When I found out my brother was planning a full week at mom’s so he and Cara could work while my mom watched my nieces leading up to our family weekend, I knew the girls and I had to finagle an early arrival. Instead of arriving Thursday as planned, we pulled in Monday afternoon to an excited crew and the promise of more time for the girls to hang with their cousins. At ages 12, 11, 10, and 8, all four girls relish the time they get to spend together.

We kicked things off Stathas style, with a Grey Goose martini, shaken by Kris, two olives and a twist. He certainly inherited Dad’s knack for making a good martini, and we toasted to together time while the kids wasted no time jumping into the lake. Ah, summer.

Stathas Family Lake Week 2024

Tuesday was a lake day, filled with the normal routine of coffee chat on the porch, walking an eager Finley, making breakfast for the girls (‘Nana nut bread is their favorite, especially served with hot chocolate), then alternating swimming, board games, jet ski rides, and evening tubing once Uncle Stat was done with work. I’d say lucky kids, which is certainly the case, but also, lucky all of us to get to spend this kind of time together in such a fun way.

On Wednesday, Mom and I decided to shake things up. We drove the hour into Athens to give the girls a brief tour of my alma mater, The University of Georgia. We stopped by the Kappa Delta house and I showed the kids where I lived my sophomore year. Hailey played a song in the main living area and it was a flash of nostalgia thinking how the last time I was there I was at a chapter meeting and now here I was watching my 12 year old daughter play the piano. Wild.

Visiting Nannie

We wandered through north campus and the main library and the kids ate it up. They really were enthralled, which made it so much fun. We ate lunch in downtown Athens at The Place, then went to see Inside Out 2 at the theater. It’s cute!

On the way home we were able to visit Nannie (my mom’s mom) for a bit and it was really special. Her mind hasn’t been as sharp lately and getting to spend some time with her was really nice. I was admiring her bookshelves and she encouraged us each to take one home with us, as she didn’t read them anymore. I selected a natural remedies book (I guess it runs in the blood!) and she signed the inside cover for me. It was a good day.

More Fun in the Lake

David was able to come join us on Thursday and we spent that day and the couple that followed immersed in summer family fun. The kids loved tubing best of all, though judging jumps off the dock and playing king of the floating lake mat came in a close second.

After dinner in the evenings, they’d fish, which we had some real luck with once Uncle Stat surprised us with real worms. They caught lots of catfish, some bream, and Hailey even caught a bass. They were even able to fish on their own with Kaitlyn as the designated bait-put-on-gal and Kyla as the designated unhook-the-fish-gal.

After the sun was fully down, the girls would end the night by chasing frogs, and capturing quite a few. They’d release them after see if they could swim in a designated cup. Thank goodness they could!

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Food!

Another highlight of the week was the food. Oh, the food! Mom knows how to plan a family menu and Kris and I love helping cook what we can. We ate really well. In case you need some family gathering dinner ideas, we had:

• Apricot chicken over rice with roasted broccoli
• Brown sugar bourbon salmon, sweet potato casserole, garlicky green beans
• BBQ ribs, broccoli salad, and squash casserole
• Stathas family dip night with baked chicken wings, Kris’ Mexican dip, onions dips, pimento cheese, crab dip, and more
• Slow cooker bbq with homemade slaw and corn on the cob

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The week honestly flew by. There were some projects and work sprinkled into the mix, but for the most part it was all about just hanging out. We played Dominion. We celebrated Lacey’s birthday with homemade Cheerwine Cake and a homemade cotton candy machine. We saw a big ol snake near the shoreline (eeks!). We let the kids stay up late and eat more sugar than usual. We had more happy hours than we would on a normal week. And my favorite, we just got the spend time together.

When mom and dad built this house decades ago, I imagine this is how they pictured time being spent here. Us, together. Cousins, bonding and creating core memories. I’m grateful to see it play out and hope that from his vantage point, dad is also somehow watching it unfold.

Thank you, Mama, for a fabulous week of together time! Grateful to get to spend so much time with the people I love.

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