Mellinger Vacation at the Cabin

This year, we decided to vacation closer to home with the Mellinger fam, so that my brothers and their families could join us for part of the time since they weren't able to come for the entire week. We all loved the location of the authentic log cabin we stayed in near the Poconos, as well as the accomodations it had! As I mentioned ... it sat on a beautiful lot of 3 acres with many streams and little bridges. The kiddos had a blast playing in the water, walking on the rocks, finding sticks, hiking the trails and crossing the bridges. Mimi was out in the woods with the grandkids often taking them for walks!





We also really enjoyed the firepit that was out back ... we were outside enjoying a campfire just about every night ... and enjoying lots of s'mores (probably more than you really want to know!). Brian was the designated "fire maker" and he did a great job each and every time! He loves building fires ... so thoroughly enjoyed it.

The view down the driveway

We took a trip to Beltzville State Park one day so that the kiddos could have some fun in the sand and lake ... pics and a funny video of the kiddos knocking down a sand castle to come soon!

While we at the cabin, Brian turned the big 3-0! It was actually an evening to remember ... while we were eating dinner the day of his birthday (Oct. 9th) the electricity went out (something we were told may happen) during a storm. We were actually thankful it was during dinner since all of the kiddos were within sight around the table! We lit some candles and finished our dinner while we waited for the owner to come over and reset something. While we were waiting for the electricity to return, I stumbled around in the dark to get the ice cream cake out of the freezer, found the candles, lit them ... then carried it into the dining room and we all sang to Brian!



Later that night I gave Brian his gift that I have been working on for the past 6-8 months ... a little scrapbook (a very masculine scrapbook!) called "50 Things I Love About You" ... it has some pictures of Brian and I, as well as pages filled with different things I love about Brian. It wasn't hard for me to come up with 50 things I love about Brian ... the countless ways he serves me and the kiddos, leads me and our family, seeks to honor God in all he does, makes me laugh and how he treats me with kindness, patience and gentleness are just some of the things I love about him! I am so blessed to have him as my hubby and best friend! Here are a couple pics of it to give you an idea of what it looks like ...