I discovered the Denniston Family Cabin when I discovered Tom. Well, in actuality, I think Tom discovered me. It has been in the family since the 1950s and many a youngster has learned to love the outdoors up there. Our children loved it and brought friends and now our grandchildren are loving it and bringing friends.
Our daughter, Karyn, has 3 boys with another child on the way. It won't matter if the baby is boy or girls s/he will learn to love the outdoors. The whole family hasn't been to the cabin for awhile so this year they made the trek from Nebraska and brought along one friend and one extended family member. Boppa and Grandma tried to stay - (we did have obligations but once those obligations were finished we high-tailed it up to the cabin). Karyn and Rick longed to be "grown-ups" at the cabin. I remembered when I longed to have the cabin all to ourselves, too. I tried to remember that and stay away but those grandsons are so darn cute!
Karyn's family arrived Sunday evening. By all reports, there was fishing, boating, fort building, hiking, exploring, running in and out galore. I can just hear the screen door slamming. I can almost here Grandma Denniston (the original cabin owner) yelling "Quit slamming the screen door!" We arrived around 4 or 5 on Tuesday afternoon. As we pulled up, Karyn and James were walking towards us, until James saw me - then he was on the run. See? How can a person resist a toddler running down a mountain path with a big smile on his face, yelling, "Grandma!" Not me. Hugs and kisses ensued - then we entered the cabin. Tom (Boppa) and I were happy we made accomodations to sleep elsewhere the cabin is getting smaller! At one time, I think it could about 11 - but I don't think it ever did. Now I know why.
Timmy, Daniel, and friend Christian showed up shortly after. Daniel grabbed me and off we went to see the Big Bam. It was behind the cabin and in a cluster of trees. The forest floor had been cleaned and each room claimed by a boy. A bit of furniture was taking shape. From many accounts, this took a good portion of the day. Timmy and Christian had spent some of the day "oaring" the rowboat out on the lake. The lake is deeper than I've ever seen it - maybe that's why the "seaweed" is growing up to the top of the water. Timmy has been on the boat by himself before but I think this was a first for Christian. They had fun, until they floated over the seaweed bed - rowing through solid ground is kind of tough. I think the wind helped them a bit but then started pushing them towards the outlet. Generally the outlet ends at a pretty shallow gravely shore but because the lake is deep that shallow area was gone. The water leaving the outlet sounded pretty loud, especially to a couple of boys who couldn't control the boat because of the wind and exhaustion. According to Karyn they were terrified they were going over the raging rapids. I'm not saying the outlet isn't dangerous but I'm pretty sure the boat would've stopped before going over any ledge. And that's what happened. Karyn managed to rescue them when they hit shore and it was all a fun adventure in the end.
Those were the stories we heard while we settled in. Timmy, Christian and Daniel had decided to explore the direction of the inlet. When they returned they announced that they had seen a moose. I was a little concerned but they stated they were pretty far from it. Just as they finished that statement, I looked out the cabin window and here came a gangly-legged, young bull moose. He barely had his paddle horns. He looked over his shoulder at us, like he was hoping we'd invite him in for a muffin or something. It's always fun to see moose at the cabin!
In short order, Rick was busy cooking up a fish feast. Almost anyone can catch fish at this lake. Christian caught his first fish, James caught his first lake trout, Timmy and Daniel added to the catch. Not sure who had the license on Tuesday but there was enough trout for an actual feast. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many fish cooked up there at one time. The platter was piled high. These trout may be small but they are tasty. Our standard is to make anyone who catches a fish to at least try it. We have had some argument with younger ones - we didn't with Christian. We showed him how to eat it like "corn on the cob". That was a mistake. He loved it, and started eating fish after fish. After the 3rd or 4th one, he slowed down. Rick told him there was one more. He looked around the table. We were all stuffed - he finished the last trout.
Since Boppa and I were "guests" we relaxed, played with the boys, chatted, walked to the lake and Rick cleaned up the kitchen. I was hoping we'd get all the boys to bed so we could play bridge but that wasn't going to happen. Thin air, a full day of sun and fun makes everyone tired. Tom and I retired to a nearby cabin we had begged to use.
Wednesday morning dawned a bit cooler than usual this time of year. Tom and I made it over to the Denniston Cabin. Tom made coffee. It was pretty quiet when I arrived. I thought everyone must be at the lake fishing. I peeked into the bedroom and James spotted me. Everyone else was still sawing logs. "Grandma! Look, mama, it's grandma!" It sure is fun having that kid around. He got up, jumped into my arms and we went to the living room and rocked in the wicker rocking chair. James promptly fell asleep and I got my snuggle time in. Eventually everyone stirred - breakfast was casual. I'm not sure who devised it but either Timmy or Christian started a cribbage bracket. Christian learned Cribbage on this trip. I was surprised how well Daniel and Timmy were playing. The tournament on throughout the day. I got to play Timmy and he beat me! I ended up in the loser bracket along with Daniel. Daniel doesn't lose games very often and he beat me, too! It's a good thing I can still beat Boppa regularly or I'd have to find a new game. Oh, Timmy and Christian decided to make another cribbage board to speed things up. They used the battery operated drill until the battery ran out of juice, they used the hand drill until they broke several bits. We never played on that board as it had about 20 more holes to make it complete. I think they must have packed it away to complete it at home though because I couldn't find it after they left.
Between games, there were some lake visits. Karyn, James and I went to find the close by spring. It was running pretty fast with a little streamlet of water entering the lake. We found a sitting spot and James had great fun throwing leaves into the water and watching them race down the stream. Water, leaves, and grandma make a great time and much of it was spent watching leaf races!
Rick's brother, Tom, joined us about noon. He got the tour of the place, a boat ride, caught some fish, got educated on cribbage and helped with fish feast #2. Karyn has a favorite waterfall she likes to find so she convinced the boys and I to help her find it. We left the big boys alone while the figured out what to cook with fish feast #2. I thought we could get to the falls by the road and turning at the first cabin. The first cabin has a lovely setting even if it isn't on the lake. It looks out over a pretty dense willow field. We worked our way through the willows. James finally ended up on Mom's shoulders. Thus she was carrying two babies - one inside and one outside (but don't tell James he is a baby!) We came to a "raging rapid" and thought we needed to cross over as less willows were along the opposite bank. We found a downed tree to cross on. The boys had crossed over higher up but we'd have to negotiate more willows so Karyn and I elected to cross on the log we found. I made it across - then it was up to us to get James across. He was having none of it! James gets very stubborn so it took some convincing. I was on one side reaching over and getting ready to pull, Karyn was on the other side getting ready to push. James took a step, then another, let go of his mom's hand, grabbed mine, took a couple more steps and he was over. "I did it!" fist pumping in the air, "I crossed the bridge, mama!" Indeed, what a trouper.
It was easier going until Karyn discovered we'd gone to far. We re-grouped and turned around - except James. He was having none of it! We left him. I stayed behind, waiting for him to come our way. He started to cry, I peeked out and asked if he wanted to come with me. He did - only he wanted me to carry him. I did for a little bit then I had to put him down. Somehow I enticed him to keep walking. We caught up with the others navigating another willow patch but could see the falls!
James wasn't going to make it through the willows, so he ended up on my shoulders. He enjoyed that immensely. We found out that we should've turned at the first cabin on our way out not our way in - the falls were right there. That's a lesson I won't forget. We got pictures, tried to find away across. Daniel got stuck in the willows. Karyn got him out. I found a fairly shallow place to cross with only some rushing water. I stood in the rushing water with my hand out as everyone crossed the water - except James. He wasn't having anything to do with getting his feet wet. Karyn kept urging him and we finally all made it across.
On the climb back up tot he road, I found some sunglasses. One ear ban was broken but they still fit James okay. He called them his soccer glasses. The sky is getting very dark - thunder is booming and we need to get back. Soon we hear Boppa's truck. He came to rescue us. Thank you, Boppa, we were ready for a ride. Dinner was waiting when we arrived. We also had steak but the trout were again the hit of the evening even though we also had corn on the cob.
While the cribbage tournament raged on, I offered to do kitchen detail. Thank goodness for paper plates! Again, I was hoping for bridge, but cribbage took precident and after I lost to Timmy - cards didn't sound fun anymore. Haha, just kidding, it was great fun watching Timmy's face glow when he won. He has the most beautiful genuine smile. It was worth it.
On Thursday morning, Tom (uncle) was sleeping in the living room but people were up and having coffee. Rick was going to cook us a mountain man breakfast and Boppa was helping. Uncle Tom slept through most of the chatter. It was windier and fishing on the boat while tried earlier was more work than it was worth. We enjoyed our pancackes, sausage and eggs. Karyn did kitchen detail - boys got dressed, cribbage tournament continued. The champion round was down to Boppa and Christian. It was neck and neck. Christian won. I think that boy just might come back to the cabin when invited again.
Karyn and family were planning on leaving around noon - I think they made it by three. The boys all got along really well. Timmy would go off and do something by himself, Christian would go fish. Daniel would be included sometimes or hang around with one of us. It all worked pretty well mostly.
Some fishing was tried, the boat was tried again. Mixed success. Karyn and Boppa made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. A watched pot never boils but an unwatched one boils over. Karyn had put the big soup pot on low to keep it warm and turned around to do something else. The soup boiled over. Boppa got clean up detail after lunch. Our new cooktop cleaned up fairly easily - easier than if the same thing had happened to the old Coleman campstove.
While Boppa was kitchen cleaning, Karyn shooed us all outdoors. I took the boys to the road and convinced them that beavers might be at the inlet again. James went along for awhile then put on his brakes. We left him. He started crying, I went to get him - I carried him for a little while. I put him down and then did the grandma underpass. It's great fun to run between my legs with me peeking through them to encourage stubborn toddlers to keep going. Then to add to the adventure, I put my hands down as the monster crunching gadget, toddles have to run past in order to not get eaten. Don't laugh - it got him up the hill! Walking along the road wasn't quite as difficult and a few peeks showed us that no beavers were building dams - but that inspired James to remember to go potty. He peed on the rock and was quite proud of the feat. I was quite happy he did it on the rock and not on my neck while carrying him!
James discovered a small "New Testament" in the bookshelf at the cabin. It came his favorite book and went everywhere with him. As we headed back to the cabin. He wanted me to carry him. I told him I would carry his book. He put it in my pocket. The he "found" a "key". Took me awhile to figure out it was an imaginary key but when I did, we put it in my pocket, too. Then we'd walk for awhile. He'd want his book, then his key. He'd carry then about 5 steps then want me to carry them. This went on all the way down the road but I didn't have to carry him! Meanwhile Timmy and Christian "invented" a language. They were carrying on quite a conversation. Not to be outdone, Daniel joined in. Only it was the right language - Timmy and Christian pretended not to understand him. Daniel was quite upset that they weren't including him. I told Daniel they were just pretending and hadn't really invented a new language that we could do it, too. So we started talking gibberish and pretending to have quite a conversation. We met up with the older boys and language chaos ensued. Daniel wasn't convinced that they didn't really have a secret language going on and I couldn't convince him otherwise. By this time, I'm tired and maybe James is, too. He should be. I sit down on a rock and James stands staring at me and refusing to budge. In my very firm secret language I tell him to get his butt over to the rock and sit down. He doesn't seem to know what to do but he slowly comes over and sits down. When he does, I praise him very happily in my new secret language and he smiles and gives me a thumbs up.
We rest for awhile then I head back towards the cabin. James is sitting on the rock. I look over my shoulder and invitingly ask him to join me in my secret language. He grins, nods his head and follows me. I keep looking over my shoulder and say some pleasant secret language stuff, he continues to grin and nods his head. He does this about 4 times until finally he says something back to me in his secret language! I laugh. Later, I decide he's probably just happy that someone finally understands what he has been trying to say for the last 18 months.
We arrive at the cabin - try to play horseshoes in our respective secret language but just like the tower of Babel directions are too confusing. The best thing out of it is James is now bilingual. He can call a horseshoe a horseshoe or he can call it Bompawho. And I know what he is saying!
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