Taking the cousins out for pizza requires bathing suits and loading up in the pontoon boat for a ride on the lake.
You can stay in the water all afternoon and not worry about alligators or sharks but your biggest worry is getting chiggers, lil lake bugs that get under your skin and make you itch like crazy!
A summer afternoon out with the girls requires a boat, some sunscreen, and a cooler of beer 
The sun doesn’t go down til late and you can enjoy all day and evening up and down the chain of lakes. It’s only time to go in when the mosquitos start to bite.
The social highlight of the summer is the fireman’s “beef feed” and chili cook-off. All you can eat corn on the cob and watermelon too 
The state drink is the bloody mary, and if you order one you are getting a mini salad topper and a beer chaser.
…when you can sleep with your doors unlocked,
and strangers are nicer than can be…
You need directions? Ya, sure, you betcha!
…every family member knows how to hunt and shoot a rifle,
camping and fishing are the perks of summertime,
and when you tell someone you are vegan they ask, What kind of religion is that?
heheee.
But most of all, more than anything, you surely know you are in the midwest when you can’t get enough of these beautiful lakeside sunsets, and you fall asleep at night listening to the loon calls on the lake with the sweet smell of the northwoods all around you.
~Peace, Love & Veggies xo
