This is the first post of a 3-part series highlighting our week on South Long Lake at The Lazy Loon near Brainerd, Minnesota in late May/early June 2014. Click here for Part 2 and click here for Part 3.
Thursday, Day 1
We loaded up the Tahoe full to the brim and luckily caught the boys' naptime on the 4 hour drive up to Brainerd.
The slept until we reached Saint Cloud, where we stopped for pizza and a little park time. We finally arrived at the cabin on South Long Lake around 6pm, not a moment too soon. We were all a little stiff, so we didn't waste any time in getting out and exploring the cabin and the lake front.
I made a quick jaunt to the store to pick up groceries for the week, especially MILKIES for Cashel. We had a horrible time getting the boys to sleep that night - they were way too excited and a little warmer than usual (the place didn't have a/c, just fans), but thankfully we did finally get them down and we crashed shortly after.
Friday, Day 2
The next morning, Kendrick and I were up early, and the coffee never tasted so good!
About an hour later, Cashel and Mark joined us, and we relaxed for a while over breakfast before heading back outside to enjoy the gorgeous morning.
While Mark and Cashel worked on their fishing skills, Kendrick and I just really enjoyed rolling around in the grass and exploring the yard.
Melt my heart - this face!!
It was truly one of the most peaceful, relaxing days. The cabin was so perfect for our little family, and Cashel just walked around like he owned the place. It was so cute to watch him just soak in the beach and the water and the yard and the dock.
One of the coolest parts about our incredible view at the Lazy Loon was being able to capture stuff like this: 35 geese just hanging out in front of the cabin.
We also tried desperately to capture the loon that frequented the area, but the stinker would only come out just before dusk, and my lens isn't quite advanced enough to capture him in detail at the distance he was at.
Over nap time, Mark ran into town to register the jet ski (he had forgotten to), so I took it upon myself to do a little relaxing and journaling.
The boys took LONG naps (about 3 hours each), so it was truly so nice to just unwind and have nothing to do. This practically never happens at home, and when it does, I tend to have so many things on my "to do" list that I never just listen to the birds sing and feel the wind blow with the sun on my face.
Of course, almost the exact moment Mark got back with the jet ski, the boys woke up, and we decided to go put the jet ski in the water at the public access point a couple miles away. Cashel couldn't wait to get out there on the water!
He just couldn't WAIT to come and tell Mama all about his adventures :)
Kendrick was still a little too small to go on the jet ski with Daddy, but he did have to go check it out once they got back :)
The rest of the evening was pretty laid back and uneventful. We did a lot of playing and snuggling in the yard
I honestly don't recall what else we did the rest of the evening, although I do recall that the boys were once again fighting going to sleep, so we spent a lot of time trying to get them down to bed. I'm sure we ate something that I made, but I don't recall what exactly.
Once the boys FINALLY went down, Mark and I enjoyed a little quiet time fishing on the dock with the video monitor surprisingly reaching all the way out there. I caught a little rock bass, and Mark caught an enormous dog fish.
It was once again a warm, sticky night sleeping, but we were grateful that a storm rolled through in the night to cool the place off by morning.
