This (past) week was the last big hurrah of the summer before we start homeschooling for the fall 2022-spring 2023 academic year.
My brother-in-law has a lake house in Vermont that he has been renting out for the last year. Last week, we finally made the trip up there to check it out.
We took so many little trips this summer and it was so great. Our kids have reached a good place – where traveling and sleeping in different houses isn’t as challenging as previous years.
We knew this trip would be the last before we had to return to routines and prepare for school. Thankfully, as a homeschooling family, we have some flexibility about our start dates.
The Start of the Trip
My friend B planned to come up to the lake house with us with her four children. It was her birthday week and she planned to leave a little early and spend a night at her family’s cabin in New Hampshire beforehand.
She had been wanting to hike Mount Monadnock as well, so we planned to meet her there on our way to the lake house and hike the mountain with her. I had never hiked there before and didn’t have any idea what I was getting in to.
JM and I met B and her family at the trailhead and followed the white arrow trail to the summit.
I carried my littlest on my back in a carrier the whole way up and most of the way back down.
It took 5 hours to complete the hike and descend; and of course it started raining as we were on our way down.
Needless to say, by the time we made it back to the parking area, I was excited to sit in the car for the 3 hours that it would take us to get from there to the lake house.
The Lake House
We had a great time at the lake house just playing board games and using all my brother-in-law’s toys – kayaks and quads included.
My favorite part might have been just sitting, admiring the view, and drinking coffee.
Surprisingly, all eight kids got along really well on the trip.
My youngest boy, who is usually an energetic powerhouse, kayaked for hours every day. He is light enough to clamber all over the kayak without capsizing and he loved being able to paddle over to different parts of the shoreline and explore.
All the other kids splashed and swam as well as kayaking and off-roading on the quads.
The kids were busy enough that we, the adults, were able to enjoy the experience too!
What a fantastic end to the summer.
Do you plan out your summer or jump at an opportunity if it comes your way? I’d love to hear the highlights from your summer in the comments below.