Rain, rain on my face...

...It hasn't stopped raining for days!

Our vacation week at the lake was pretty cool and rainy. To be honest, it would have been different if it WASN'T cool and rainy up there last week. Even the weather people were complaining that this pattern has been sitting on western Maine and the NH lakes region for most of the last 6 - 8 weeks. A stubborn low pressure zone is just sitting there blocking all the warm, sunny weather! Sorry, I digress into weather nerdiness! My parents vacationed at the lake house 2 weeks ago when an actual TORNADO went through the area. Our tragedy this week was fatal flash flooding (not in our town)!

So...a nice (inexpensive) week full of swimming, boating, fishing, etc. at my family's lake house turned out to be a bit more creative (expensive) vacation. We made sure we did something special each day...and were thankful that the house comes complete with games, cable tv and DVD players! Because we headed out for field trips, we ended up eating out more than we planned, but that's fun for the Mom!!!!! I think I will do a whole post dedicated to our dining adventures, both home and out.

In general, we started each day with breakfast at home. The kids squeezed in at least a quick swim each day. We'd play some Uno and some Scrabble, then try to figure out an activity to do. Dave is never without his Blackberry and his laptop, so even with a slow connection we were able to google some fun! About the Blackberry and the laptop...I believe from here on out I will insist we either travel internationally or camp in a tent in some remote wilderness. When I mentioned this one day Dave quipped back that his Blackberry has international capabilities. Curses! Sorry again, that turned into a bit of a rant. Anyway, each evening would end with a board game before bed. The kids actually did very well sleeping. They chose to share a room, got along pretty well and got better sleep than they do at home...no bedtime wars!
Only one day (Wed) turned out to be a complete washout (literally). We and the rest of the lakes/White Mountain region decided to go to Conway watch a movie. There's only one theater, playing one family movie. Thankfully, we hadn't seen Wall-E yet and managed to get tickets to the second of two showings after the first sold out. Conway is also outlet shopping Mecca. Though I was the only one enthusiastic about it, we got a little back-to-school shopping done. Friday night we returned to Conway (it's about half an hour from the house) to go to an arcade. Daddy decided to treat the kids to "Ice Cream for Supper" at a make-your-own-sundae place. Ah well, we'll try to catch up on nutrients this week! In a sugar high, I managed to convince the other three to go to one more outlet mall with me! I forgot my camera at the house that night, so no pictures of the arcade and sundaes.

My family joined us for the two weekends. That was really nice because the weather was descent at the very beginning of the week and at the very end. We had fun family feasts (I'll discuss that later) and lots of fun moments. That's what I care about most. So, no matter the weather, it was a wonderful vacation. We had two crying kids as we left this afternoon...and I admit I had a lump in my throat as well.

Leaving the lake stinks...