On a whim, we booked an Airbnb getaway for Mother’s Day weekend after mom saw the Friendship Cabin advertised online at a 50% discount. It was just what our family needed to slow down amidst the hustle and bustle of year-end field trips, soccer games, mom’s work obligations, and the celebration of mother figures.

Dad took me out of school early that Friday, then we drove home to pack up the grandparents and pups, and hit the road around 1:30 p.m. for a 90-minute trip to Friendship, WI. Mom and Genesee met us at the chalet, since it was only a 40-minute drive from the Dells, where they had been busy field trippin’. By Saturday afternoon, the Nicolai gang joined us as well.

While mom used the peaceful backdrop to get some work done here and there, the rest of us had SO. MUCH. FUN. Not only did we get to play Euchre, hide-and-seek, ladder ball, arcade games, and foosball, we also fished our little hearts out, tossed the football, went on walks, ordered in pizza, watched Netflix, sat around a campfire, and explored Roche-A-Cri lake via kayak and canoe!

If this is what spontaneous feels like, we should plan to not plan more often!

Thanks, Sweeney Stays, for letting us pretend we lived in a charming log cabin, even if for only a couple magical evenings.

Life truly is better on the lake.