Live Free Or Die

Last week we took a family vaycay to New Hampshire. Dear Husband has an aunt and uncle who live part time on Lake Winnipesaukee, just around the bend from On Golden Pond.
I can’t begin to express our delight at leaving the suffocating 114-degree Oklahoma heat and arriving to a cool 83.  The smell of pine needles in the air brought us all back to life.

Dear Husband also has cousins from this side of the family that he is close with.  One such cousin was in the states with his sweet little family visiting his parents.  They live in Dubai.  Yes, Dubai.  They also have a home in NH but don’t get to spend very much time there because they live…in Dubai.  I can’t imagine living that far away.  Anyhoo – They are wonderful and we were very excited to get to spend a week with them and felt special that they would choose to spend their precious USA time with us.

The first full day we were there we went to this great little beach just down the road.  The water was clear and calm.  The perfect place to build sand castles, swim, explore and play.

Snack time tastes so much better when you’re sitting wrapped up in a towel and tuckered out.  Your swim trunks are wet and sandy but you’re warm under the sun, tiny toes are digging in the sand and your little sandy fist is clutching a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Dear Aunt and Uncle’s lake home is called Camp Woolaroc.  They are originally from Bartlesville, OK.  They raised their children on the east coast and have spent the majority of their lives in the Boston area but they still hold Bartlesville near and dear to their heats.

Camp Woolaroc is a little boy’s dream.  Fishing right off the dock, playing in the sand and swimming in the lake.  Riding in a water ski boat, a floating bouncy thingy and s’mores.  What more could they ask for?  Fireworks right off the dock?  No problem!  NH doesn’t have any laws regarding fireworks.  Live Free or Die baby.  Don’t tell us how to shoot off our fireworks.

These floating bouncy thingies (I’m not sure what else to call it) were popular on the lake.  Lots of homes had them and I can see why.  I had my workout for the month on this thing.

Addison was thrilled at the opportunity to fish.  As he put it, it was “the first time I have been able to fish in my entire life!”

2 of about 20 that were caught and then tossed back into the lake.

Taking a breather after a hard day of play.

These little cousins range in age from 7, 4, 2 and almost 2.  They all got along swimmingly.  It was so wonderful to see them pick right up and start playing like they were the best of friends.  All the parents breathed a sigh of relief that they got along so well.

One day we all boarded the boat and headed across the lake to a little island called Ragged Island (how fun is that name? It just sounds like there could be a pirate hiding out there or some treasure to be discovered)

No one lives on Ragged Island and you have to be careful about picking up after yourselves.  Blueberry bushes lined the path and we were all tasked with picking enough blueberries to make a pie.  Check out our amazing wild blueberry pie here.

One evening we headed over to the Cousin’s house for beer, pizza and play time.  It doesn’t take much to make us happy.  Just give me a cold beer, slice of pizza, a beautiful sunset and four little boys who entertain each other.

The next day we took the boys to a nature center near Squam Lake (where On Golden Pond was filmed).  We were able to have a close encounter with a beaver but the highlight was a barn converted into a huge play house.  We ended up at a great restaurant on the lake were I was able to experience my first Lobster Roll.

That night it was time for s’mores and fireworks.  I think I ate too much.

More posts of berry picking and Beantown are on their way.

For now, no visit to New England would be complete without this…

and this…