My parents bought our lake cabin when I was a junior in high school, twenty years ago. For someone who spent many years of early childhood moving every 2 years or so (for my dad's job with the public health service), having a place with this much family history and memories is a pretty big deal.

They still have have the house -- although it is no longer a cabin; it's been remodeled and upgraded through the years -- but they've bought a home in Tampa where they will move in the fall, and they will sell this place in the spring. We visited them last weekend and we were happy to be there, and a little sad knowing our window for enjoying this place is closing.
The photo above is from the room that over looks the water down below. It's a nice spot for morning coffee. They can watch the birds and the squirrels in the trees.

We've logged a lot of hours on this swim dock. (which was replaced just this year...the old weathered one would have photographed so much better.) It's where my eldest learned to fish. And my girlfriends and I would sun ourselves silly during long hot Missouri summers. Sometimes it's the quietest place on Earth and sometimes, when the jet skis and four wheelers are going, it's not. But it's pretty.

The rain this spring has meant the docks were stranded out in the middle of the lake until recently. You can only pull them in so far as the trees will let you. You currently need a jerry-rigged ladder+planks outfit to get to the ramp, but we made it. Schools of fish swim under and around the ramp. The girls spotted a tiny turtle that had crawled out of the water onto a branch that was sunning itself. (Sorry, no telephoto lens. You'll have to take my word for it.)
Big sis had brought a friend down with her and the two of them went for a paddle boat ride in the cove that morning. Those paddle boats are so nice because there is no motor, just the sound of the water and birds and fish jumping... It's a wonderful thing to do in the morning. If you're lucky, you can spy a whole family of ducks swimming in a line.
Spiderwebs appear in an instant, given the opportunity. You have to take a broom with you to the dock and wave it around like a crazy person to get all the webs that would otherwise get tangled in your hair or stuck to your swimsuit.

There are so many memories here. Good ones. A few weeks from now I'll bring some of my girlfriends down for a weekend of crafting and chick flicks while mom and dad visit their new house. It will be a wonderful escape. We'll come down to the water after the sun sets and dip our toes in the water. We'll get up and have coffee and breakfast with the birds and the squirrels. We probably won't get out and do much, but we'll be nestled in a quiet little cove, just enjoying the time away. I'm glad for the chance to carve out one more memory before we have to start packing up camp.

It's a wonderful place. A little remote and a lot of charm. We'll miss it for sure.
(But Mom, don't read this and think you are doing the wrong thing. I was just sharing. I would totally move to Tampa and party with my friends on the golf course and enjoy warm weather year round, if I could, too!)