Lake Vacation '09

As a last hurrah to summer, we decided to take a few days off work and do a mini vacation at the lake. It is kind of becoming a tradition since we did the same thing last year, and I have to say there is no better or more cost-effective summer vacation than spending quality time at the lake! We left Monday night after work and were able to stay until Sunday morning... it was glorious.

Apparently we weren't the only ones on vacation...

Two of our favorite people in the whole world, Cassie and Steve Hare, spent most of the week with us, which was an absolute BLAST! Cassie and I played volleyball together in high school and college, and Steve and Jordan knew each other from college as well -- for whatever reason we seem to mesh so well with them as a couple. "Couple friends," as we like to call them, are hard to come by, but Cassie and Steve are definitely a match for us! :)

Here are some highlights from the week:

Day 1: Gone fishin'...

Day 2: "I'm on a boat!" We spent some serious time on the lake, and ended the day with pizza and beer out in the boat... this could quite possibly be my favorite thing EVER.

Day 3: Skiing! Growing up on the lake, my family is definitely a water sports family, primarily skiing. Jordan has been reluctant to try getting up after a slightly traumatic experience a few years ago (traumatic = being drug across the lake for an hour while trying to impress my family when we were still dating), but he finally tried again and GOT UP!! I was so proud of him. :)

Day 4: My cousin, Megan, came up for the day and joined us! We cruised down to Bottle Bay in the boat and had the BEST huckleberry margaritas ever.

Still Day 4: Last year Jordan and I cruised down to a beautiful part of the lake called the Green Monarchs, where we took some funny jumping pictures. So of course, we had to have round 2 this year! Only this time we had some competition...

You can probably imagine, we were screaming laughing the whole time during this photo session. :) Yes, we're dorks, but who cares when you're having fun, right?!

We decided to do a couple serious pics that turned out super cute too. First the Hares, then the Tampiens...

Overall, the week was so fun and relaxing. It was so great to wake up whenever we felt like it, eat whenever we wanted (and whatever we wanted), and really just have no agenda. We played a lot of games, sat in the hot tub, swam, ate, drank, laid in the sun, read, napped, the boys golfed while the girls shopped, fished, went skiing, and spent a great week with friends.

Coming home yesterday was really bittersweet. We felt like we were saying goodbye to summer since Jordan STARTED SCHOOL TODAY. Wow. It is his very last "first day of school," can you believe it?!

So long sweet summer...