Lake Getaway // Our First Family Trip

I mentioned in last week's summertime post that we were headed up to our favorite little lake town for a quick getaway - and also our first trip as a family of three.  Robbie has traveled pretty incessantly since Essley's birth for work, and Essley and I have done our fair share of traveling together as well, but this was the first time that the three of us took a trip together.  It was a short one (just two days), to a close location (less than two hours away).  But it was special.  Despite the fact that Robbie and I both have considered travel to be an integral part of our lives (together and separately) since we were quite young, and have certainly taken much more interesting and distant trips, I'm pretty sure that this one will stand out in our minds for the rest of our lives.  It wasn't about the location this time - it was the experience. 

I've actually posted about this town before, so rather than repeat myself, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking this time. And for once, I actually did a decent job of carrying my camera around with me on a vacation - so apologies in advance for the image heaviness about to happen, dudes.

We had a really nice couple of days, eating at our favorite restaurants, watching Essley's reaction to her first time at the beach, visiting shops (including an adorable toy store we discovered while I was pregnant, to where we vowed to bring Essley once she was born for a new toy), relaxing, exploring, and just being together.  I can't wait for more family vacations - even the tiny, seemingly unimpressive ones like this one.  It's amazing how much less I "need" these days to really enjoy myself when it comes to traveling.  Just give me my little family and some sunshine and I'm thrilled.