Minisa 2013

It hardly seemed a year that I had met many of Rick's aunts and cousins at the family reunion on his mother's side. We recently gathered at Minisa, the family summer cottage on Torch Lake.

Torch is a very large, very cold lake.

And it is as blue as one can imagine -- even on a less than perfect day.

Minisa is more than a cottage -- with five bedrooms, this log cabin built in the 1920s is more of a summer home, and the perfect place for the Acklins to gather.

I dropped Rick and his mom off on the first Sunday and caught up with some of the cousins. I knew that when I left, I would be missing the renewal of Jim and Becky's vows for their 50th anniversary. They had spent their honeymoon at Minisa -- now they were there with their children and grandchildren.

When I returned the following Friday, all of Rick's brothers were there. It was the first time we'd had a photo of the five boys in years, this time with their mom.

Terrific meals on the big table on the porch.

Crossword puzzles, where everyone chipped in.

The fireplace and living room are empty in this photo...

...but it was pretty nippy later in the week. That meant stories by the fire -- both read and told. (There were lots of fires in the huge stone fireplace!)

Time for grandmother and grandson...

...and for lots of catching up. Rick and his brothers are spread around the country -- it was good to be all together.

The family pulled together a very long family tree on a very long roll of paper.

Later Rick and his cousin Kim (there were lots of Kims here!) recreated part of it for the "book."

And everyone had to sign the log book -- there are volumes of notebooks going back decades.

Everyone loved it when the dinner bell rang, because we knew we were in for a treat!

There was a shopping trip into the village of Alden with Rick's sisters-in-law and niece.

The town was charming and I couldn't resist a couple of photos of the shops...

...and gardens.

This fence was so "up north" pretty!

And this is northern Michigan during cherry season!

Of course we couldn't resist a market...

...or two!

Kim picked up some blueberries for blueberry pie.

It was the best any had ever eaten!

There was time for Petoskey stone hunting, too (we had some luck at that!).

And of course, there was always an unexpected discovery!

There were lots of photos -- I liked this one...

....and this one, too! (It was hard for us not to laugh!)

But I think my favorite is this (thanks to Olivia, who had a timer on her camera!)

As the weekend drew to a close and people headed back to Arizona, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts, Indiana and Minnesota, there was Rick -- last to leave.

And leaving the way he loves best!

Another gathering past. May we meet again -- for all the best reasons and in a spot we love!