A Lake Sort of Vacation

This year Bry's family decided to spend a week at Lake Wawasee instead of traveling somewhere far away for vacation. As much as I like to travel, I was very excited about this. (Is that what kids do to you?) We go to the lake for a weekend here and there, but a week sounded like a whole different level of relaxing.

My favorite part of the vacation was the Village at Winona Lake, which is a half hour drive from Syracuse. The shops along the canal are really fun. Spices (bought some intense cinnamon there and a fun little test tube rack to hold my spices), wine tasting, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (I chose the truffle oil and their original 18-year aged balsamic that is like syrup it's so thick), art gallery and beads, homemade soap...that sort of thing.

This is the porch at Cerulean...a really good restaurant. It's worth checking out if you're in the area. Or the owner opened a second one in Indy, which I assume is similar (minus the wonderful room with the pretty blue curtains that blow in the wind).

For lunch they do bento boxes. This is mine. Is that not the cutest thing ever?

I went back to the bead shop another day and put these two bracelets together with Javon's help for Poppy and Cetty. There were hundreds of beads to choose from. Oh my. Like real, beautiful stone that I couldn't get enough of. I chose quartz because it's pink and of course that's Poppy's favorite color. The lady in the shop also told me it has healing properties, which sounds good to me. To accent the quartz I chose an antique bronze flower design, pearls, and cut glass that sparkles (because yes, Poppy also likes flowers and things that sparkle). This was such a fun project...and now the girls are wearing them around their ankles, which makes me smile.

The whole village is like Odyssey, which would make this ice cream shop Whit's End. (Andria, you'll have to bring your boys here next!)

Later that afternoon we went to Nappanee for an Amish dinner and the Little Women musical at the Round Barn Theater. (That was fun, especially because Mark and Lori took the girls back to the condo so we could enjoy the show!) They have ducks and peacocks walking around the property. I think the girls are just spotting them here.

Look at that pleased face. Cetty is a bit obssessed with ducks. Or "gucks," as she calls them. They go "gack, gack."

She kept doing this funny little squatting thing as she watched them. You know, to get in close without them noticing you.

So...I love that boy and those two girls.

We celebrated Poppy's birthday again because, as Poppy said, "we have BOTH sides of the family." I had envisioned a two-tier cake but Poppy was very set on keeping the layers separate...probably so she could decorate two cakes instead of one, which she did.

Mark and Lori bought Poppy leotards, tights, and ballet shoes for her new ballet class. The pink leotard was a bit big, so it had to be returned, but Poppy enjoyed dancing around the living room in it anyway. Uncle Nick used his techy powers to play the Swan Lake ballet on the TV screen for her and she looked just like the real ballerinas.

The girls swam a lot, even though I thought it wasn't quite warm enough for such craziness. But then I'm a big wimp when it comes to cold water. Judging from her face, maybe Poppy isn't so tough after all.

Ok, and then I found this baby turtle. It was possibly the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Poppy named it Eeny (after which I nicknamed it Teeny Eeny), and we made it a home with rocks, moss, and a lilly pad in a tupperware container. At one point Poppy turned to me and said with a huge smile, "Let's keep our new little friend." I wanted to, but it was probably a good thing that Bry told her we needed to let it go back to it's real home at the end of the week. Otherwise I'm sure we would soon have had to explain the harsh realities of death.

My favorite thing at Lake Wawasee (besides the lake, of course) is Oakwood Inn. It's on a little peninsula, right on the lake, and so pretty. We visited their spa for the first time and I had an awesome massage. They also have a nice restaurant. While we were waiting for dinner, Javon took the girls to walk around and they found some rocking chairs. Cetty is a big fan of rocking chairs.

This is the last night before we left, back at Lake Winona. Earlier in the day, Bry and I were able to get away on a date to play some tennis at the park and walk along the canal. I think my serve is FINALLY improving just a little!

I couldn't get enough of the setting sun! (And I'm pretty crazy about that baby too).

Lucette and her favorite guy. She is such a daddy's girl, it's ridiculous. And I love it. (Fun fact: Bry's mom just gave us a box of Bry's baby pictures and he and Cetty could seriously be twins at this stage, except he wore fewer headbands.)

So that was vacation at the lake. I'd do that again.