{ lake geneva }

I keep adding to my list of blog posts to do so I figured I better get around to recapping our IU / Lake Geneva reunion weekend from back in August. The problem is that I have 367 pictures in a folder from the trip and sorting through them has seemed daunting.

But alas, here we go. And be warned it is a picture-full post!

We hit the road for the 6 hour trek on Friday morning and were well prepared for entertaining toddlers. That mainly meant a large stack of movies checked out from the library and tackleboxes full of snacks (thanks Grandma C for packing them full of goodies!).

We made it to Geneva with just one pit stop....at Culver's for shakes.

We arrived in Lake Geneva and made our way to Geneva National Golf Community where we had rented a large home. The first discovery when we opened the garage door? A bike with training wheels. Which pretty much kicked off three days of these two fighting over it.

The next best discovery for toddlers? Bunk beds. They absolutely loved them.

There were two sets of bunk beds and trundles underneath......it quickly became the hangout room for all the kids.

The house and the community it was in at Geneva National was amazing. Lots of space, beautiful kitchen, outdoor and screened porch, grass to run around and, most importantly, a pool within the community.

Before I go any further, I'll give you a rundown of the families that were there. We all converged on this Lake Geneva location because it was a reasonable driving distance for everyone: Kaisers (Columbus, OH), LaRues (Indianapolis, IN), Woelfles (Chicago, IL), our family (Minneapolis). We were sad that the Browns weren't able to join us this year as they are currently living in London for Josh's job (we missed you, Jess.....sniff, sniff).

The mandatory group photo:

And a rundown of the adorable kiddos that pretty much ruled the weekend.
Oliver

Stella

Harrison

Ryan

Kate

Tyler

Most of the kids are at an age now where they play together and interact more than they have in the past and it was so incredibly fun to watch.

And even more special was watching our friends interact with the kids.......
Learning duck duck goose (or gray duck if you're from Indiana!).

Lora's inner librarian coming out to read to the kids.

And teacher Tracy reading to Stella.

And although Brent doesn't have a job working with kids, I think he missed his calling. He was a kid favorite and looking at these photos you can probably guess why.

The majority of time during our visit there was spent at the pool. It was a beautiful weather weekend in the low 80s and lots of sunshine. So thankful for that!

We also ventured into the downtown of Lake Geneva one morning to hit the beach. We didn't spend a ton of time there but it was fun to see the area a little more. It is definitely a hustling and bustling tourist town. We avoided most of that and stuck to the water and sand!

The parents did have a little time "off" during the weekend. Dads took a golf afternoon to enjoy the Geneva National Course and the moms took a few hours to sit at the pool. Win, win!

Based on the number of pictures I have of it, the kids seemed spoiled by "treats".

It wasn't just the kids though. We all ate like kings and queens for the weekend with all of the yummy food each family contributed. The true treat.....Jim's homemade creme brulee that he whipped up!

And another bonus of having other people around who also know how to use a camera or have a nice camera? Photos that document that I do exist!

And just a few more random pics and then I promise that's it!

Whew. The post is done and the picture show is over! Although there aren't many stories of adventures from the trip, I think the pictures do a great job of showing what a good time was had by just hanging out and enjoying each others company. This is a special group of friends.......we all go a year without seeing each other and we are able to pick up right where we left off. I am already looking forward to next year's gathering and I think that can be said for everyone, kids included!

Go Hoosiers!