Family Vacation 2011

What a wonderful week we had, full of rest and relaxation!  Some highlights included: lots of reading, countless games of Phase 10, beautiful sunsets, waking up to the gentle sound of water, making a short film with my brothers, watching several old movies we hadn't seen before, an endless supply of cookies and chocolate (things we never have at home), long rides in the canoe, and NO CHIGGERS!!!  I've gotten chiggers for the past few years, so I was very thankful to avoid them this time!

The first day we were there, I read an entire novel.  It has been YEARS since I've done that, and it felt WONDERFUL!!!  :-)  I am now a fan of Terri Blackstock, a contemporary Christian author.  I read the first three books in her Cape Refuge series, and I couldn't put them down!  They were so suspenseful!  And they were full of solid substance as well (no fluffy romances!).

Anyway, here are some more pictures from vacation:

The grandparents joined us for a cookout (and a concert!):

 The lake isn't great for swimming, but I did go out with Stephen one afternoon.  The water was so low!  We walked WAY out into the water (it felt like halfway across the lake!), and it was still only up to our knees.  I wish we could have gotten a shot of us out there, but everybody else was napping.

Heading back from one of our filmmaking expeditions:

A rather frightening little varmint!  Anybody know what this is?

 Mom and Dad headed out for a canoe trip:

 A very dramatic sunset one night!

The not-so-fun part of our vacation.  My car wouldn't start and had to be towed.  Meanwhile, Daniel and I were stuck in a hot parking lot for a long time because I couldn't get my parents on the phone.  Anyhow, it turned out that my car needed a new engine.

The clouds were magnificent!

My brother.  :-)

 A dress I found at a yard sale for $1.00!  I love the vintage look.  :-)

The dress that I made most recently:

Another beautiful sunset!

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow to be gone for a MONTH, and I have a lot of packing left to do.  I'll be working on Writers' Block for two weeks of pre-production, then two weeks of production.  I spent two days last week looking through huge Goodwill stores, and I must say that it is very frustrating when sizes aren't printed in men's suits!  I spent hours just taking suit pants off their hangers and measuring the inseams and waistbands.  I found a few suits that might work, but one pair of pants has to be let out two inches in the waist, while another pair has to be taken in five inches!  One of the actors is almost as skinny as my brother (which is saying a lot!), but he's also taller, so it was impossible to find anything closer to his size.  Hopefully I can make it work.  I'm also going to try to add pleats to the front, so that will be a challenge.

I'd better get back to my packing.  I don't know if you'll hear from me much in the next month.  I expect I'll be pretty busy.  If I have a chance, I'll try to upload some pictures from time to time.  :-)