Simon’s Birthday Weekend at Carlton Landing

Our House

Fall break 2014 at Carlton Landing / Lake Eufaula / Oklahoma www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

It had been nearly a month and a half since we’ve been able to steal away to Lake Eufaula to spend time at the Carlton Landing lake house. Luckily for us, Jude’s fall break fell on the same weekend as Simon’s birthday (34!) so we got in a full five days of fun and relaxation with friends and family.

One of the fun things about going down there is seeing what new houses have been built since we were last there. The biggest change for us is the new townhouses that are going in on the empty lot to our immediate east. It’s a horseshoe design with six units (although that doesn’t give them enough credit – they’re pretty large floorplans!) and they’re making steady progress on them. The panorama I shot below shows our house on the far left and then the townhouses will be the very last structure at the end of the boardwalk. There will also be a matching set immediately across from them. The lake is mere steps away.

Boardwalk Townhouses under construction at Carlton Landing - www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

Boardwalk Townhouses under construction at Carlton Landing - www.pencilshavingsstudio.com

The weather was sheer perfection and it reminded us of the very first weekend we spent at CL last year. While summer is undoubtedly fun, I think fall is my absolute favorite season there at the lake. It’s actually enjoyable to be outside and it’s so fun to hang out on the front porch wrapped up in a blanket drinking coffee early in the morning. Thursday night, we had dinner with fellow school friends of Jude’s who were down for the weekend (they stayed in this cute house) and we ran down to Krebs to have an enormous Italian dinner.

On Friday it was Simon’s 34th birthday, and we celebrated with loads of pumpkin bread, and a trip to the Arrowhead Stables pumpkin patch.  Simon and Jude rode horses there a few months back, and we were excited to check out their fun activities (and great prices on pumpkins) this month. The pumpkin patch goes through October 31st, so if you have littles, be sure to check it out. Jude loved the pumpkin chunkin’ (launch a pumpkin! whee!), barrel ride, petting zoo, and all the other activities.

arrowhead-pumpkin-patch-eufaula goat-friend pumpkin-chunkin

 

 

And after dinner that night, it was time for Simon’s signature favorite cake, red velvet. RED VELVET FOR ALLLLLLL!

happy-birthday-simon

On Saturday we were THRILLED to host my sister’s family (minus their oldest who’s at school) down to spend the night. We had a totally full house and it was a blast. We gave them the royal tour of the community and made a big pot of this soup (YUM) before dashing up to the Ridgeline Park to watch the sunset.  All the guys took advantage of heading down to the lake first thing in the morning to go kayaking on the supremely still water and then they came home to my sister’s pumpkin pancakes. We lounged around and then finally everybody but me went horseback riding.

all-the-men-at-the-overlook-carlton-landing

 

 

Cousins-watching-tv

jude-at-the-overlook-carlton-landing Jude-caught-a-monarch-butterfly

 

 

We will be back down to CL for Halloween in a couple of weeks and cannot wait to eat alllllll the candy with our friends! This little house feels like home after months of work – and my new outdoor rocking chairs should arrive sometime next week so we’ll finally have proper outdoor furniture for once!

in-the-kitchen-up-the-stairs

birthday-decorations

 

All in all, a fantastic and relaxing weekend celebrating Simon. I’m so proud of him. He works so hard for our family and spoils us all absolutely rotten. We’ve had more adventures than I can count, and greater plans have happened for us than we could have ever dreamed for ourselves. I love you so, darling.

 

 

 

with love,
Rachel

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