The first Hollman Lakehouse trip 2015

This year we took our first annual Hollman-Taylor family lakehouse trip. Since this side of the family lives all over- Las Vegas, Dallas, Minnesota and Wisconsin we lobbied for a lakehouse trip like we take with my side of the family and this was our first go! 

The first year we booked fairly late, so we ended up only being able to find a place in northern Minnesota, but it was a fantastic house in Aiken, MN. The house belongs to one of the Piano Brothers (yes, those Piano Brothers), and has a beautiful baby grand sitting in the living room. It had plenty of room for all of us, five or six bedrooms and a sandy lake that made for a fun week. The house was also right off a nice bike path and most days the boys took long bike rides into town to get ice cream. I think in total they put on over 20 miles and Owen made his first go at some pretty significant hills on his two wheels.

I love these trips because it gives the boys a chance to really get to know their cousin(s). Aiden was a ham and we had tons of fun chasing him around and playing in the sand. Next year their will be a new addition, and it won't be long before a few more grandchildren join the mix.

The house came with loads of kid-friendly things- toys, books, crib, you name it they had it. They also had a floating island which made for a nice mobile office since I had to do some work while I was there. Immediately after this trip we were on top of finding a place for 2016 that is more centrally located and offers more space for walking and exploring. This coming year our second annual will be at Lake Pentenwell in Wisconsin near the dells, and the year after that we'll head to the place next door with an indoor pool. We're already excited about it!

I'm so glad the boys will have the same kind of memories of fun lakeside adventures on both sides of the family and look forward to many many more lakehouse trips.

But that wasn't all! That weekend happened to also fall on Drew's parents anniversary! When we were back in town we got a sitter and took them out to dinner to celebrate!

Here we all are, all cleaned up for family photos!

Cheers to many many more lakehouse trips in our futures, and many many more anniversaries!