Really, I did plan to come home sooner

but we found this barber,

and the view was perfect.

You have to catch him early; after a beer or two, he’ll turn you away. After your haircutt, he insists that you “catch” the bubblegum… it’s shaped like a baseball.

I know, school starts in days, and still we’re staying until the last possible second. Right now, two boys are out on a fishing boat with their Dad. The other two are running around on the beach catching frogs. My hands… are… free. And when they’re free, I can look up at the sunset on the water. This is a peace I know not at home.

Still, it’s so hard to leave the fresh clear water of the lake,

and the sunsets.

Truly, there are only just a few short weeks we have to pour love into this place. We’d still like to get a few more projects finished up before we leave. Once we were done with the deck, and painting upstairs, we thought we’d put in some new windows.

Today, we finished the new windows, and tore up and burned more junk in the garage. Our handyman, our foreman for the window project, walked around and found a few repairs that needed to be made. Like that hole where the tree grows out of the deck — it needed to be enlarged with the jigsaw. Tomorrow, we’ll start painting the bunk room. It will be nice to have that done by Labor Day.

And then, we found these awesome friends. “Friends” probably isn’t an accurate word; they’re more like a lake “family,” because we see each other at all times of the day and night; and some have been known to visit others while still wearing their pajamas. And, they’ve certainly seen us at our worst. When you need help, all you do is give the word, and the “family” comes to pitch in. And when we give food away, we can honestly say, “Will these cucumbers somebody else gave me be a burden?,” and you’ll get an honest answer. Even when you make bread they hate.

A heartfelt thanks to all of you for giving us, especially the kids, such a great time this summer.

We do quite well without so many things when we’re here. One wise friend from the lake, who lived quite happily on just a few basic shorts and t-shirts, arrived home and opened her closet and said, “Who in the hell bought all these clothes and why do I need them?” She donated a large batch of her clothes.

The kids are staying up way too late every night, as we seem to be setting our clocks by the rising and setting of the sun, more and more each day.

I know there is a party this weekend at home, yet, this is the last full weekend before the rat race of school and homework starts all over again. We need these last hours of peace before the tide turns to fall and winter; and we find ourselves running around from sports practice to sports practice. I, I will admit, need the peace more than anyone in our house. The thought of leaving early isn’t one we can consider.

We’ll need some time to adjust to being land-locked again. A dishwasher, cable TV, instantaneous wifi, sidewalks, a supermarket a couple of minutes away, and a bathtub will certainly help. And so will the familiar faces of our friends back home.

For an awesome tip on a money saving way to bring adventure into your kid’s lives, read here.