Beaver Lake Camping Trip

This past week (Fri-Tues), we enjoyed time at Beaver Lake (just past Winfield).  Many of my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc came joined us for a wonderful time.  We had a BBQ on Saturday evening and there were 34 of us! I adore my family, all of them.  It was such a gift to spend quality and quantity time with them.  Memories were made.  This is what it's all about for me.  Living in community and sharing life with those that I love. 

We're not a perfect family, none are.  We have our issues and are learning to love better, be more authentic and live out our faith in a more real way.  We're all dealing with things and trying to make sense of our own struggles (personally and within our family groups). 

Putting my heart on my sleeve here...This is the first summer since my uncle Dave passed away in the fall. He was a camping man and therefore camping will always be a fond memory that his wife and children have of him.  My aunt Erika, cousins Rachel and Nick came up for a couple of nights. It was so great to have them!  The rest of their family couldn't make it up, kids are growing and leaving the "nest," not an easy time for my aunt. I feel for her, even though I don't understand this stage I can get that it would be incredibly hard to "let go" of your kids after taking care of them for so long.

One of my cousins and her family didn't come up.  I know that my aunt and uncle wished all of their kids could have been there, not to mention their grandchildren.  They are all loved beyond words.  My brother and sister in law and nieces didn't come; camping isn't for everyone.  That said, it would have been great for the kids to play together and share a bigger memory with their family.  Perhaps one day.  My moms boyfriend and sons came on the trip as well. This had the potential to be kind of odd, however they were great guys and we ended up having a great time getting to know them.

So there it is, struggles, some sadness, wishes, akwardness.  No one needed to say these things, one just knows they exist.  There will always be some of these feelings in a family.  But in the end it was good. We had a great trip and enjoyed the time we shared, it was positive.  Time spent brings people together.

Everyone enjoyed my aunt and uncles kayaks.

We played a lot of games.  We had some not so nice weather so it was a good thing that we're a game loving family!

The kids loved playing at the waters edge.

There was a petting zoo that was a HUGE hit with our kids!  They loved the guinea pigs.