The Way Life Should Be

When I was younger I was, let's just say, a difficult child. Stubborn, some would say. I was a picky eater, I slept in my sister's room for the majority of my childhood, and I didn't like loud noises - I was that kid. I also had an aversion to sleep away camp, or really, camp of any kind. I look back now on this refusal and think, what was I thinking???

I asked myself this very question this past weekend, during my stay at Kingsley Pines on Panther Lake in Maine. Kingsley Pines - a camp to kids in the summer and, during the rest of the year, an event space for grown-ups who know how to have a good time. Rope swing any one? Sign me up.

The event, of course, was Chip and Hanna's wedding - my close friends from college who got married Saturday evening! I've been looking forward to their wedding for a long time, not simply because they are both such wonderful people and I am so happy to see them together, but because all of our college friends would be there feeling all the same cozy, loving thoughts. I'm so grateful to Chip and Hanna for inviting me to such a lovely and fun weekend! They gave me the summer camp experience I never had...

First of all, we bunked in these:



We woke up each morning to the quiet lake:







We then proceeded to swim, canoe, eat yummy food, play games, guitar and laugh and sing and dance our socks off in celebration - until the wee hours of the morn.





Hanna and Chip took me on a very special early morning paddle, around the clear majestic lake.





That's me showin' off my mad tennis skills! (if you think I'm crazy for hittin' the court in Moccasins, you should have seen me a few hours later - swingin' in heels!)



Ian, the prince of Mount Desert Island, poses for the camera while jumping off the rope swing!



Don't you love how the the life vest matches the sunglasses? That was definitely a theme throughout the weekend, exhibit A:



Great idea for party favors: personalized mason jar mugs we drank refreshing beverages out of all weekend.





My friend Matt and I get fancy on the dock!





Chip, the most talented guitarist I know! As always, he plays music for us all night long, while we sing along around the camp fire.





A weekend in Maine, with my best friends, celebrating a wedding? There would be no kicking or screaming, there would be no dragging. Well, maybe not until I had to leave...

Congratulations Chip and Hanna, I love you both! xoxo