Giraffiti: Family Time at the Cabin

Sometimes I'm amazed at how many years we've been going to the cabin for our annual family vacation. This year neither of my kids were able to be there. But as always my sister's are great at sharing their grand children.

Wally and I drove Saturday morning stopping frequently. Our favorite lunch spot for many years has been The Smokehouse Restaurant in La Grande, Oregon. Funny thing is though, we usually order breakfast for lunch. Wally discovered their giant hotcakes one year. But this year he passed on the hotcakes.

We then continued on to spend the night in Boise at my sister Sue's house. Before dinner I usually get a quick dip in the pool which always feels great after our 500 mile drive.

This time on Sunday morning, instead of heading directly to the cabin we were able to meet my niece Serene and her family for breakfast. It also happened to be Father's Day. She lives in Sacramento and her and her husband Scott have two children whom I had never met before. Seneca just recently turned 2 and Levi at the time was about 5 months old. They brought along some in-laws and we had a very fun visit. They were on their way to Canada for vacation. We had breakfast in Meridian at The Griddle. It was very good.

Sunday we drove to the cabin stopping in Rexburg to drop some items off to a young couple from her Mom her in Kent. We arrived at the cabin after Sue and Dennis. Later that evening we were joined by John, Sarah, Ethan and Austin.

Everyone else arrived on Tuesday, or was it Wednesday? This year we had Becky, David, Joe, Nikki, Tristan, Kali, Taylor, Nancy, Emily, Scott, Sue, Dennis, John, Sarah, Ethan, Austin, Wally and me. The big focus for the week was building a deck on the lake side of the condo. It was fun watching the progress and so many people helping out. We got to take family pictures on the deck before everyone headed home.

It was the first time in a long time we had all five of us kids together. And as always we ate well with everyone pitching in. I have to say breakfast is probably my favorite meal at the cabin. It's cooked on the grill, bacon, eggs, pancakes, fish, potatoes. It was always delicious, cooked mostly by John and Sue. Dave even made us sourdough crepes with berries one morning. Delicious. And of course we had caramel corn one evening.

We adjusted to the fact the younger generation enjoys their electronic games. And it was cute to see them sitting together so focuses. We had fun playing Rummikub which always makes me think of my Mom playing that with the grandkids.

The weather was very hot this year. There were mosquitos and there were bug bites. There were some fish caught. Most of us went home on Saturday morning. I missed seeing the moose across the water that morning. Sue and Dennis stayed another week and enjoyed the 4th of July fireworks from the deck.

Wally and I decided to drive home on I-90. We went to Ennis and had a great breakfast including Indian fry bread with honey butter. It was a very hot drive home. Each time we stopped to take a break or get gas we were blasted with heat. It was actually 112 degrees in Wallace, Idaho where we stopped for a late lunch of burgers.

When we got to Spokane and it was only 5 pm we decided to just keep driving to get home. I can't believe I drove 750 miles in one day. It was a long stretched out day with lots of stops and walking around. It was another great family vacation at the cabin.

Oh, and I won a quilt and Natalie won the other quilt!