pecwanpete: Beach Cabin

Last week we headed up north to the top of Michigan's lower peninsula to spend a few days with friends in a beach cabin along the shore of Lake Michigan. Fall comes a bit earlier up there, so it's a nice way to to appreciate the beauty of all the maples and beeches before winter sets in when I find myself constantly growling about the cold. Our cabin was amazing and huge, with a view of the beach and lake and the oncoming storm. To be honest, I figured with the pack we travel with, I would have been pretty happy with any form of shack in the woods. You see, our pack includes 10 adults, 2 babies, and 10 dogs. Our friends Tory and Mike arranged the cabin and I can only imagine how that conversation went.

"Yes, some of the couples have dogs. They're small to medium sized dogs."

"No, I'm sure they won't get the funiture wet or sandy."

"Really, these are dogs that I'd trust with a baby."

"They're quite mellow, really"

"Not too rambunctious"

"Just a few good, smart dogs"

Needless to say, the owners of this dog and another like it, picked up the keys from the realtor.

This is the second year we've rented a cabin up north. I'm hoping for a third year, but I have my doubts that we'll be invited again. This doubt comes in from another part of our pack - the part about the babies. Rowan seems to be in this stage where he believes going to sleep must be a free ticket straight to Hell. While he has never been that fond of being put to bed, he decided to take his discontent to a new level over the long weekend. I often sing "Yellow Submarine" or "You are my Sunshine" when I try to get him to sleep and through the screaming and wailing I'm sure I growled "You make me HAPPY, when skies are gray". This was all being done with Abby, the other baby, sleeping nearby. Once both kids were asleep, we would head downstairs on pins and needles only to be greeted by 10 loud and excited dogs who thought we had been gone forever. This would be repeated for each nap. In addition, both Abby and Rowan decided to make the most of their vacation by getting up as early as possible. Yeah, I'm sure the non-baby people were thrilled. I'm just hoping by next year they'll have forgotten and Rowan will win them all back with cuteness - as seen below.

"Hey, hurry up and throw that stick, you little brat."

Abby takes sand castle building very seriously.

Crazy, cute.

Run, run, run, run. Sus and I ran too that week, by the way, and got one last long run in (18 miles for me) before the Portland Marathon, which is coming up.