Photo Recreations

It was during my 2-week summer vacation last year when all my kids came up to stay for the weekend.  We wanted to get as many adventures in as we could.  On the night they all arrived, we discussed the possibilities.  Horseback riding, winery tours, mini-golf, beach time, and the list goes on.  Everyone decided that instead of doing our traditional activities, we would try something different.

Jessica had always wanted to go on the ferry boat to Washington Island and go see the lavender fields.  The last time we had been to Washington Island, the kids were little and they had fun, so we agreed to the plan.

We made it to the ferry without any difficulty and the ferry ride to the island wasn’t much to speak about. Except for the part where Nathan was being silly on the top deck of the ferry, picking Aubrey up, and we thought he was going to drop her, so Jessica got mad at him for acting like a child. (There’s always have to be some drama happening or it’s not a family vacation)

Once we got to the island, we headed straight for the lavender fields.  We were picturing rolling hills of lavender as far as the eye can see.  Nope – it was just 4 or 5 plots of land with lavender growing.  Not the picturesque location we were anticipating.  We still spent a little bit of time there and once we had looked around, we looked for something else to do on the island.

During our drive, we came across a tower to climb, similar to the Eagle Tower in Peninsula State Park that had been condemned.  When the kids were younger, we would climb the Eagle Tower each year and take pictures from the top.   I have a special picture of the kids from 2006 posing with each other on the steps to the tower.

Now, I love the idea of recreating favorite pictures and came up with the brilliant idea of recreating that 2006 photo.  At the base of this new tower, I asked the kids to sit on the steps so I could take another picture.  They moaned and groaned and generally didn’t want to participate.  Luckily, there were 2 other mothers sitting on a nearby bench that heard us and said “I think your mom would really appreciate it if you’d sit on the steps for a picture.”  My kids rolled their eyes at each other but complied.  During the first few pictures, we had Nathan strangling Jessica and in a few others, Nathan was flipping off the camera.  Then the mothers from the bench said “I think you boys should take off your sunglasses.”  Again, there was eye rolling and a few groans from the kids, but off the sunglasses came and I actually managed to get a few good recreation photos.

Since that time, we’ve talked about that photo-taking session and my kids all agreed that if those mothers had not been there to “suggest” what they should do, we probably wouldn’t have had the photo taken.

Thanks so much to those moms who supported me and made my kids cooperate.  It’s good to know they even if they won’t listen to me, at least listen to someone!

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