Lake Love

 We just returned from our annual Gram and Grumps Lake Vacation. The kids had such a great time time last year and could not wait to return to the wilderness. Gram and Grumps reserve a cabin for each family, and our big crowd takes over Lake Russell. Aunt Donna and Uncle Jim joined us from Ohio this year!

We took separate cars and made a quick stop in Athens for lunch before checking into our cottages. Unfortunately my TERRIBLE sense of direction caught up to me. When I put "Lake Russell State Park" in my GPS, I did not realize that there are actually TWO Lake Russells in Georgia. When I could not find Jay and Tuttle upon arrival, I called for directions to our cottage only to discover that I was 1.5 hours away from the actual vacation spot.... I will not make that mistake again in the future.

The weather threatened rain every day, but it was very minimal and did not affect any outdoor activities.

Father's Day happened to fall during the trip, so the guys spent the morning at the shooting range. We hope all the daddies felt loved and appreciated Sunday and everyday because we sure are lucky to have Daddy, Grumps, Travis, Uncle Jim, and Chip in our lives.

My favorite part of the trip is the return to simpler times. Everyone swims, fishes, plays card games, rides bikes, relaxes in hammocks, and cruises around in the jon boat. 

Each family was in charge of one dinner this time, and Jay put together a delicious low country boil.

We spotted a lot of wildlife this year like deer, a raccoon, a snake, frogs, and turtles, but the winning find was a kitten that charmed Maggie. She named him Bagel and begged to bring him home.

Rosie was living her best life until she got overly comfortable and decided to wander off one too many times and earned a front row spot on our screened in porch.

We missed several grandchildren this year, but 13/18 were at the lake at some point during the vacation. I was able to snap a picture of the younger 10 on the last night while we enjoyed fireworks from a neighboring cottage.

Our spots are already reserved for next year, so the tradition continues! A HUGE thank you to Gram and Grumps for organizing this memorable trip every year.