I Love This Place

In my opinion, Northern Michigan is one of the greatest places on earth. Things move a little bit slower up there, and it's our getaway from the craziness of our daily life.



My great-grandparents built a cabin in Gaylord, Michigan, on Otsego Lake, way back in 1939. They named it "JanDon Lodge", after their children Janet (my grandma) and Don. This is the place we travel to in all of our spare time. Sometimes we only have a weekend, and sometimes we have weeks.



Of course, there have been changes made to our cabin over the years, but it has mostly stayed the same.





My children and their cousins are the fifth generation to experience life at our cabin. And even with the changing times over the years, I'm pretty sure that the things my grandparents did at the cabin are the same things MY kids do at the cabin.



Most days start with a fabulous breakfast: pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, corn fritters and funnel cakes are just a few examples of the deliciousness we wake up to.



And, of course, coffee.



Because of where our cabin sits on the lake, the sun doesn't hit our beach until about 10:30. By 11:00, the chairs are lined up on the beach and the kids are in the water. There's always lunch on the beach, followed by more swimming, tubing, skiing and sun-tanning. In the late afternoon, we all pile into the boat, with our cocktails of choice, and take a slow cruise around the lake. Upon returning, we generally abandon our beach chairs in favor of the dock because the sand gets too hot to walk in. And when we can't possibly sit in the sun any longer, we head inside to get dinner going. After the dinner is over and the dishes are done, we walk through our neighborhood, with a stop at Al's Market for the kids to pick out a little after-dinner treat. Those of us who fish make our way out to the dock around 8:30 and stand silently, waiting for our bobbers to give us some excitement. We fish until it is completely dark. Then we head over to the campfire on the beach for s'mores and stories. After the fire, we play cards. There's Pinochle, Euchre, Gin Rummy, War-something for everyone.



We hit the sack when we can't keep our eyes open any longer and start it all over the next day.



A month ago we were at the cabin and the ice was just beginning to melt. With the warmness of Spring finally upon us, the kids have been begging me to take them up to the cabin. So, we headed up for the weekend. We pulled into the Jandon around 4:00 and, without missing a beat, the kids filed out of the van and headed straight for the lake. By 4:05, all four of them had their shoes off, their pants rolled up, and they were wading in the frigid water.



The day had been cool and cloudy, but the sun decided to peek through as they got into the water, and soon the kids went from wading to splashing in the water.



As they worked up their courage, or possibly went numb from the coldness, they ventured deeper and deeper into the water.

Off came the pants.



Off came the shirts.



Soon I had four crazy kids almost naked, swimming and splashing in the water.







This was the first time Alayna had experienced the beach while walking-last summer she was still crawling. It took her a little while, but she was very brave and joined right in on the fun.







While Emerson took some time out to warm up and have a snack, Greyson decided he'd lounge on a chair in the lake.



My little fish, Owen, swam the entire time.



And Alayna decided to go skinny-dipping. We were not about to stop her. There's nothing cuter than naked baby butt!



The kids played and swam until their bodies were red from the coldness, but they all were so happy to be in the lake again they didn't even care. I did the same thing when I was little, and I'm sure my dad and grandma did the same thing when they were young. You just can't help it; if you're at the lake you MUST get in it!

This is just the beginning of our summer at the lake. We're planning an extended stay this year and I can hardly wait for the lazy days of summer.