Everyone has a friend like Lindsey, I suppose. Or if they are lucky like me, they have a handful of friends like Lindsey. Friends where the loyalty never runs out, where time never changes the friendship, where you can sit down for a drink or a dinner after a year of hardly talking and have a ton of things to talk about. Where there isn't judgements or hurt feelings or childish games ... there is just a mutual understanding that you both care about each other no matter what. Time or distance or divorces or not becoming sister-in-laws like we once planned or three kids under four can't change the history, can't ruin the friendship. When things slow down, you'll pick up where you left off. It's the way real friendships work.
When she mentioned that she and Steve were going to take the kids camping on Rainy, I jumped at the chance to go along and knowing that my sister and her kids would love it as well, I invited them along. It was our First Annual Kid's Camping Trip on Rainy and I can't wait for next year. 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 4, 2 were the ages of the kids that went and they all got along so great. The big kids helped out with the little kids and the little kids watched in awe as the big kids did things like surf behind the boat.
Charlie and Andy became fast friends and spent most of the weekend racing up and down the trail in the lastest form of extreme sports. If you can make it to the end without falling and cracking your skull open, you're tough.
Katie helped out with the little kids and with the cooking and putting the tent up. And I realized what it's going to be like to have one girl and two boys. Loud and busy with a touch of drama thrown in for good measure.
And Chris tied fishing lines for the little kids without complaining even once and showed us that it is indeed possible to surf behind a boat (and wake board, tube, and any other trick that is possible to be done behind a boat)
We played UNO during the rainstorm that dropped down buckets of water and left us all with wet feet and wet clothes. No one even cared.
I got to spend time with my sister and my niece and nephew and it felt so good to see them all smiling so hard.
We spent hours on the boat, watching the kids on the tube or swimming until our toes were almost permanently pruned. My little girl told me every 10 seconds that she wanted to swim all day every day. She's going to be an Aqua Bronc in no time.
We fished. Or at least pretended to. The boys did catch a few Northerns off the dock.
And we slept in a tent for the first time as a family, me halfway pregnant with number three. It rocked my world and my little girl LOVED everything about it.
We sat by the fire and we made s'mores and we told stories.
And we enjoyed the beauty of Rainy Lake.
I think it's safe to say everyone had a blast. We can't wait for next year.