For your gift today, I (finally) give you...the second part of our vacation!
Act excited.
After our week of child-free bliss, we picked up the munchkin in Central Washington, where she was living the dream: watching Disney movies, eating fruit loops and staying up late, all thanks to her grandparents.
Our goal was to sweep the child up and get the heck out of Dodge. Destination: Lake Coeur d'Alene.
We didn't make out of there as quickly as we planned. We were sucked in to the allure of a ski boat, blue skies and hot weather. We're so glad we stayed just a little longer.
Once firmly ensconced in our campsite on Lake Coeur d'Alene however (a mere 4 hours of toddler napping away), we promptly checked out the happenings around town.
Best happening around town #1: The 72-mile paved bike path. Our reaction: SHUT. UP. A 72-mile paved bike path? FOR REAL? We partook every. single. day.
Best happening around town #2: The beach on the lake, where we easily spent 5-6 hours every day. Daily schedule? Breakfast, bike to beach, swim, dig in sand, swim, lay in sand, swim, lunch, swim, lay in sand, dig in sand, swim, bike to camp.
Without a doubt, I could do this every day of my life and never grow bored.
Best happening around town #3: Canoeing. Hazel attempts to paddle once or twice, throws her paddle in the water and is then content to just sit there and watch Mommy and Daddy paddle. Or maybe just Daddy, depending on how lazy I feel.
Evidence of the good life. I built that sand castle. Yes, I am a true artist.
On our last day on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Barkernews biked almost to the end of the bike path. Lucky.
Marshmallows in a tutu. Quintessential Barker Family Vacation.
Hazel and I worked REALLY hard on this "swimming pool". It's pretty rad, yeah?
No Disney movies or Fruit Loops here. Just lots of beach, water and down time.
So. Then we weren't done. Because vacation should always include some sort of adventure, we headed north to Priest Lake, where we searched in vain for a campsite. We didn't really find one (it's a long, convoluted story that, trust me, you don't care about).
Barkernews did his due diligence and found a rad "bike-in" location right on the lake instead. I KNEW the past 10 years with him were not a joke!
This is the view from our campsite. Do you understand why I did not want to come home?
Hazel spent the majority of our time on Priest Lake completely naked because, well, WHY NOT?
This picture is really meant to show the clarity of the lake, but it was taken from inside a frosted Tupperware container. Do not be fooled. The visibility in the lake is probably down to 20 feet.
Our "bike-in" campsite required a little mule action. We didn't mind. Where else can you camp mere feet from the water and have your own personal beach?
After 4 days on Lake Coeur d'Alene and 4 days on Priest Lake, we went home.
And I was very, very sad. Two weeks of pure family time and complete technology blackout had induced a state of nirvana in me. I haven't felt that relaxed in a year- since our last vacation as a nuclear family.
I didn't worry about work or training or (not) cleaning my house (in fact, I scheduled my house cleaner to come while we were gone. Best. Decision. Ever.). We didn't operate on anyone's schedule except our own. At some point, I stopped looking at my watch because, really? I would wake up when I woke up. Who cares what time it is?
I think the deep state of content we reached as a family is only possible on a vacation of a week or more. Given our chaotic day-to-day lives, it takes a few days just to start to decompress. I can't imagine not having our time together each summer.
We are so blessed-to have each other, to have the time to spend together just us, to have such beautiful places to visit.
I love my family.
