Where the White Things Are: Brown Family Lakecation 2016

We've done it again: converged on Lake Tapps for the yearly Brown family lakecation. Nobody can agree on a correct spelling of Lakecation--opinions vary from lacation (too much like lactation for us moms) all the way to lake-a-tion (too many dashes). My personal preference is lakecation (pronounced lake-cay-shon OR lake-a-shon with a long a, depending on how fast you say it), since the whole word originated from combining the word "lake" with the word "vacation," replacing the first syllable of vacation with the conveniently rhyming one syllable word LAKE. However we disagree on its spelling, we all agree on lake-ing up the fun! Is that too punny? I think it was a tad too punny. What I'm trying to say is that 10 adults and eight kids in our immediate Brown Family spent the week together at sleek Lake Tapps in a large-and-in-charge, ever-improving lakehouse. We missed our dear sister missionary Mel who will be serving in Cambodia for another 7 months, but the rest of us turned out in full force for a week full of paddle boarding, kayaking, motor boating (wake boarding, water skiing, tubing), swimming, playing, talking, laughing, [arguing], archery, pickle ball-ing, basketballing, scootering, and eating in a way that only the Brown family does.

Here are some highlights of the week:
1. I finally met and held the little man child Derek! He is totally a miniature Brad--chunky and heavy like Brad was as a baby, with tan skin and a playful smile. He has Dani's eyes, but he is Brad Junior, if you ask me. It was so fun having another sibling with a KID--it equaled out the crazy a little. Oh, and Derek started WALKING right there at the lakehouse! He had taken a few steps here and there before, but he started walking across the room by himself for fun while we were all there! Awesome family moment.

2. The latest addition to the fleet of watercraft are two paddle boards, and they were a hit with everyone from Amber all the way up to Dad. Amber just loved sitting on the front of the board in her puffy life vest, kicking her feet in the water while Jeff paddled around the lake. Steve was the only kid who managed to get around reliably on the paddle boards. He took Jay, Chase, and Dan on rides too! After a shaky start--it takes a minute to get a good steady stance--I enjoyed the paddle board too, and managed not to fall off. I joked that standing on the paddle board was the closest I've come to swimming in the lake, because of the possibility of falling in (the farthest I've been in the lake so far is up to mid thigh--the kid pee and goose poop swirling in the water just kills my desire to submerge myself any further). Jeff and I took the whole fleet of two kayaks and two paddle boards one day with five kids over to the lake trampoline. It was fun watching those kids jump! Even Amby jumped on the trampoline--she didn't jump off into the lake, but she liked jumping up there!

3. I went IN THE BOAT for the first time ever at Lake Tapps. I will sheepishly admit that speed boats still terrify me! Seriously, I am an adult and I have no doubt that Brad/Dad/Jesse know how to drive boats, but IT FREAKS ME OUT! Brad was at the wheel when we took the kids out for a short tubing run, with ironclad promises from Em that we would not go fast because it was a kid run. HAH! Time and again throughout my life, boat promises have been made and shattered, "We'll go slowly" being the main offender! They didn't drive slowly when I was behind the boat, and they didn't drive slowly when I was in the boat. Things have not changed much! I am the opposite of an adrenaline junkie--adrenaline fills me with dread. Now I can say that I have been in that boat, and once was enough!

4. Rose was crowned "bravest cousin" for her utter lack of fear behind the boat. Brad took her up to 25 mph on both the regular tube and the kid ski tube, and she kept trying to JUMP waves! Eventually Brad started snaking her and she wiped out, popping up and gleefully announcing "I meant to fall off" in classic Rose fashion. She was out there screaming for sheer joy--even though I knew she was screaming for joy, that is still such a foreign concept to me that I felt my usual speed boat induced stomach-clenching anguish FOR her, even though it was completely [mostly] unnecessary. Although I have always felt that way personally, it was hard to let go of my freak-out tendencies and enjoy watching Rose have so much fun. Jay, on the other hand, did not go behind the boat at all, and I did not join in on trying to convince him otherwise!

5. THE PICKLE BALL COURT. This was the first year I really played pickle ball, and now I totally understand what all the hype was about among my siblings last year. It is hilarious and challenging and fun! I was only ever on one winning team (thanks to Dani) but winning is secondary to FUN. When grownups were not playing pickle ball (or basketball) on the court, the kids flocked onto it with scooters, plasma cars, and a funny wheely toy that Grama Meri picked out.

6. Running buddies! I got to run with HUMANS. Twice. On Wednesday, my sister-in-law Dani and I went on a relaxing five miler on Snag Island. It was so refreshing to run at a good normal pace with a fun person! It reminded me of college, because I have only run with a buddy a handful of times since then. I don't always crave company on the run, but it sure makes running more interesting! On Saturday morning, Dani and I went to the track with my Dad and did a 400 for time (HAH! I haven't ever done that before--run just one lap of the track for time without it being part of a track workout--it was weird and kind of fun). Dani ran hers the fastest--76 seconds, Dad's was 80, and mine was a huffing 82. After our 400 we ran up a big hill nearby--it was one mile UP. Not that it was a race, but I won that one no problem, haha, distance runner through and through. We picked and ate handfuls of blackberries on our way back to the car. They are EVERYWHERE in the Seattle area right now!

7. Of course, we consumed large quantities of delicious food. Em made me mint brownies and I was in heaven. Dani worked her magic on some fresh salmon. My mom made various flavors of ice cream and sherbet and all the other meals. We skipped our traditional homemade pizza night where everyone makes their favorite pizza from scratch because the kitchen was so hot--we had just prepped and cleaned a big dinner the night before and were all feeling rather limp from it. We went out to BJ's pizza instead (a family fave), so my own kitchen contribution was limited to cranking out slices of toast in the morning for the hoards of hungry cousins and helping clean up. I already want Em's mint brownies again.

8. PICTURES! My sister Em is becoming more and more of an artiste when it comes to her photography, and she wouldn't even share her pictures with us until after she had edited them on her laptop. They look good, though! She even took separate family pictures for us. We did all of the group pictures after the kids' bedtime on Thursday night (the best lighting was after 7pm, according to our resident professional) so things were a bit tricky with all of those exhausted overstimulated kids. We still managed to get a some keepers, and Em touched them up to perfection in Adobe Lightroom.

9. This isn't really a highlight--more like a low-light--but Amber was completely thrown off by the presence of so many less-than-familiar faces all up in her business. She is going through a clingy/attached phase anyways right now, and she simply SOBBED and shrieked her eyes out nearly every time Jeff or I was out of sight in that big lakehouse. It got a bit wearing, to be honest, especially since the other babies were for the most part not too cranky. Even though I know there's nothing I could do about Amber screaming, it still stinks to be the only one with a screaming child.

10. Abstracts! It's an old game from 1988 that has been beloved in our family since the day it came out, more or less. When we were little, only Em was allowed to stay up late and play Abstracts since she was the oldest. Brad and I still have a little bit of a complex about that--but we felt all grown up when we played a few rounds of Abstracts past 9pm on Friday night, guys vs. girls. Basically we played until the girls won, haha. The men were on a serious Abstracts ROLL this year, and it took 3 or 4 games before us women could finally shake them for a win.

That's a good list to be getting on with for now--I just know I'll think of a million other anecdotes and happenings the minute I post this, but you can't save everything! I love my family. They are one great group of people. Here's a jumble of pictures from the week--Em took the pretty ones--like 10 of these and I took the rest in my hit-and-miss snapshot style. Happy week. I love watching these cousin-buddies play and hanging out with my sibs.

Steve and Jay were nigh inseparable, being the oldest two and all.

All eight cousins on the trampoline

DEREK! Why didn't I get a picture with this cutie? I just realized--that's like the only picture we did not manage to take, hahaha.

Watching my brother be a dad: happy.

AJ and Derek bonded.

Rose and Chase were buddies--they played iPad games and long games of house in the playroom together.

Rose felt beautiful wearing two rose hair clips that Grama Meri gave her.

LAKE TRAMP!

My view in the kayak

Daredevil Rose, getting air on the kid-ski tube (it has a handle like a ski rope so kids can stand up on it and pretend to ski). Flyin' pigtails!

Mt. Rainier, all majestic in the background.

Some Broadbents: Em, AmyJane, Chase, and Jesse

Her curls are nothing short of amazing.

Dan braved the red tube with Rose in exchange for a can of soda--haha! He screamed the whole time in terror, while Rose screamed for joy.

Post-intense tube ride faces. Rose: triumphant, Dan: never again

We had some cloudy cool days, and only really enjoyed views of Rainier once or twice. It's so much bigger on the west side of the state!

The dock was a busy place.

We filled the baby pool up with warm water for the babies, and the big kids all thought it was perfect. It was their own personal hot tub, and they piled in.

Picnic by the lake.

Derek and his Dad

Archery with Grama Meri.

There's this one spot on the couch where the sun blazes on during the afternoon, and it was the only open spot when Jeff joined us, so we grabbed the nearest hat, discarded by dress-up playing kids.

Beanbag toss with Grama

Mostly Amber stayed away from people, but every now and then she let her guard down and interacted...She and AJ randomly kissed one day, on the lips. Funny girls.