Shaver Lake 2017

The annual Shaver Lake vacation with my extended family occurred last week and into the weekend.  We have been vacationing there since since Camille was an infant -- so, 23 years.  She was three weeks old the first time we went.  I remember racing down the steps from the deck to the waters edge while she napped under the watchful eye of my mother.  On that same trip, Kyle fell down the stairs and split his chin.  He was an early walker and an active child, but never a cautious one.

Originally, the group included my parents, my sister and her family (three kids) and me and my family.  Over the years, the composition has stayed pretty constant, and we stayed at a small cabin within walking distance (if you don't mind a long steep road) to the lake.  We were only at that first, lakeside cabin, for one year.  Eventually, my younger brother and his daughter started joining us.

Taylor (my brother's daughter), Nick (my sister's oldest), Camille, Justin (my sister's middle child), and Kyle.

I lost my mom to a progressive lung disease (with a name a mile long and no cure), and, as it became more difficult for her to breathe, we switched to lower elevation locations.  But, we never stopped going.  The kids never stopped sleeping outside on the deck; all their sleeping bags lined up in a row; talking late into the night about the stars and satellites.

The candid version: Taylor is smiling sweetly; Nick is checking out Camille's belly button ring; Justin is standing like a stud; and Kyle has been told to get rid of his stick for the picture (probably by Camille).

The kids are now adults, with the exception of my youngest niece who is 14.  The rest of the"kids" range from Camille (23) to Nick (29).  My sister had kids first, closely followed by me, and much later by my brother.  Kyle's girlfriend, Ana, has joined us the last two years.

Kyle and Ana

It was warmer than usual this year but the lake was full and we liked the cabin (the one we used to use wasn't available this year).  We ate too much food and drank wine in the evening on the deck.  We played games.  We went for long walks, swatting the mosquitoes that buzzed around our heads and feasted on our arms and legs.

It was a good trip.  And it is very good to be back home.  Brett took care of the ranch and even installed some more sprinklers in my garden while I was gone.  I love my family but I can only take so much happy, crowded chaos.  I am an introvert, after all.  So it was good to walk through my garden and admire the sprinklers, to stand quietly with Tex, and to drink in the quiet of the night.

Shaver Lake

Every year since Camille was a baby, 20 years ago, my parents have rented a cabin at Shaver Lake in the Sierras for a week.  My parents would spend the first part of the week enjoying the lake with their friends and the second half of the week with family.  With a few exceptions, they rented the same cabin every year.  My kids, Kyle and Camille, thought that the cabin belonged to Grandma and Grandpa for many years.  In the early years, my mother did the lion's share of the cooking while my sister and I tried to keep all the kids under control.  My brother did not join us in the early years.  Gradually, as the cousins got bigger and my mother got older, the cooking shifted to my sister and I.  We split dinner duty with one of us making dinner and the other making appetizers.  The kids were responsible for doing the dishes.  But, mostly, it was about the kids playing and swimming and eating and collapsing exhausted in their sleeping bags at night; watching the bats fly and the stars wink above the pines until finally they fell silent and slept.

As my mom's lung condition progressed, she wasn't able to tolerate the altitude.  She brought oxygen for a few years and then that wasn't enough.  So, we stopped going to Shaver Lake and they rented places at the beach and then in the gold country.  It was great to be together, of course, but we all missed "our" cabin at Shaver Lake.

This past week we went back.  My dad and my sister, with her daughter Kristin, drove up Tuesday.  Over the next few days we all arrived; even my brother with his daughter, Taylor.  My sister's kids and mine are all in their 20s now.  My brother's daughter is eleven.  There were five cousins (one couldn't make it) to swim, hike, paddle board, jump into the water from boulders, and watch the stars at night.  It was a good trip.  And my mom was there in spirit.

Kristin and Camille on a paddle board

Nephew, Justin, in a kayak

They found a teepee on the shore

...and they all crowded inside

Camille getting ready to jump

Kyle in the air, Justin on the rock behind him

The cousins: Justin, Kristin, Taylor, Kyle and Camille

Camille jumping with my sister's husband climbing up behind.