine what it'd be like if we did this every weekend.

You can check out more summer vaction posts at
We are THAT Family