I can’t believe two weeks have passed since my fantastic weekend at Hart Lake! I’ve had every intention of sharing these photos since then, but blah, blah, blah… On to the photos!

The weather at the lake wasn’t spectacular, but it felt great to be surrounded by trees and water and chirping birds. We spent most of the evening indoors, catching up and playing games—generally sinking into relaxation and take-it-easy-ness.

We spent some time in the sauna, then running out and jumping in the lake, and then getting warm again in the sauna, etc. etc. I haven’t had the chance to feel that kind of silliness in a while—it was so fun. We did it again on Saturday night, too.

We stayed up too late, and we all slept in late on Saturday morning. It was still quite cloudy and a little bit chilly, but we spent the day canoeing around the lake, then we all went for a very slow boat ride. The sun kept trying to poke through, so I refused to put on long, warm pants.

But I was mostly kept warm by all of the food we ate anyway. How many lunches do Finns have? 13? I was stuffed before the first lunch.

I learned how to steer a canoe and we also sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in rounds.

Johanna kept catching fairly large Northern Pikes… without bait!

I should measure the awesomeness of my summers by the number of toads and frogs I get to hold. So far this summer is a two!

This train caboose and the house we slept in were both pre-existing structures that were moved to the site. The house was formerly a train depot. Once I knew that, I couldn’t help but imagine the place full of people bustling around arrival and departure time tables or lazily reading newspapers. Of course, I have no idea where the depot was located, but I’m sure it was somewhere neat and everyone was very fashionable.

½ Honey Weiss + ½ Berry Weiss = Honey Bear

Saturday closed with one of the most fantastic sunsets I have ever enjoyed.