The Lake

Ever since I was a teeny tiny baby, my family went on a family vacation at the beginning of August. While he was still alive, my Grandpa Egan would rent several "chalet's" on lake Michigan in Stevensville, MI for the first 2 weeks of August. My WHOLE dad's side of the family would come down and it would be a great time with all the cousins. My dad's side of the family is HUGE and they are very spread out, so without the lake, I would definitely not know my cousins (all 26 not including spouses or children).

I have so many amazing memories from the lake, including being buried in the sand, digging holes to china, and playing "the price is right" in the sand dunes. Those two weeks every summer were amazing, and even though they signified the close of the summer and the start of the school year I just couldn't wait for them to come every summer. I experienced my first "freedom" at the lake, it was a little gated community so our parents were ok with us going for walks around the grounds. My cousins (the ones closest to my age) and I would go collecting pop (and plenty of beer) cans from around the beaches, and the rest of the area so that we could "get rich." I seem to recall we actually did pretty well and made at least $10.00 each (that would be at least 300+ cans). My young summers at the lake definitely started to define me, unfortunately as we got older, my grandparents passed away, fewer and fewer cousins could come, and it dwindled down to only one week a summer, with only 2 families there the whole week. I became a camp counselor and busy in the summers and could only stop in for a few days. However, I LOVED the lake still! in my 24 years of existence I only missed one summer (I was living in PA) and I was miserable the whole time.

This summer my family has decided not to go to the lake. The Egan side had a family reunion earlier this year, so everybody already saw each other. Well that is, everybody besides me, because I was busy being the matron of honor in my bestie's wedding (which I wouldn't trade for the world but it's still sad that I missed the chance to see my family). also one of the cousin's weddings is this coming weekend so it would have infringed on the time at the lake and people are seeing each other there anyway, unfortunately I can't go to that either. So it is nobody's fault, but I will spend this summer without the normal cousin shenanigans and that makes me quite sad. The Lake truly is one of my favorite memories as a child, and Stevensville is one of my most favorite places on the whole planet (and not just because my handsome husband grew up there- Weird that my husbands from my vacation spot right?) This week I am feeling overly sentimental about the whole thing (if you can't tell from this post). I feel as though this marks the end of an era. So this week I am sure I will take at least one trip out to stevensville to spend some time with the in laws and then take a walk on THE beach and remember.

I will try and stop by my parents house this week as well, and get some old photos to post up here for you guys :)