this year, we went back to an old family tradition of going to our family cabin for the fourth of July.

we spent some time at Lake Gregory,

swimming in the water and renting a paddle board to play on.

i can remember going to this lake when i was little. we would have races swimming across. (side note: i totally tried to swim across again and while i made it…i completely freaked myself out. half way across, something touched my leg. it was probably just an overgrown plant or maybe a large fish. ick. whatever it was, i swam like i was going for the gold. and i might have busted a lung in the process, but at least i made it.)

and we would take the paddle boards out to the middle of the lake and jump off (new rules are in place. that’s no longer allowed, but i was temped to try it for old times sake, anyways).

we bbq’d and sat on the back porch, enjoying the mountain air just like old times.

and practiced our Etch-A-Sketch technique. (my brother was always good at this, probably because of his techie computer brain.)

then we ate a simple dinner, before we headed to Arrowhead Lake to see the annual firework show.

i’m a sucker for traditions and i’m thankful to pass them onto my son. hopefully, he’ll look back on his childhood and remember these simple memories fondly.

hope everyone had a safe holiday and enjoyed the people that matter most.