Mt. Gretna

The weekend before last we had originally planned to go the beach. We were going to go down Friday night and stay with someone who had a house there. They called us the night before saying they weren't feeling too well and canceled. We then decided we might go just for the day. Friday night we were up late and by Saturday morning I was not feeling like a super long day including 5 or 6 hours in the car. So we decided to try a lake that is about 25 minutes from here. It was a terrific alternative. A bit pricey to get in but still cheaper than a tank of gas to go the beach.

We called some friends of ours (the Regensburgers) that have a cottage there and asked if they would be at the lake that day. They said yes. We played all afternoon with them. Emily and Ainsley were in the same dance and pre-school class and James and MacGregor were in the same class at school. John and Chase are only a little over a year apart. Everyone gets along really well. M and J tagged along too.

They have a sandy beach which the kids played in and built castles. Emily and Ainsley covered each other in it. I don't think Ainsley's bathing suit will ever come clean.


Beyond the shallow end rope were platforms you could swim out too. One was a high tower you could jump off. Chase showed no fear and jumped repeatedly. It was about 12 feet high. I made M and Robin swim out there with me and take the plunge. My body was fatigued after only climbing up the ladder. I've climbed ladders before so I don' t know why this was so hard - perhaps because the ladder was straight up and not at a slant or because we were wet and the ladder steps were round pipes but my heart was already racing. Then when you look down, you think to yourself, " How am I going to take that step and fall 12 feet?" I eventually did and you plunge so far down into the dark and freezing water. Kinda scary - not to mention the water that shot up my nose and into my throat. After you swim back to the warm water on top - it's not so bad. So I did it again!

There was another platform that had a giant swing that you could sit on and then jump off into the water and they had yet another platform that had a 2 meter diving board. It was about 6 feet off the water. I did a back dive (which I used to do all the time growing up) and I over rotated because I was so high up (I used to do it 2 feet off the water not 6) and slapped my thighs and tops of my feet against the water. My feet were sore for at least an hour afterward. How embarrassing.

They had a giant Adirondack chair that we thought was fun. So we took a lot of pictures in it. We had a great day and ended up ordering pizza and eating it at the Regensburger's cottage. We definitely want to do Gretna Lake again.