Fall is, obviously, the best time to be at the hunting shack.
We took two family trips there this fall. The first one, a day trip, was for a "shoot" my dad had organized. We had ice skating that Saturday morning, but loaded up the four-wheeler and pups right afterwards:
This was before Hannah's illness. See how alert she still looks here? :).
Whenever our road is even slightly wet -- which is 90% of the time -- we use four-wheelers to get into the shack.
We didn't want Hannah to run in -- so Victoria was put in charge of holding onto her leash so she didn't jump out.
We had our family, plus my dad, uncle Roger, and Adam and Megan. And the three dogs. The only one missing was my mom (home with a sore back).
Adam had brought my toy Jedi blaster, which I would use for my Halloween costume, and which kept Alex pretty entertained while we were shooting.
He hung out in the trailer a lot. He wasn't used to the walking casts yet.
We were trap shooting. I hadn't done that in years. I think I hit two of them!
We all took turns. Here's Adam.
My Uncle Roger was the best shot. He impressed me!
Megan tried her hand too.
When the kids were starting to get bored, we found a spot behind the shooters to fly a kite.
Help from Auntie Megan!
Since Alex wasn't confident walking, we let him fly it from the ground.
He eventually did decide to stand up and try it.
And then, there were four wheeler rides.
The second trip there was the kids
first overnight trip! They were beyond excited. (After our stressful camping trip last summer, Mommy was trepidatious).
We pulled in the driveway, and our poor miss V, looking around at the end of the driveway, got one of the saddest faces I'd ever seen on her, and she asked, "where are all the other cars?"
It took me a second. Other cars? Sure enough - every other time she had been to the shack, extended family had come with us. This was her first trip here with just our family.
Big alligator tears followed. This girl loves her family and REALLY wanted us all there.
She helped with the puppies. This was just after Hannah started having seizures, and she was having difficulty walking. We had to carry her everywhere, and lift her into vehicles and the trailer.
Once again, V was in charge of Hannah.
Piper was anxiously waiting for the four-wheeler to start so she could run!
We unpacked our stuff and set up the sleeping bags. The kids were soooo excited.
That day, Matt took Piper on a hunt in the woods. Victoria went with him on a four-wheeler ride to check out deer stands.
She came back feeling very proud she had climbed up all by herself!
While they were gone, Mommy and Alex tried to entertain ourselves. I admit it was challenging for Alex to have enough stuff to do; we had brought a few toys and one game, but other than that, I wanted them to invent stuff to do. He did ask for the iPad once, but after I told him, "no iPad at the hunting shack," he stopped asking. Mommy scrubbed the counters and tables clean, and he entertained himself somehow.
We made a simple supper of spaghetti and green beans, then did dishes and cleaned up. The weather was warm and beautiful - amazing for the second weekend of October. So, when the kids started to get hyper at dusk, Matt said we all needed to go outside. The kids twirled and ran in circles around the yard while we watched the colors changing in the sky. It was glorious.
Bedtime came. The big test. Would they fall asleep? How much whining and grumbling would there be? We tucked them in, and Matt went outside to take some photos. I pulled out a book. There was definitely some excessive talking, and a few moments of "I can't get comfortable!" from Victoria ... and then ... silence. Peace. Me, with a book, and a wood fire. Perfect.
Sunday morning, everyone woke up to a cozy shack and put a little more wood on the fire. I carried Hannah outside, she had another seizure, then after I carried her inside, she had an accident on the floor. This was the weekend where we saw the greatest decline in her health. I spent a lot of time snuggling with her outside.
She loved to lay her chin and head on my hand or arm for comfort.
I loved all the petting and snuggles with my pups.
Matt found a beautiful spot down our East Trail, and took first Hannah, then Piper, then both kids out for a series of photos.
Hannah had to be carried, of course, but was still happy to sniff the breeze.
Piper was a little tougher to get a picture of. As Matt explained, "sitting still was not on her agenda."
"Dad told me to lay down, so fine. All four legs are on the ground but ready to leap up as soon as he says 'release'!"
Now, look at these adorable cuties. They look so different here. So much ... older ...
Ummm, why do I have visions of a senior portrait when I look at this?
As for Alex ... his eyes ... wow ...
Matt captured some more fall beauty as well.
I love this one because it's a great shot of a typical four-wheeler trail:
After photos, there were more four-wheeler rides, this time with Mom (!) at the helm.
I blame it on my childhood -- there is something I love about being in the woods on a four-wheeler.
Then, Grandma and Grandpa came!
We hung out and had some snacks ...
... which made our hands all dirty.
The kids somehow talked Grandpa into more rides.
Piper was getting pretty tired by this point.
I'm not sure how this started, probably after a fight of throwing pine needles, but V decided she wanted to cover me with pine needles, and she got plenty of help from brother and grandma.
It was actually pretty relaxing.
Then it was Didi's turn!
She loved playing with the rake too.
Before we had to clean up the shack and head home, we had to fit in some more kite flying.
Two perfect family weekends at one of our favorite places!
