The Auchtung Family Vacation

My mom's side of the family used to take family vacations together when we were little and a few years ago my immediate family decided we were getting big enough as a family to have our own. We now have mom and dad, me and Loran and our two (sometimes three) kids, Jodi and Dennis and their four kids, Cheri and Matt and their two kids, and Heidi and Adam. For a total of
18 (sometimes 19) people!

The last two years we drove two days from Georgia to Wisconsin to vacation with my family. This year we were blessed to only have to drive 4 1/2 hours to get there! It was wonderful to leave around 10:30am on a Saturday after having packed that morning and making a bunch of phone calls, etc. We then met my sister Jodi and her family at Culvers for lunch and then met the rest of the family at around 3:30pm at the lodge. What a beautiful place! It was a log cabin with a private lake and lots of walking trails. The weather was mild, in fact we started a fire one day (see below) and the people sleeping on the screened in porch needed more than the normal amount of blankets for the beginning of August (even for Wisconsin :-))

The first morning, Sunday morning, was the third annual pancake bake-off. So far only my brothers-in-law Matt and Adam have been a part of the contest. Adam won year one and Matt won year two. This year Matt made a pineapple upside down pancake and Adam make a lemon ricotta pancake. Adam won! The pancakes were delicious and I can't wait to try the recipe on my own. Maybe there will be more contestants in the years to come.



We went for lots of walks and Loran and I even got a chance to go kayaking for the first time ever. We tried to take Ankica fishing but she got freaked out by the canoe (she didn't want to tip over).


We ate some really good meals thanks to the wonderful planning of my sister Cheri. She is really a stellar vacation planner!



The girls loved playing with their cousins and it was amazing how far Emma has come since the last time I saw her.