I talk often about loving the lake.  Most of my accolades are about the water, the birds, the peaceful environment and how centered I feel when I’m there.  All perfectly valid reasons to head that way often.

But I realized I haven’t written much about why the kids love the lake.

There are the obvious reasons, like sun and water and boating and swimming.  All the outdoor stuff that sparks interest for my active kids.  But even when it’s winter or raining or otherwise unaccommodating (outdoor-wise), T-man and Bear like it there.  There is occasional grumbling before we leave – both kids love hanging out with their friends on the weekends and we make it a point to get away, just the four of us, once in a while.  But once we’re there the kids fall into a different mentality, a lake routine, and all is good.

There’s a bunk bed room downstairs.  (It’s getting harder and harder to call it the kids’ room since these kids just won’t stop growing.  Bless.)  It’s got two bunk beds, trundles underneath, and a super comfy couch so it can hold a whole lotta bodies.  There’s a TV in there hooked up for cable, DVDs, and video games so it’s pretty much kid mecca.

There’s also a ping pong/pool table in the main room down there that’s a real hit with my kids.  BrightSide loves both games and the kids have a blast playing with him, but watching T-man evolve over the last few years has been particularly interesting.

It turns out he has a natural ability for pool that made him a decent player even as young as ten.  T-man’s got an eye for angles that I still have to think through when I try playing the game.  He’s confident, funny, and likes to throw some trash talk in for good measure.  All in all, I’d say T-man’s developing excellent pool shark skills with every game played at the lake.

These should serve him well in college.  Extra pizza money’s gotta come from somewhere.