like a kid before Christmas...

The "kid" I'm referring to is myself. In less than 48 hours I will be up at the lake cabin that my husband and I annually rent with my brother, his wife and their two kids. Woo-Hoo!!! This will be our 3rd annual trip to Pelican Beach Resort in northern Minnesota, but for some reason it seems more like it's our 13th annual. It just feels like home -- a very small home -- and I now can't imagine a summer without the trip. Our "neighbors" at the cabin have been going to the resort for 27± consecutive summers and every other cabin in the resort have similar histories. After you go once, you get hooked. We did.

Why do we love this place so much? I'm not sure exactly. I think it's a combination of a lot of things: a beautiful, clear lake; a clean, sandy beach that you can walk out forever in before it goes above your waist; great cabin neighbors; great resort owners; great towns nearby with fun shoppes; and great company in our own cabin. It MUST be good for us to be thrilled with the idea that we are shoving six of us into one very small, humble cabin. Especially when you consider that two of the six are under the age of five! It's aaaaa... cozy. We have our request in for wanting a larger cabin, but until one becomes available during our same week, we'll keep stuffing ourselves in our small one.

For the past week, I've been making lists of everything that we need to pack - basically updating the list that we had from last year. Speed boat - check, Kayaks - check, cooler full of yummy beverages - check.... I guess that's all I really need for the week, right? Oh, I can't forget that we need to bring our BBQ smoker. This year will be the 2nd annual smoke-off competition between my husband and the neighbor from Kansas who is a semi-pro smoker. Last year my husband smoked the competition (sorry, couldn't resist) and won the taste-test for ribs. This year it will be brisket. We even have a trophy that is a garden gnome named, Rayski.

Another thing about the cabin that I hate and love at the same time is the inability to go online. **GASP!** I am so dependent on the internet, especially since I have a web-based business. It will be good to be unplugged though and I think we should all do it more often. That just leaves more time for hanging out in the boat and sipping on umbrella drinks!!!

Cheers!