{ cabin weekend. }

PERFECT weekend for the cabin.  I set off on Saturday morning with plans to meet high school friends Lynn, Krissy, and Kay, along with their boys.  I arrived at the cabin, found the driveway (It’s secret.) and pulled in, expecting to stop in front of the gate and needing to go find the secret key to unlock it.  I found the gate open.  Huh.  I pulled in forward and saw a car blocking my path.  And Uncle Brian?  Surprise!  Once we moved past the confusion, we got our stories out – Aunt Peggy and Uncle Brian had come up the night before.  [Clarification: The cabin is a family cabin, aka my dad’s side of the family.  Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins all share/take care of the property.]  I said I was meeting friends.  We hugged.  Aunt Peggy helped me hang my hammock … and then she enjoyed the comfort of it for a while.  Uncle Brian told me about the mouse problem. (… which becomes an important detail.  Remember that for later.) They were headed out that afternoon and did so as my friends from Edgerton arrived.  

The seven of us had a great time, as is only expected in Millston.  The boys loved playing in the hammock, including a game of tackling/crawling over Lynn & Lindsay.  We went to dinner at Evergreen’s supper club, which is the cabin tradition.  The boys told the waitstaff about how excited they were to be camping and peeing on trees.  We nearly missed the driveway on the way back in the dark and pulled into the ditch instead.  A fire, s’mores, and girls’ time by the fire after the boys konked out in the cabin.  We took a group outhouse trip in the dark before bed … even as 26 year olds, we refuse to go by ourselves in the dark.

The boys woke the rest of us up the next morning, yelling “Cannonball!,” jumping on mattresses and then Ryan and Evan climbing in and out of our bunks, chit chatting.  As Ryan was climbing down from my top bunk, he told me, “There’s a mouse in there, Aunt Lindsay,” referring to the crevice between the mattress and the side of the bunk.  I denied it, thinking he was trying to freak me out.  “No, really, there’s a mouse.  It’s dead.  I see it’s tail.”  No.  No.  Then I looked.  YES!  There was a dead mouse in my bunk.  Ew, eww, eww.  I honestly hope it was dead and lying there the whole time; otherwise my brain runs wild thinking about how it could have ate some of the poison that Uncle Brian put out on the ledge above my bed, possibly crawled over me while I slept … EW.  

Breakfast.  I played barista with Starbucks VIA instant coffee.  (Delicious, especially if you add a half a cup of cream like a Poff I know …)  The boys came outside once we did to play on the hammock again, afraid to actually go outside by themselves because of the possibility of wild chickens.  (I told the story of how one morning we woke up to a flock – flock? – of wild turkeys in the cabin yard.)  Then, in true cabin tradition, it was picture time, timer and other.  I had brought a wooden chair with me to the cabin to spray paint while there – I live in an apartment in the city – where would I spray paint here?  I painted it bright yellow and it begged for further play.  Add an umbrella and we had fun.  We were off and on our separate ways by noon.  Another successful cabin trip.

Lynn : woods.

Lindsay : outhouse.

Krissy : under deck.

Kay : picnic table.

* We did not hike to the fire tower, a traditional hike of easily two miles up a steep hill.  Hours of daylight were limited, plus the addition of three children, ages five and under, would have made an interesting hike.  Not to mention bow season is open.  We opted for a shorter hike to the bench.  You know, the bench.  I still count it as check-off-the-list worthy.  Check.

{ get lost in a corn maze }

{ bake a pie }

{ step on the crunchy leaves }

{ sew a baby quilt }

{ homemade pizza on the pizza stone }

{ make and share these }

{ 10k training – the hiatus is over – it’s back on }

{ find a fall festival }

{ scarves.  puffy vests.  boots. }

{ read a for-fun book }

{ take a stroll around a lake } 

{ pick my own pumpkin.  carve.  light. }