Lake House Visit

We took a trip up to my parents' lake house in northern Wisconsin this past weekend.  We did not want to come home!  I'm sure I've said this before, but my most favorite time to go up there is in the Fall.  No bugs, fresh crisp air, beautiful colors, apple-picking, exploring, boat rides, bonfires, wildlife, quietness, autumn smell, etc.  The list is endless!  It's definitely a place worth visiting at least once in your life!

Helping Grammy make applesauce.  Warm applesauce = another thing you must try at least once in your life!  So so good!

My dad and Brian set up the trail camera to see what was roaming back in the woods while we were sleeping.  See what we got on video at the end of this post!

A tall, tall oak tree!

So big!

A gorgeous day on the lake!

Getting ready to go to Bayfield to pick some apples.

We stopped at a little park in Ashland, WI to let the girls feel the cold water of Lake Superior...

Use sandstone to write on the pavement...

Drink some clean lake water...

Skip some rocks...

And take a family picture.  I think I'm the only one who can keep my eyes open for a picture in the sun.

We picked Honeygold and Cortland apples at the Sunset Valley Orchard in Bayfield.  

Enjoying an apple after we finished picking.

I liked this family photo the best!

We had fun finding places to take them!

Beautiful colors!

In front of the big apple at Weber Orchards' roadside stand.

Having fun with "walking" sticks they found back in the woods.

Jumping in leaf piles.

Relaxing in leaf piles.

And taking pictures in leaf piles.

A small bonfire to get rid of some of the leaves and pine needles.

Heading out for a boat ride.

The colors are magnificent during sunset.

Waving to Grammy from the boat.

The lake was very calm so the reflection of the trees was almost like a mirror.

The sun had just gone behind the trees.  So peaceful.

We celebrated my mom's birthday on Saturday evening.

We crossed the border into Michigan on our way back from Bayfield and Grammy bought these cute pajamas for the girls at a local store there.  They loved them!

This is a Northern Red Pine tree.  I love the red color of the bark.

The leaves on these oak and maple trees were gorgeous!

Looking out at the lake.

Side portraits.

Sisters and best friends.

A panoramic view of the lake from the back yard.

Fun on the ATV!

Daddy took them for another ride after I did!

Cutting up a fallen oak tree to bring home for firewood.

If we had more room in the car, we could have brought home more, but this will work!  I can't wait to burn it this winter.

The green plant under the leaves is called Common Club Moss.  I saw this as we were walking along in the woods and thought the dark green was so pretty under the colorful leaves.

Out for a walk in the woods on our last day.  It had rained a little in the morning, so the smell of the wet leaves was intoxicating!  I wish they could put that smell into a candle!

I could spend hours walking in the woods!  There's so much to explore!

One last view of the lake before we leave.

Beautiful drive out.

We set the trail camera up and placed some suet out as bait.  The first day, we got a video of a black squirrel trying to eat the suet and then later that day, a quick glimpse of this big boy.  The next night, we decided to point the camera in a different direction and were able to capture this video.  We loved his curiosity of the camera at the end! :-)