I don’t have a bucket list, not sure if I really see the necessity for one since I seem to already live a fairly fulfilling life.  I’m also realistic enough to know that I’ll never have enough money at my disposal to do some of the grand things I hear people put on their lists (e.g., seeing the 7 wonders of the world or visiting all the continents). But, I have long had the dream of having our whole family (daughter, son, their spouses and children) vacation together.  My vision has always been someplace warm in winter like Hawaii – 1st choice, or Florida.

Well, not warm and not exotic, but rather very cold and simple, we have just spent several days together on the North Shore of Lake Superior in two small, cozy cabins.

It really was a dream come true for me.  Lots of quality family time playing games, hiking, eating and laughing.  I think “quality time” is an overused phrase, but it does best describe the time we had.  When you’re away from Wi-Fi, Direct TV and all the responsibilities and options for things to do you face at home, you’re forced to pay attention to one another.

Yes, we did have cellular service, albeit sketchy, so tablets and phones were still being utilized when we could get service.

An amusing example of the cellular challenges:  Our two cabins were several yards apart so running between the two meant a short walk in the bitter cold we experienced while there.  (Occasionally someone would jump in the car and drive the short distance just to avoid the cold.)  Son-in-law, Dan, texted those of us in the other cabin one morning to inquire about breakfast plans.  We received the text about 5 hours later at 2:00 pm in the afternoon – long after we had actually convened and finished breakfast.  You can see, that mode of communicating wasn’t very reliable.

One day we took a walk through the woods along the shore.  Though there was very little snow – much to our dismay (snow boards remained unused leaning against the side of the cabin) – we did encounter some ice on the trail which had previously had snow and been groomed for cross-country skiing.  Six-year-old Max had fun using a stick to try and break the ice on puddles that were frozen solid.

The ice formations on the rocks at water’s edge were beautiful.  We spent some time throwing smaller rocks at these formations to see if we could break them.  We examined holes in tree trunks made by woodpeckers, and wondered at tall birch trees broken off at their base, and now resting across other trees’ branches – did they crash down during a storm or fall gradually as their trunks rotted?

Such simple entertainment!

There are 10 cabins on this property, but only two are heated for winter use.  Thus, we had the entire place to ourselves.  We bundled up and walked down the long driveway past all the cabins one morning and listened to Dan’s stories.  Dan and his mother, aunts, uncles, and cousins have been renting the cabins we were in for many, many years.  Dan has been there for annual vacations over the 4th of July since he was about 3 years old.  So, he knows the history of the place and has lots of memories to share with those of us new to the experience.

Our hike down the driveway ended at the fish house which is used by the owner of the cabins to clean fish, store his boat, nets and other equipment he uses for commercial fishing.  We spent some time tossing rocks from the shore onto the long, icy pier there to see if we could get them to skid off the end into the water. The boys, both big and small, had fun taking turns skipping rocks on the open lake water to see who could achieve the best score.  The morning’s activity ended in family pics lakeside.

Again, such simple entertainment!

Indoor activity included lots of game playing.  One evening we had an elaborate Tenzie tournament.  Tenzie is a very simple, but fun, dice game appropriate for all age levels.  Since there were eight of us and  only four can play the game at one time, our two “older” boys, Dan and Pete, devised a player bracket board to indicate who was to play whom  and show winners and losers – quite sophisticated.  When it turned out I was one of the losers, I declared it a very poorly run tournament!

Eating, napping, reading, crossword puzzles, Sudoku and solitaire filled the rest of our hours.  A very relaxing time for everyone.

I was not disappointed in our family vacation.  For us, our simple, relatively inexpensive vacation was just as satisfying as if we had spent a week (and lots of money) in Hawaii. Just goes to show you making/taking time to sustain relationships provides the greatest satisfaction!

Happy New Year everyone.

May you find ways to spend “quality time” with those you love in 2015!