Bruce Bunch: vacay

We just got home today after spending a week in Minnesota at my grandparents' house on the lake. It is one of my favorite places to go and spend time. I have so many memories made there. I don't remember the lake not being a part of my life because it always has been!

I was actually conceived in the master bedroom of the original cabin. Too much information?

My Grampy was born across the street from his lake home in the farm house that his parents established. My grandpa was an unexpected surprise when he arrived after his twin brother, as my great-grandma didn't know she was pregnant with two babies! He was born in 1936, and during one of the boat rides we went on this past week, I was thinking about how much family history comes from that land. It is such a legacy and I am so proud to be a descendant of it!

In the 60's and 70's, my great-grandpa divided up his farmland that lined the lake shore into plots and gave nine of them to each of his nine children and put the rest up for sale to the public. Many of the people who owned or own property on the lake now are good friends to the Peterson family. It has become a place that is so special to so many other families, too!

So many things have changed over the years. Grandpa had built a typical lake cabin on his lot in the 70's. 4 bedroom, 2 bath, open to the 2nd floor, where me and my cousins used to sleep in the upstairs hallway and peek down through the railing at our parents while they played cards and laughed until the late hours. If the whole family was at the lake for the family reunion or the 4th of July, or some other long weekend, people would be sleeping anywhere they could fit. The hallway, underneath the stairs, on the living room floor, couch, and even on the lounge chairs outside. I'll never forget the feel of the orange shag carpet under my feet when I'd come running inside from swimming in the lake.

When I was still young, Grandpa built the "big house" next door to the cabin, which is a big, brick house without shag carpet, but with lots of new things that kept us entertained when we'd visit the lake. A basement with a pool table and a hot tub, and eventually a Pac-Man machine would keep us busy for hours and out of our parents' hair. My cousins and I still enjoyed sleeping 3 to a queen bed because what is more fun than staying up super late with your cousins, having pillow fights in the pitch dark? I am the 3rd oldest cousin out of a total of 20 grandchildren and now, we're gradually marrying and having children and now there are 9 great-grandchildren already, with my bun in the oven on the way. Currently, when we all get together, there would be 45 peeps. I'm pretty sure that number is right. That's just from my grandparents, down.

I love coming from a large family. There is always some sort of action happening, and there is usually some joking and laughter going on at all times. With a large family, there are also a lot of opinions that are voiced and most of the time, no one asked for anyone's opinion, but everyone is eager to give it! I don't love this part, but it's just the way it is. It has taught me to keep my mouth shut, for the most part. Sometimes, I can't take it anymore, and I have to join in, or I'll explode! But really, for the most part, the large family experience is a positive one.

We didn't head to the lake last weekend, just to relax, although we did plenty of that! We made the trip because my oldest cousin, Lissa, was getting married in the backyard with the lake as their backdrop. When we were driving from the Twin Cities airport to the lake on Friday evening, we drove through one of the scariest rainstorms I've ever seen. There were tornado warnings surrounding us, and the radio promised they'd be paving our path the whole two hour car trip. We stopped in a suburb of the cities for dinner and to wait it out and we discussed how we were hoping the weather would shape up for Lissa's wedding the next day.

It did. The storm the night before had knocked down the tent and forced deconstruction of all of my cousin's entourage of hard work on the flowers and decorations. On Saturday morning, just mere hours before the wedding started, the backyard did not look ready. I was busy inside the big house, tending to Avery and watching the hubbub of commotion, while looking out the windows to check the progress of set-up. I have to say it was amazing what happened over the course of only a couple of hours! The backyard went from showing no sign of a wedding happening that day to complete tables and chairs, tablecloths, centerpieces, flowers, and hanging picture frames from trees.

It was a beautiful wedding. I mean gorgeous. Like, the most beautiful wedding I've ever witnessed. Honestly. Hats off to my Aunt Kris (mother of the bride)!

This wedding meant a lot to me. I grew up with Lissa. So many of my childhood memories include her. She was in my wedding and she helped pick out the bridesmaid dresses. She made it difficult because everything she tries on looks amazing on her. This wedding meant a lot to me, too, because I knew how much she was looking forward to it. I knew how happy she would be on this day, and I was so excited to witness that! Love you, Lis!

When Eric and Lissa turned toward each other to say their vows, I could only see Eric's face and I had a plain view of him. The look he had in his eyes, as he said the words intentionally made me sob. I mean, sob like a baby! I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses because it was kind of embarrassing. He just seemed to be really thinking about each word he was saying and he wanted her to hear them.

I'm so glad we made the trip to the lake this summer. It was a wonderful week, start to finish. After the wedding, most of the family left, and it was just us and my Uncle Brett's family with Grampy and Gramma. It was quiet and relaxing, and so perfect. We went to visit my great-grandma Peterson twice, and Avery loved chasing around her cat, Pepper. Yesterday, Avery and I went one last time and she gave her Great-great-grandma a kiss on the cheek. It was something I hope I never forget, but I'm kicking myself because both visits, I forgot my camera. Seriously, my pregnancy brain is reeking terrible regrets!

When we were on our way home from the airport today, I called my parents to tell them we were almost home and my Dad said he had gotten a text from my grandpa that said Great-Grandma had a heart attack this morning. She is home and alert, so it sounds like she is doing pretty well, considering, but it's just one of those things...I just saw her yesterday! And I'm so glad that I did.

I hold my family in high priority, and this week has been a valuable reminder to continue to do so. Thank you for listening to all 1,269 words of it.

While in Florida, we visited with friends. Our good family friends, Rick and Colleen came down to Florida for a few days. They used to be our neighbors when we lived in Omaha, starting when I was 3 years old! I think it's great to have friends who have known you for so long. And now, it's so great for them to be able to meet and get to know Avery.

Grandpa, Aunt Kris, Stephen

Rick

Dad and Stephen, after Stephen beat Dad and Rick at poker and gave his winnings to me! I'm still deciding what to spend the pot on...

After Rick and Colleen went back to Omaha, we drove about an hour away to visit our old youth pastor and his wife and 19 month old, Jayden. I hadn't seen Tweit and Jolynn for several years, so it was fun to catch up!