My Haven

Life just isn't the same on the years when I don't get up to Mirror Lake. This year it was SO needed and SO appreciated. It had been raining the entire day we were going to go up so we weren't sure if we really wanted to brave the elements but we hoped for the best and went anyway. I'm here to tell you that I'm so glad we did! {It did end up raining much of the night and while my parents were in their huge palace on high, a.k.a. their trailer, we were lying awake in our tent but at least we were warm}.

Editors note: I definitely took some photo editing liberties with some of these. However, most of the ones of just the Lake and surrounding foliage really are that spectacular :)

Ethan helped keep Cole busy by taking pictures of him with his nifty, new camera.

The next morning he was rewarded with a ginormous cheerio in his cereal!

What? You want to take my picture? But I'm so shy...

Drying off the firewood from the night's rain. The neighbors thought we were nuts.
My Dad was super embarrassed, ha!

Let's get this show on the road! I will forever be indebted to my Grandpa Egan for making this canoe BY HAND. 

Putting his brave face on. Every year we go through the same pep talk and he goes through the same stages of acceptance which ultimately makes him glad he did it.

We hiked to Bonnie Lake which I hadn't done in years and I got some good shots. Like these red berries. No, we didn't eat them, silly! I've seen The Hunger Games!

My dad was a total trooper and even with his bad knees he did the whole hike without complaints.

Nate even had his boot on and was a total tough guy. 

Awesome stump :) Almost the same height as Raevyn. She was so brave...it was totally unstable so Ethan had to keep it upright.

 We made it to Bonnie!

I'm pretty much obsessed with macro shots.

I know I took several picture that essentially look the same, but I'm still trying to figure out the settings on my dang camera!

And back to Mirror Lake after the hike for some fishing {if you're into that stuff--which we pretty much aren't. At all.}

Or some barrel of monkeys and Dominos {if you're into that...which we are. Totally.}

Question: If Raevyn is half named after me, do I get any credit for the fact that she is completely gorgeous?

Some of our camp neighbors that became OBSESSED {and I'm not using that term loosely} with Ethan.

Nate & Mae made some killer burgers for dinner.

Topped off the evening with S'mores, naturally.

Coming to Mirror Lake is more than just camping for me. It's like a tradition that I look forward to every year. Rain or shine, I love that place. I've got so many happy memories of going there and staying up late, sitting around the campfire, cracking jokes about the Camp Host on his 4 wheeler {which is now a golf cart}, listening to Scott play the guitar, writing cheesy entries in my journal, watching others enjoy the hunt involved with fishing and just relaxing and doing NOTHING. The air is fresh, my mind can clear and every stress just melts away. At least for a day or two :)