A Day on Blake

For the fifth summer in a row, my family headed out to Blake Island the last weekend in August for camping and overall fun on the island.  This is honestly one of the highlights of my summer and the perfect way to end this favorite season of mine.  Since it falls either right before or right after school starts, Ron is always too stressed out and too tired to join us.  As a result, I have always gone without him and managed to camp alone with one or two children in tow.  However, I knew that I just couldn't do it this year with a nursing newborn and a very busy toddler on my own and decided to just go out for the day on Friday.  Although both Lia and I were disappointed not to be spending the night, we tried to focus on the positive and just be grateful to be able to go for the day and enjoy this wonderful place with my family.  Here are some pictures of our day on the island!

Logan was finally old enough to really appreciate Blake Island and had a great time running around with his cousins.  My, he is growing up!  Here he is with Callie, Trenton, and Vivi checking out the deer that always roam the island.

A close-up of some of the deer near my family's campsite.

We spent a large part of Friday afternoon on the beach.  Here is Lia climbing on some driftwood.

Logan loved playing in the sand with his shovel and bucket.  Here he is with Trenton and Bryce.

The ladies of the family on a log watching the children play.

Uncle Eric gave Lia some hitting instructions on the beach using a piece of wood and endless miles of rocks.

Trenton and Logan have really become buddies this summer and are so fun to watch.  Here they are playing in the sand.

Riley also put the two boys on the makeshift seesaw that has been on the beach for a few years and gave them a fun ride up and down several times.

A close-up of these cute toddlers.

Lia jumped in on the fun causing Logan to start crying!

Ella took a few naps while we were up there and one of them was in my mom's tent.  Here is my baby girl after waking up.

The children made several trips to the island's playground.  Logan loved the tire swing and enjoyed some time with Riley...

and with Trenton, too.  Lia did a great job pushing the boys around.

Lia enjoyed going up and down the zip line, too!

After foil dinners and some freshly caught crab (thanks to Chris and his pots), we packed up and headed home around 8 o'clock that evening.  Here is my little family minus Ron before heading to the marina to go home.  Oh how I love Blake Island.

Thanks, Natalee and Chris, for another fun year.  Can't wait to come back next year for some real camping!