For as long as I can remember, Lake Alexander has been a part of my life in the summer. Growing up, my entire family on my dad's side and mom's side would rent a cabin at Ray's Resort for a week in the end of July. Our weeks were full of good food, like pirogies and pancakes, polka music, tanning competitions, UNO tournaments, pinball, foosball games, frozen snicker bars, Old Milwaukee Light, and "shows" that the cousins would put on for candy money at Ray's store. Unfortunately, Ray's is no longer a functioning resort, and since then, the lake has never quite been the same. However, now, each summer my aunt Judy and some of her kids make the trek north from Rockford, Illinois to enjoy the lake at the Shady Inn, a resort just down the road from Ray's Resort.
There is nothing I look forward to more in the summer than spending time with my family at the lake. It's just so easy to be there. Days are filled with the sun, the sand, floating in the water, a variety of adult beverages, and quality time laughing and visiting with some of my favorite people in the world. It's such a joy to now share these memories with my kids, to see them building sand castles and loving the water. I only hope we can continue to make these memories as a family.
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