Part of doing this blog is sharing a bit of our lives with you. I wanted to show you a peak into our Lake Chelan vacation. Chelan is located near central Washington. It is a lake that is 55 miles long. The summer climate is hot. There are a lot of wineries and orchards in the area. The winter has skiing in the area and it often snows. It is an annual tradition for my husband’s family to go there for a summer trip, and he has been camping there since he was a baby.
Now, when I say family, I mean family. My mother-in-law is the oldest of 6 kids. Everyone comes. So when everyone makes it, it is my husband’s grandparents with their 6 kids (and spouses), 21 grandkids (and a few spouses) and 4 great grandkids. Everyone is there. Many of them camp in trailers, but one of his aunts (who is younger than me and has 3 kids about the age of ours) has a friend who has a house in Chelan. The house overlooks the lake and has a pool. We have been blessed that he has offered for a few of the families without trailers to stay there for a number of years. It’s been so nice to be able to enjoy this trip together in my style of camping. I wouldn’t mind camping so much, but I’m a horrible sleeper. I really struggle when I don’t get enough sleep. When I am camping and it’s not in the middle of nowhere, there’s way too much noise, and I can’t sleep. Therefore, having this house with three small kids has made the Chelan trip much more enjoyable. We actually have quite a history in Chelan. My husband proposed to me in Stehekin, which is at the far end of the lake, only accessible by float plane, boat or on foot (it’s a long hike to get there). He proposed in front of Rainbow Falls after a float plane ride up – very romantic, and I didn’t hesitate.
Now, 9 years after engagement and 3 kids later, life looks a lot different.
The view is amazing, and the pool is a favorite activity. The kids are fish while we are there.
This was Kenzie’s first big time taking off with her swimming. She wanted to be out of her life jacket most of the time. It meant that it wasn’t quite as much of a vacation as we played lifeguard rather than sitting by the pool with a book. However, it was really fun to see her become so comfortable in the water. She has never been comfortable putting her face in the water, and after a couple of days she was jumping of the side and swimming to the steps. So exciting.
Abby’s swimming improved this week as well.
Abby learned to dive on this trip.
Corban is still not convinced that his life jacket will keep him afloat and chooses to stay in the hot tub or by the stiars where he can reach. I tried to pull him into the pool a few times, and he just cried. He loves the water but is really hesistant with depth.
The entire family came up to the house a couple times for some amazing meals. Thanks, Uncle Tim, for providing such amazing food and taking of the kitchen. What a treat. Here is a picture of all of us gathering to pray.
A huge part of Chelan is being at the camp site. This is my sweet little niece on a blanket at the site. Does she just melt your heart?
The campsite offers its own beauty. The kids have green grass to run around and play. They can play balls and frisbees there. We play games at night and hang out casually during the day. There’s a lot of lounging, reading and apparently some finger nail painting at the site during the day. It’s also close to the lake, so the kids can travel down there to play in the water. I went paddle boarding with all the older (teenagers and moms) ladies one morning. We had so much fun that I took the two girls another day. They sat on the front of the paddle board while I was able to paddle them around. We took a break for swimming too.
We love walking to town to visit our favorite spots – Campbell’s Restaurant, Starbucks, Latte Da & Lakeview Drive-In. We eat at the campsite a lot too.
A trip to Chelan wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Lakeview Drive-in to get a bucket of fries, burgers, corn dogs and milkshakes.
A couple trips to the ice cream parlor and eating down to the river is another favorite occurrence.
Thanks for letting me share my life with you.
Thanks for Sharing your beautiful family, wonderful pictures and stories.
I have an inkling you are close to my parents’ house. We’ll have to compare addresses sometime!
Probably! Hopefully we end up there the same week sometime.