Our July Vacation in Schroon Lake

We are just back from 2 weeks away at our family's vacation home in Schroon Lake, NY.  It is always bittersweet to come home from a long vacation.  Of course, we missed the conveniences of our NJ home, like internet access, our dishwasher and our comfortable beds. But, there is nothing like spending time together at a slower pace.  No one is distracted by text messages because our cell phones don't work at the house.  I know our time spent in the Upstate house has made our family closer.  Billy and I are so grateful to his parents for providing us with this place to use.  Recently, at a casual family dinner, my mother in law was joking with us about playing the lottery.  She asked us what we would want if she won, because if she won, it would be all about making her kids' lives better...that's just the kind of great mom she is.  So we told her we feel like we have already won the lottery by having the Upstate house to use.  That's how special this house is to us.

The busiest week of the year in the small town of Schroon Lake, NY is 4th of July week.  It is exciting to watch the town come alive in the days leading up to the holiday.  There is always a big parade and fireworks.  It's good, old fashioned family fun.  We loved this old fire truck in the parade.

We took a quick family picture before heading out to the parade.  Our middle guy turned 13 on this vacation so now I am officially a mom to 2 teenagers-yikes!!  

We got to spent a good amount of time on our boat on the lake.  Schroon Lake is 9 miles long and surrounded by gorgeous mountain views.  We dream of having a cabin right on the lake someday.  I can almost see myself in that cabin with our grandchildren swimming off the dock.

I know that even if that particular dream doesn't come true, I am happy for the time we get to spend on the lake.  My parents had a small bungalow on a NJ lake when I was growing up so I have loved boating from an early age.  Boating is such a fun activity for the whole family.  Even the dogs love it.

Our house is up the road from the lake a few miles, on a mountain.  The trails and the woods near the house are also a favorite spot.  We like to swim in this creek.  The water is clear and cold and refeshing after the hike to get to it.

We also like to visit this nearby waterfall.

We also like to fly kites in a field down the road.  Flying a kite is just on of those simple pleasures, right?  There's nothing like it on a breezy day with bright blue skies and white puffy clouds.  That small white building in the picture below is a former one room schoolhouse.  

I have some more pictures to share of our day in Vermont and I also took some pictures of the inside of our house but I will save those for another post.  For now, I am trying to get back into the groove of everyday life around here.