Our lovely week of vacation began with Carissa and I being able to attend Amy Paglia's last baby shower. Baby is almost ready to let us all meet her. We couldn't be more excited. Carissa is praying she gets to share her birthday, July 1st, with this little miracle. 

We arrived at The Pond on Saturday night late. It was a beautiful week, though the mosquitos were very bad and kept us inside a lot. But we still enjoyed celebrating Father's day, my birthday, Andrew's 10th birthday, and being together just the 5 of us. It was a very needed time of rest. 

We discovered that Rayito is more of a water dog than Murphy. Rayito spent time swimming and enjoying the water. His nickname is Mr. Bubbles because he chases them. Murphy loved fetching his stick, but when asked to play in the water he would try to climb on top of Dan asking to be saved from the depths. We laughed a lot. His nickname is Mr. Puddles. 

On my birthday we stopped at the friendly Chevrolet dealer in Ashland, WI to get our Big Green dragon (our truck) to stop complaining about its left front wheel baring. We enjoyed the park across the street and then rode our bikes to the Golden Glow diner for lunch. Yummy fried food!

After trying to mountain bike at the Chequamegon National Forest, but getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (though we did see some wonderful wild life). We drove back through Ashland and enjoyed (well the kids did) the very cold Lake Superior. It was an eventful and memorable day!

In the middle of the week we met Lois for a picnic, go-cart racing, and time at a lovely beach in Minocqua. Please notice the look on Dan's face. I really need to get him out more!

We surprised the kids and took them to see How to Train Your Dragon 2. They loved it, though the father dies which made me upset. But all in all it was another fun time together. I even sneaked candy into the theater which had my rule abiding children a little nervous. 

This guy turned 10! Dan and I now have all double digits. I think that is the hardest thing to comprehend. The day was about food with donuts, bacon, Shirley temples, pork-chops and chocolate chocolate cake. Andrew got legos which kept the boys busy as it was a rainy and cold day and no one wanted to go outside to be eaten alive by the ferocious mosquitoes.

The Pond is such a beautiful place of peace. A reminder of the beauty we have been given to enjoy and marvel at. A place to slow down and be reminded of how to rest and just be.