return to brown county

The boys and I started winter break off right by teaming up with Laura and the Kruyer kids and renting a cabin at Brown County State Park for a couple nights. Once again, the balanced school calendar worked in our favor, because the state park inns do a two-nights-for-the-price-of-one deal during the winter on weekdays, and it just so happened to overlap with our winter break by exactly two days (the rest of the break was in a blackout period). So between that and splitting the cost between our two families, we ended up with a really affordable little getaway.

And this particular cabin came with an added bonus: wristbands to get into the small water park in the inn proper! What a perfect way to keep all the kids occupied but not have them outside in the cold the whole time. We made lengthy visits to the water park each day, and also visited the game rooms in the inn, but don't worry, we found time for other stuff too. Thursday morning, Laura, Kelsey, and I went shopping in downtown Nashville, then after lunch we split up into a couple different groups to do some hiking. Laura took her girls and Max and went on the CCC trail that we hiked a couple weeks ago when we were here, while I took Jimmy, Liam, and Henry on a very muddy hike around Strahl Lake.

Thursday evening, Emma and Kelsey made sure to ask me if we could go watch the sunrise the next morning. I love that they remembered my habit from our trip to Gatlinburg last year, and that they wanted to share it with me again. Also, please note that Emma and Kelsey are teenagers, and thus rarely get out of bed before the sun if they don't have to, so I felt doubly blessed. Henry and Gracie decided to come with us, and we started by climbing the old fire tower, then checked out several different vistas around the park. For some reason (lucky me!) they were all really into posing for pictures and even suggesting different shots, so I'm really happy I made the effort to get us all out there so early on a chilly morning.

But for all the hiking and swimming we did, I would say that the thing the kids liked best was just being there with their cousins. Everyone got along fairly well, and they spent lots of time playing video games together (in hindsight, I really should have brought some board games or cards too!) and just hanging out. It's such a wonderful thing to watch them all together. Not to get too philosophical on you, but I think a lot about the relationships people have with their families, and even about what constitutes a family, and the only conclusion I can come to is that mine is unusual. Not just in terms of scale — although the sheer number of my aunts, uncles, and cousins is overwhelming enough that many people can't really wrap their heads around it — but in terms of actual closeness. We're related, so we're a little bound by genetics and traditional obligations, but for the most part, we all like each other outside of that. We spend time together for holidays and birthdays, but also just for fun. I know a lot of people who have worked to create a family made up of their circle of friends, and I think that's lovely, but I can't tell you how lucky I feel that I was born with a family that is simultaneously a circle of friends, and how grateful I am to be able to give the boys that same gift.

And on that note, I will retreat from my inner musings to just show you some pictures I like: