We Heart Generics

The Lake.  The Beach.  

Generic terms for very specific places. 

At least in our minds.

This summer we were blessed to take trips to both!

1st stop:  The Lake 

(Lake Tillery in NC for those of you who must know)

The Lake (also called "the river" by the locals) is outside the town of Mt. Gilead, NC.  The town where my in laws are from.  They were middle school sweet hearts, ya know.

The Lake has a hammock.  

I bet heaven will have hammock only seating....

because hammocks are so.....

heavenly.

Cousin Austin and Aunt Jordan came to the lake, which was so fun.

 This is how you would find the boys most mornings...having some cousin/PJ time.  

It's essential, really.

When we weren't lounging in our PJs or pretending to be sloths in hammocks, we were on the water.

And just so you know, this is how Genie's (my mother in law) hair looks all day on the boat.  

It's a Lake mystery.

Kind of like the Loch Ness Monster.  Except it's not a monster.  It's insanely good hair.

No words can describe the love between a Gigi and a Finney.

It was a drafty day so we held the tube down on the dock with Austin.  He was so upset as you can see..:)

Next Up:  The Beach

My family has vacayed at the same beach since my parents were youths.  

Even though we live at a different beach, it's a given that we'll make the trek to go to this beach with my family until the end of time.

It's important.

There's lots of cousin bonding to be had.

And fake smiling (jack) even though you're deliriously happy...

And evenings spent on the dock...

And at least one goofy family photo.

Jack would invite Owen to live with us and he would wholeheartedly mean it.

Anna would ask Finn to live with her, and she would mean it, too.

And Jack would let Adam throw him over the dock if he had wanted to and would have lied and said it was awesome.  Just because it was Adam.

(But Adam did not do that.)

The Beach was f.u.n.  9ish more months til next year's trip!

Round 3:  The Lake (again!)

The first trip to the lake was just a practice run. 

The second trip was the family vacation.  

With everyone!

Uncle Trev, Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jeff were able to make it this go around and Trev brought these super cool headbands and wrist bands for his nephews.  That's what uncles are for.  

And that's what Walmart is for.

Best photo of the summer.

Jack could not be happier than he was in this moment. 

Nor could John.

Have you ever had smile fatigue?  Like at the prom or your wedding (not saying they're comparable) or when your baby was born?  You know..a time when you're smiled so much and for so long that your face goes numb and you're not really sure what it's doing anymore?

Jack experiences smile fatigue at The Lake.  

Proof:

Skirfing...Skurfing...not sure how it's spelled.  Either way, it's the Ussery water sport of 2010.  

Here, John and Jeff have a typical 'should we fist bump or high five' situation.  

Awkward.  Even with the coolness points of skurfing calculated into the equation.

(But this is just a jealous Skurfing School drop out talking.)

Uncle Bob took us on a cruise one evening aboard his Hinckley Picnic Boat.  

It was super cool.

I felt like a James Bond girl cruising around Lake Como.  

But then snapped back to reality when I heard someone mention The Burger Shack as a possible dinner option.  

But the reality I snapped back into was pretty cool.

The boys made sure Uncle Bob stayed on course and they made sure to ask no less than 204 questions.

They also made sure they were cute.

Tah-Dah!

As the saying goes..."Save the hunkiest for last..."

Summary:

We like The Lake and The Beach.

We will go back.