Atkins Lake

This past week, my family spent time vacationing on Atkins Lake in Northern Wisconsin.  This vacation was important for a few reasons:

1) The last time my family (Mom, Dad, my brother Greg & his wife Mary, my sister Emily & her husband David, Andrew & me) were all together was 3 years ago at Andrew & my wedding.

2) The last time my family took a vacation together was when Greg was still in high school - at least 14 years ago.

3) Emily, David, Andrew & I had not yet met our six month old niece, Lily.

We had the most wonderful time.  Here's a look at some of what we did this past week:

On the way to the cabin, Andrew & I stopped and did a couple hours of hiking at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore:

Following a lunch of pasties, we drove through the beautiful Upper Peninsula:

At the cabin, we went fishing.  Andrew even caught us a couple walleye big enough to eat:

We ate good food - and a lot of it, including some fantastic ribs that Greg smoked:

We played with kayaks and the speed boat:

We spent time playing with and getting to know Lily:

We simply enjoyed being together as a family:

We left Atkins Lake sad to say goodbye, but with wonderful memories of time spent together, and eager anticipation for the time we will spent together for Christmas in just 5 months.