At the lake…

I grew up going to Minnesota for vacation, my mom’s whole family would rent cabins and we’d hang out for the week.  I have fond memories of those smelly old cabins, decorated in 70s cheap decor with wood paneled walls.  I remember the sand under my feet inside, the lack of air condition and TV, the rusty smell of the shower water… the freedom to eat sugar cereal every morning and Dairy Queen blizzards EVERY night.  We’d fish, go to Turtle Races in town, swim for hours on end, I learned to ski…. I learned to fall while skiiing (my uncle Dan took pleasure in trying to spill us off the skiis and tube…and the beauty of being young is that I was never scared to fall!).

Over the 4th a good friend invited us to her parents lake house and UNLIKE the memories of young, I basked in the freedom of doing NOTHING.  We swam, we ate sugar cereal, my boys ran off high dives and jumped in deep waters, we saw fire works.  The boys were in HEAVEN.   We drove way too fast on boats but this time i WAS scared to fall.    Those that know me, know that i am a LITTLE scared of planes, trains, automobiles…pretty much anything that moves faster than me.   When we run in the AM i lecture my friends on getting over for cars.  During rough flights I have grabbed the stranger next to me for comfort, I’m a miserable back seat driver…  This weekend I buried my head as we ventured back from the impressive Grand Lake fire work show in the dark, on a rough lake, with hundreds of other boats trying to get home at the same time.  I was scared of collision, scared to fall.  I suppose as we age we realize how finite life is and for some of us, we fear what happened to Kelly and Sloane (below post) will be our fortune.  HOWEVER, it is my vow to not allow my fear of falling to prohibit my love of life.  I love to travel, I love to run on busy streets, I love to be on the lake….. so come hell or high water I won’t let my fear of falling get in the way.  I’m certain of that.  Here are a few shots of being on or around a lake – these kiddos have NO FEAR OF FALLING.  Wish i could bottle that for them!