reconnect

Last week, my mom, the kids and I (Erik had to work and my dad isn't much of a traveler), left the normalcy of every day life and went to the lake with friends. For the next five days, we would stay here:

our home away from home. Anna called it her "camp out", and though the place is older than dirt, we certainly weren't roughing it. It didn't matter though, because you couldn't beat the price. Before I arrived, I was convinced that the lake was man-made, its waters murky.

Though there are no pictures to prove that I actually went in the water (which I might add, I did), this spring-fed lake was anything but murky. It was beautiful.
Of course, I brought my iPhone and unfortunately, or fortunately, there was a horrible connection.
While Kieran played a few games, we were able to disconnect.
Imagine...

watching fish from the dock,
or playing in a secret hide-out

created by nature.
Just hanging out...

I wonder...

when was the last time you did that?

No electronic device could take the place of the simple joy of throwing a rock

over,

and over,

and over,

 and over,

and over again.

Now that, is entertainment!

This lake, is special to my mom as she used to swim here as a kid. It was even more nostalgic for her, since my Nonni went to be with God a few weeks ago.

The hands of time continue, but they can never take away the feelings of

exhilaration (that was felt as a kid or an adult),

of relaxation,

of happiness.
They can never take away the peace that you felt

or the memory of 

being the last kid in the lake because it was much better than anticipated.

If anything, we took the time.
We took the time to

to laugh,

to play,

appreciate nature,

to be silly.

We took the time

to smile,

to take it all in.

We took the time

to reconnect.

I can't wait to go back.