Coops Family Blog: US Trip - Week 2 Lake Cabin

For our second week in the US, we went to my Grandparents' lake cabin in Northern Idaho. Great Grandma Marien (Gigi) lives there in the summer and hosts many family and friends that come and visit. We drove up with my parents. My older brother Ben and his two boys joined us from California for the week giving his wife a nice girl's weekend in Florida. My younger brother Josh was able to join us for a couple days before he went off for some more Army training. My cousin Traci and her husband and three children joined us for most of the week as well. So the cabin was at maximum capacity with all of us there. It was a lot of fun and the best part was seeing the cousins enjoying playing with one another. Campbell joined us for the trip mid-week.

View down the lake from the dock. What a perfect day for a boatride!

Ben took the kids and me for a boatride. There was no one on the lake and it was perfectly still.

Looking back at the cabin (behind the boat cover....not the big one on the right!)

Sylvie was squashed into her life-vest. It was the only time she wore it which was in the boat. They both loved the boat ride. Archie kept looking up at me smiling showing me how happy he was and pointing around.

And while we were there, Sylvie had her first birthday. Campbell arrived the day of her birthday so it was a great day. I successfully made a cake with icing and all. Considering my varied success with cakes in the past, I was very proud of my creation. Traci brought a large cupcake tin cake mold that I used to create a special cake. Cousins Marien and Oren helped make, color, and decorate the frosting and sprinkles. They also help me taste all the colors to make sure they were good. They tested so much, neither were too hungry at dinner....all my fault!

Birthday girl ready to dig in

She loved the frosting!

Swimming on the beach. Archie and Ruby do not look happy but they loved spending time with one another. They were just a little camera shy at times. They are in their beach chairs enjoying cookies.

Fun meal with no shirts

Dinner with the cousins

Enjoying some Daddy time at Starbucks after we picked him up at the airport.

Traci brought a train set up and all the kids loved playing with it. Archie would wake up and ask to go outside to play trains. Santa might have to bring him a trainset for Christmas. It provided HOURS of entertainment.

Young Marien and Gigi (Great Grandma Marien)

Enjoying watchin a movie together. Archie had to sit in the same chair with Marien, his best buddy.

The three musketeers, two of whom are being camera shy.

Another sucessful attempt at getting a photo of the two of them together!

Going for walk/run down the bay.

Sylvie loves her Uncle Ben and was totally at ease with him all week.

Time on the dock.

Swim time. I don't have any photos but Archie did really well swimming in the lake. He had a life-jacket and could swim on his own. In fact, he didn't want me holding on to him at all. It was more of a stand-up swim style than a laying in the water but it worked well. He kept saying, "Arching swimming! I do it!....Come on Mom!....This way!....That way!" It was super cute and lots of fun.

Dock time with Grandpa

Growing up, when we went to the cabin and met up with many of our cousins, we had photos on the beach. We would line up by age and take photos and then we would line up by height and take photos. It is a great way to see us all together and see how we have changed. So this year we lined the kids up and took some cute photos. Archie was in a bit of a mood and refused to take his Binky out.