This was a treat. This was a gift from Jason's dad to us, as we all mourned his loss. It was a great time to spend as a family (with Jason's mom, brother, sister-in-law and our family). We went to a place that he would have loved with fishing, hiking, swimming, fishing, fishing...8-). A time to build new memories, and remember old ones. A time for fun, but to relax too. It was a treat. Thank you Wes.
A paddle boat ride across the lake for the girls and I.But, I am getting a little bit ahead of myself. Before anything, and what we started with was a Sunday brunch. It all begins with food.
All the meals were included. They had a great service staff that we at your beckon call. If you wanted OJ, it was there. Water too. There. As you can tell Karli is telling us all to back off from her delicious food!
Here is a picture of Jason's brunch...well part of it anyway. I think this was plate three...j/k.
One of the options they gave us was the choice between the buffet inside or lunch cookout buffet outside. We chose outside one of the days. It was great!
This is all of us at one of our meals. Again, the food was wonderful!
At night you could choose the dinner buffet or the formal dinner. So, the first night our family at at the buffet while Jason's mom, brother and wife went to the formal dinner. The next night they took our kids and we got to go...just the two of us! It was wonderful!
There was a lot to do around there. At night they had activities like campfires, magicians, Broadway singers...other things we did included:
Relaxing in our room!
They had a Kid's Club that you could send your kids to if you wanted some alone time. We only made the kids go for one session on one of the days and they had a blast. So, the four of us snuck off and played some tennis. Yeah, it has been a while for me. It was obvious. I am glad they gave us the court furthest from everyone. It would have been quite embarrassing! We also got to play shuffleboard with Jason's mom.
We also took the kids on rides around the lake.
Our favorite thing by far was the water. We had some fun time at the beach.
There was even a time every morning when they opened up the whole lake and you could swim across it. So, we swam across it. When I had reached the other side we rest for a moment on a big rock that was there. A woman was talking to another gentleman about the snakes in the lake. You have to understand I did not grow up swimming in many lakes, so I knew they were there I had just forgotten about them. Until she mentioned the "S" word. But, then I realized there was no other way back. So, I took the plunge and headed back across...although I think I made better time than before! 8-)
This is kind of out of order, but one of the small gazebos around the lake was named "The Twins", so we had to get this shot:
But, we loved the beach.
They had a log attached in the water and you could try over and over to stand up on it.
And of course, the pool.
If you notice in this picture (and a few of ours that aren't on here) I am floating on my stomach. This is a common find at this pool. They have relaxing music playing UNDER the water.
Yes, under the water. So, as you were gliding through the pool you could hear this peaceful music playing under water. So, each of us adults would take turns just relaxing by the speakers. It was so peaceful and you were just floating.
There was actually a lady that brought this older blind gentleman into the pool. He was having a hard time adjusting to the water. Then my sister-in-law informed her of the music under the water, that it might relax him. We helped her find the speaker and the gentleman just wanted to lay on his back and feel the music. And that is what he did for the next half hour. You could tell he was so peaceful and relax. It was a beautiful sight to see.
The sign above is the directions for the the Labyrinth, this rocky terrain and climbing hill. We were all excited to climb it, we had heard so much about it. As I was reading the above sign I noticed at the bottom it mentioned that those 8 and up were probably the only ones that could do it. The girls, depending on the day, can be strong or wanting to drop at any second. Since, it mentioned that once you were in it there was not a way out I decided to walk with the girls up the side path and meet them at the top. The last thing I wanted for the relaxing afternoon was to be stuck in the middle of a rock climb and have to push the girls through. On our way to the other path I stopped by the Kid's Club to fill out some paperwork for the kids to enjoy an afternoon there. I asked them their thoughts about it. They said they wouldn't take my girls, but I know them better. They said they have only taken one 5 year old before. The girls were begging and so I told them there was no turning back. Jason, John, Eric and Elisabeth had already gone, so I started the adventure on my own with the three girls. Crazy, yes, impossible...no...didn't you know that ALL things are possible with God. He was there. It was fun.
In light of the previous note above, I have to say I was so impressed by the girls determination to complete this. It was difficult in some places and they pressed on...ahead of me. There were some scary parts, but they did it. I think I was most shocked and amazed at Kiley. She is our worrier. And she took the challenge and lead us on our exhibition. She crossed places by herself that had deep crevices. She lead the way. This was a HUGE thing for her. And the girls followed her. Usually Emily is the leader of the pack...but today was Kiley's day and she did GREAT!
This is tea time. I find this picture funny as the boys were the only ones of us that enjoyed tea time. They have it every afternoon on the veranda with cookies. This is the last thing we did before we left that day. Here are my boys having tea and crumpets. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I don't know that we will ever be able to go back, but are thankful for the time we had. This will definitely be on our family wish list when the kids get older.
One of the options they gave us was the choice between the buffet inside or lunch cookout buffet outside. We chose outside one of the days. It was great!
This is all of us at one of our meals. Again, the food was wonderful!
At night you could choose the dinner buffet or the formal dinner. So, the first night our family at at the buffet while Jason's mom, brother and wife went to the formal dinner. The next night they took our kids and we got to go...just the two of us! It was wonderful!
There was a lot to do around there. At night they had activities like campfires, magicians, Broadway singers...other things we did included:Relaxing in our room!
They had a Kid's Club that you could send your kids to if you wanted some alone time. We only made the kids go for one session on one of the days and they had a blast. So, the four of us snuck off and played some tennis. Yeah, it has been a while for me. It was obvious. I am glad they gave us the court furthest from everyone. It would have been quite embarrassing! We also got to play shuffleboard with Jason's mom.
We also took the kids on rides around the lake.
Our favorite thing by far was the water. We had some fun time at the beach.
There was even a time every morning when they opened up the whole lake and you could swim across it. So, we swam across it. When I had reached the other side we rest for a moment on a big rock that was there. A woman was talking to another gentleman about the snakes in the lake. You have to understand I did not grow up swimming in many lakes, so I knew they were there I had just forgotten about them. Until she mentioned the "S" word. But, then I realized there was no other way back. So, I took the plunge and headed back across...although I think I made better time than before! 8-)
This is kind of out of order, but one of the small gazebos around the lake was named "The Twins", so we had to get this shot:
But, we loved the beach.
They had a log attached in the water and you could try over and over to stand up on it.
And of course, the pool.
If you notice in this picture (and a few of ours that aren't on here) I am floating on my stomach. This is a common find at this pool. They have relaxing music playing UNDER the water.Yes, under the water. So, as you were gliding through the pool you could hear this peaceful music playing under water. So, each of us adults would take turns just relaxing by the speakers. It was so peaceful and you were just floating.
There was actually a lady that brought this older blind gentleman into the pool. He was having a hard time adjusting to the water. Then my sister-in-law informed her of the music under the water, that it might relax him. We helped her find the speaker and the gentleman just wanted to lay on his back and feel the music. And that is what he did for the next half hour. You could tell he was so peaceful and relax. It was a beautiful sight to see.
The sign above is the directions for the the Labyrinth, this rocky terrain and climbing hill. We were all excited to climb it, we had heard so much about it. As I was reading the above sign I noticed at the bottom it mentioned that those 8 and up were probably the only ones that could do it. The girls, depending on the day, can be strong or wanting to drop at any second. Since, it mentioned that once you were in it there was not a way out I decided to walk with the girls up the side path and meet them at the top. The last thing I wanted for the relaxing afternoon was to be stuck in the middle of a rock climb and have to push the girls through. On our way to the other path I stopped by the Kid's Club to fill out some paperwork for the kids to enjoy an afternoon there. I asked them their thoughts about it. They said they wouldn't take my girls, but I know them better. They said they have only taken one 5 year old before. The girls were begging and so I told them there was no turning back. Jason, John, Eric and Elisabeth had already gone, so I started the adventure on my own with the three girls. Crazy, yes, impossible...no...didn't you know that ALL things are possible with God. He was there. It was fun.
I was amazed.
I was impressed.
I think the climb from Chimney Mountain a couple of days before helped them realize they could do more than they thought they could. John ended up climbing this a second time with dad and found an even harder part to finish at the end that went further up the mountain. He LOVED it! It was a great climb for them! Father-son bonding time.
In light of the previous note above, I have to say I was so impressed by the girls determination to complete this. It was difficult in some places and they pressed on...ahead of me. There were some scary parts, but they did it. I think I was most shocked and amazed at Kiley. She is our worrier. And she took the challenge and lead us on our exhibition. She crossed places by herself that had deep crevices. She lead the way. This was a HUGE thing for her. And the girls followed her. Usually Emily is the leader of the pack...but today was Kiley's day and she did GREAT!
This is tea time. I find this picture funny as the boys were the only ones of us that enjoyed tea time. They have it every afternoon on the veranda with cookies. This is the last thing we did before we left that day. Here are my boys having tea and crumpets. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I don't know that we will ever be able to go back, but are thankful for the time we had. This will definitely be on our family wish list when the kids get older.
From here we headed to New York City and Brooklyn...here we come.
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