4th of July Weekend 2008

We had a great weekend July 3-6 at the cabin.  For the first time since the 80s, Karen and Terry were able to make it – at least for one night as they were busy moving into their new home.  It’s great to have them back!  Julie made it this year, and Nate and Emma came up as well.  Nate brought a boat, so we had two boats to tool around in this weekend.  We spent a good bit of time with the boats tied up together in the middle of the lake, just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather.  As if by design, it had stormed the day before we went up and the day after we got home, but the weekend was perfect.

Overall, we had Mom; Karen & Terry; Julie, Nate & Emma; Kim, Mike, Elise, Zack & Billy; Val, Joey & Matt; Dave, Jen & Ryan all together.

I don’t think anyone enjoyed the weekend more than Jen.  Ryan has been a full-time job, and she really needed a weekend to get out of the house.  She got plenty of help with him, of course, because everyone got their turn at holding him and helping with some bottle-feeding.  Ryan was very good all weekend, his first cabin trip at seven weeks old.  I think he really likes the outdoors.  He got to take his naps in the new pack-and-play crib that Grandma Lola bought him, lying in the shade with a mosquito net over the crib to keep the bugs off him.  We also bought a nice little Coleman ProCat catalytic heater that is specifically designed to be used in tents, which kept the tent at a nice mild temperature all night.  I think he was going through a growth spurt this weekend, because he slept quite a bit.  The first full day back home, he was at it all day long.

Since we missed Memorial Day weekend this year (too close to Ryan’s birth), 4th of July weekend was much anticipated.  We’re going to try and plan another weekend in early August to make up for it, along with the traditional Labor Day weekend trip.

I’ve uploaded a bunch of pics from the weekend in the Dave & Jen gallery.  Here’s a quick link.