Several years ago my family went to Shrine Mont for my mom's cousin's wedding.  It was such a perfect place and I had so many great memories from it.  It was so good that we did a family blog post about it.  When I left, I thought that I would never get the chance to come back again. Boy, was I wrong!

Thanks to Brian and Sonia, my mom's cousins, my sister (Evelyn) and I were invited to spend a couple of nights at Shrine Mont...including the 4th of July!  My grandparents were kind enough to take us with them.  Once again, I had a memory-making time.  I only wish we had taken some shots of the dining hall and the 4th of July concert.

We also didn't take pictures of Frog Pond or Crawfish Creek, as we called them. I did take video of the hike to the cross, but no camera pictures.  However, take a look at some of the activities that we did capture!

We started a 1000 piece puzzle.  Don't know if they finished it or not.

We played real badminton over the net until the net collapsed.  

With the net "out of service," we played for fun!

This is the front view of the cabin in which we stayed.

The 80º pool was refreshing with an air temperature of over 100º!
 Throwing the football while jumping in was a huge hit.

Evelyn loved playing with our youngest cousin, Christopher.

Uncle and Grammy were good sports about playing with us and watching us hold our breath.

Playing water polo definitely a hit at the pool!
To spice things up, we even tried using a water BALLOON as the ball.

There's Grammy reading--again.

This is me looking rather snazzy.

This is my grandparents' bedroom.  Grammy started out in the bed in the far corner.
But due to noisy springs in Orkney Springs, she moved to the bed by the window.

Check out the hall with the outside of the chimney and logs!  

Playing the family room was another hit!

Playing Colorku really can make your head hurt, but in a competitive way!

On our last night, we got to eat frozen custard in our PAJAMAS!

Do you think a waffle cone with rainbow sprinkles would make your taste buds pop with excitement?  Well, they do.

Guess I should have brought a bib!

What a perfect way to get ready for bed...ice cream and family!

Evelyn, my sister, should probably have had a lip bib--if there were such a thing.

When we returned from ice cream,  Uncle Aaron let us get on his motorcycle to see what it was like.

The Bonnet-Castro-Tingle- Ivey Family Crew

I would love to go back one day with my cub scout den and maybe hike the trail to North Mountain.  I'd like to do a service project there, too.  Maybe even put benches on the mountain trial and clear some of the paths up to the top.

It's hard to show the magic of Shine Mont in pictures, but try and imagine and just trust me.  Do you have a place that you find intriguing and magical?

Be sure to follow me to hear about my latest adventures!
Jacob