Cherry Lake

July was a pretty rough month around here...way too much work for any one woman in the middle of the summer. I would prefer the life of leisure of my youth, riding bikes to the local pool everyday, swimming until my skin was so raw it could fall off, and coming home to meat, potatoes, and local Indiana corn.

Woe is me, right?

The only thing getting me through the last 30 days was looking forward to our little mini vacation this past weekend. Four days in the high country, in a cabin, and without cell service, at Cherry Lake. It is a dam, about 30 miles outside of Tuolumne (where Nick grew up) and on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park. And while, it doesn't seem like the most ideal vacation spot for a nearly seven month pregnant momma and a "terrible" two year old, that doesn't really enjoy getting dirty... the key was, NO CELL SERVICE! It was nice to be turned off from the world, even if it was just for a short time.
We played cards, read books and got really, really dirty.

We left Sonora after Charlie's nap on Thursday, and on the 90 minute drive, Nick kept asking if I knew that the cabin was "rustic." So I assumed the worst... But was pleasantly happy with the accommodations, it was a little duplex cabin, that was surprisingly better on the inside than it looked on the outside. It had one bedroom, bathroom, sitting area and a cute little kitchen.  The only catch? All three of us had to share one room for sleeping, we've actually avoided situations like this on purpose, because there is nothing worse than a two year old saying on repeat, "wanna git up, wanna git up, peeese" at 5am on vacation. And really, only the first night was bad, it took him about two hours to fall asleep, saying "hey! hey, moooommy. hey, daaaaddy!" knowing we were just outside, was a huge distraction to the task of sleeping, he always feels like he is missing out on the party. What party, you ask? Oh, the silent party. Nick and I rarely spoke between 6:30-8pm and when we did, it was in whispers. But after 8pm, that is when we got really rowdy, playing some intense games of cribbage, over a beer/sparkling water, guess who got what?
(In whispers, of course) Nick asked, "if we were a reality show, how boring would we be?"

On Friday, we took the canoe out of the lake for a few hours in the morning and afternoon. The water was pretty low, considering how dry the year has been, but it was a really comfortable temperature. Which was nice, because every time Charlie would have meltdown, I would just throw him in, "sink or swim buddy." Seriously, it works.

On Saturday, we spent the morning hiking out to Lake Eleanor, which I thought, was a lot prettier to look at than Cherry. It was only a 3 mile out and back, but it was 1.5 miles straight down on the way out...which can only mean one thing, straight up on the way home. I did actually feel a little sorry for myself during the return trip, I mean, I am carrying a two pound peanut on my front side and about 10 more pounds of who knows what in various other places on this body. But then I looked at Nick and he was carrying a talking, singing, whining ("Itchybutt, itchyBUTT!") 30 pounder in 10 pound backpack and I sympathetically thought, well now he knows what I am going through...
My camera died one picture into the hike and I tried to get Nick to do it again this morning, after I charged the battery, to no avail...but take my word for it, it was really, really pretty.

 Nick's parents came up for dinner on Saturday night, Charlie was thrilled, he was pretty sick of looking at us. It was nice for us too, a little reprieve, from reading "Everyone Poops" and hearing "mommyplaytrucks" on repeat. What is it about toddlers and "again"?

Today, Charlie and I spent the morning running in circles, trying to get rid of his endless supply of energy. Nick did all the packing (thanks, babe!). And we all went for one last swim in the lake, in a hopeless attempt to get all the dirt off our bodies. Does it sound like we had fun? We did, we really did...

The 27 week belly shot.