Alex 2010.

Ok. I'll be honest. Every summer, we contemplate an anual trip up to Alexandria, MN and we both kind of hem and haw and say, "What will we do up there? It's so far away, and what if we get bored? What if the kids get bored?" Then, we get up there and in about 10 minutes we realize why we continue to come up here year after year. Its called RELAXATION, folks. And we all don't do it enough.

Here is Lily having her 'Titanic Moment' at the front of the boat.

OK, I feel as though I need to explain this one. I know he's hot. I know you're all jealous. Just wanted to make sure you all know he was not wearing a basket on his head. He found it in the back of a closet at his Grandparent's house and I'm guessing it's from 197_? I started to protest when he put it on, then he said, "We're on vacation! Nobody knows us here." Ok. He's right. Let the man have his hat. I think this picture says so much, I will let it speak for itself. Think "parental guidance vs. teenage independence." There were Oreos on the boat. And crackers. And there was relaxation to be had, even for those with limitless energy. So, apparently the water was really cold. Joe jumped in first and came up screaming several octaves higher. Not to be outdone, the 14 year old went next and came up utterly stunned into speechlessness. Now THAT doesn't happen often. This boy loved it and didn't phase him a bit. Just gave him another excuse to scream. This little one didn't like it at first, but everyone else was doing it.
And wisdom apparently doesn't necessarily come with age. This guy did quite an impressive jump into the freezing waters below. I eased myself into the water and stayed in for a bit. I think the cold helped me in getting distraced enough not to think about what kinds of creatures were swimming in the 50 feet of water below me. Sorry....no pics of me in a swimsuit.