Lake Owen August 2010

Ahh . . . Lake Owen. This requires some background followed by a ton of pictures. Lake Owen is a small lake in northwest Wisconsin.  George's family has a lake house there that has been in his family for 6 generations, it is his Great Grandmother's Grandfather who originally purchased the property.  He was a businessman in Minneapolis St. Paul who was in the market for a lake house in the late 1800's. A friend of his, Mr. Owen, suggested Lake Owen.  And thus the story begins. They were the second people to buy on the lake and they built the original house which is referred to as "The Big House." Throughout the years this house was added onto, "Betsy's House" and "Granny's House" were built and a beautiful boat house. A tennis court was built, which in subsequent generations was replaced by a putting green, then in George's grandparents' generation it was restored back to a tennis court.  The property started off as 280 acres and is now 68 acres and includes a north point and a south point, it is on a peninsula. With this lake house being in the family for 6 generations some family friendships have developed and it is amazing to think that all of these families have been friends for so long.  The Harris family is some of our closest friends up there; Mac Harris was a groomsmen in our wedding. Growing up George would head to Lake Owen every summer for at least a month, so he has a strong affinity for the lake and we try to go up there as much as we can. Your typical day consists of waking up, eating breakfast and heading out to the golf course for a quick (or slow) nine or hitting the tennis courts. After that you eat lunch, a summer sausage sandwich with Wisconsin cheddar cheese and a beer. Then it is time to hit the lake. Coolers of beer and typically cards are packed up and we pick a bay and meet the Harris' and whomever else there and spend hours hanging out. The water is cold, but very refreshing. Then around 5pm it is time to head in for cocktail hour. Sometimes there are cocktail parties at someone's home or we have a floatilla. This is where we get dressed up (well, dressed-up for the lake), grab some appetizers and cocktails and take the pontoon boats out and meet other families in a bay and tie all the boats together and have a cocktail party on the lake- these are my favorite! Then we have a big dinner back at the house. After dinner we either head back out on the lake to admire the stars and the Northern Lights if they are out, or just hangout at the Big House, possibly get a ping pong tournament started. Go to bed around midnight and start it all over again the next day, it is a blast! This year Mary and my parents were able to come. Also, George's brother, Mac and his new wife Julie with their Weimaraner, Hunter, were there. Hunter likes to get in the water and they got him a doggie life jacket so he can chill out in the water for an extended period of time, it is so cute! George's family has a ton of labs and they all love to swim. There is also a bald eagle family on the lake. Here are the pictures, it is just beautiful up there!