Lying on a blanket by the lake 
while gazing at the star-filled sky; taking the boat out dodging white 
caps and listening to my twin sons laughing; searching for our crawdad traps 
on the lake then delighting in their wonder as they pull the traps up into the boat to see how many they caught; riding our
bicycles to the dam that made the lake while being bumping along the trail dotted with tree roots; 
roasting marshmallows on the campfire and watching my boys build fire after
fire on the fire pit; playing endless hearts and war card games; hiking to the creek and watching my twins jump from rock to rock over the rushing water; bicycle riding with our friends the Hansens to an old Ranger
Station and listening to the conversation and laughter of kids in nature; seeing my sons go fishing; observing my college age son playing Scrabble with our friends’ college age kids and make plans to go fishing together 
eating steak and baked potatoes on the picnic table overlooking the lake; 
hanging out at the fireplace during lunch with the grandparents; delighting in my boys sharing some brotherly 
love; cooking over a campfire; and sleeping in the tent trailer.
And, hearing both of my twins, individually, say to me in some form or other, the words, “Mom, don’t leave early, you are what make this time fun.” (I was leaving a couple of days early with our older son Ryan to help him prepare for returning to George Fox as a Resident Assistant.)
Okay, so this was our adventure of the week, our tradition of returning each summer to Timothy Lake, and it is the only family vacation we will have and we made it as adventuresome as possible. Just being in nature on a lake with my sweet boys is adventure enough for me.
