Vacation!

Last week, we went to visit Michael's family in Chicago.  This was different than our regular visits, in that it's summer in the mid-west.  No snow and no cold!  Flying in and seeing the water of Lake Michigan and boats...totally new experience!

It was also different in that, instead of heading into the city, we'd actually be driving up to my in-law's cabin on a lake in a remote area of Wisconsin. On our way up, we stopped off to pick up a few groceries.  By the way, in Wisconsin, cheese heads are readily available in stores.

And even the rest stops were scenic, full of flowers and worthy of portraits!

After a four hour flight and a almost four hour drive to the cabin, we spilled out of the car.  Taylor and her cousins RAN around for what seemed like hours and then jumped in the lake to swim for another couple of hours.  It was dark when they got out.  All the tensions of travel fell away as I documented their joy of being back together and exploring the lake.

 We had four days of a  true vacation. We relaxed, kayaked and boated.  The kids had an amazing time.  The weather held.  And at the very end, I took an updated Schmidt family portrait in our last 15 minutes on the lake.  Camera on a rock on the beach, remote in hand, it has to be one of the most scenic family portraits I've ever taken.