End of Summer Mini Vacation 2014

Brett and I decided to plan a little mini vacation with the kiddos the week before school started WAY back in August (yep, still playing catch up !)   For our first 2 days we traveled east to my Mom and Dads to spend a weekend boating and skiing on the lake.  Brett LOVES wakeboarding!  And he doesn't get to do it near as much as he would like to...... so he was in heaven!! 

I remember back when we were in high school as soon as we would get off from our summer jobs,  we would hop in the car and take off for the lake to get some wake boarding and skiing in before the sunset.  We had so much fun and Brett dreams of the day when we have a boat to take out on the weekends all summer long just like in high school.

Yes....... if you look way off in the distance THAT IS ME!!!  Yep, just like riding a bike I guess!  I got up on the first try! I think my kiddos were impressed for sure!

Papa can't quite take on water skiing quite yet since his knee and ankle replacements, so he went for the tube.  Brett tried pretty hard to throw Papa off, but my dad held on!  A quite hilarious challenge.

When we arrived at the beach for our cook out, Deputy Dog was there with the water patrol handing out fun things to all the kids.  Kate and Will were excited. 

Will loved taking Nana on an adventure around the sand.

And watching the hotdogs cook on the grill.

Kate decided to give the water skiing thing a try.  Brett got in the water to help hold her skiies together and prayed she would get up......

She tried and tried and got very close, but didn't quite get there this time.  She handled it really well and can't wait to try again next year. 

Will was a bit fearful of riding the tube behind a moving boat so he just played around on his "boat" while we hung out on the lake.

The kids also convinced Brett to swim over to the bank and climb the cliff to go on another fun filled adventure!

On Sunday we packed some sandwiches, chips, fruit and veggies and had a little picnic on the boat for lunch. 

Nana and I enjoyed getting some sun and catching up on life.

Brett was finally able to convince Will to try the tube before we called it a day!  Well, he lasted maybe a minute before the tears began to flow.  It was a nice try, but I just don't think he's quite old enough for it yet.  Maybe next year!!

Lake Trip 2014

We managed to squeeze in our annual lake trip with Brett's side of the family again this year.  And as always, it was a ton of fun!

Brad & Darcy, Gene & Carla, Becca and all the kiddos joined us for lots of water fun.

Every year gets easier and easier as the kids get older.  Our kids don't get to see Teagan and Tate as much as they would like to.  So they always have quite a great time when they get together.

The weather was awesome this year.  We did a lot of boating and swimming.

And spent some time playing in the sand too.

And this year we found a little gas station/restaurant that had this huge trampoline for the kids (both big and little) to play on!

Will would have loved the trampoline.  However, he passed out on the boat ride over to it and never woke up.  I won't complain though as I don't get much snuggle time with this crazy kid anymore.

He eventually woke up and got out his cars to play.

And our little fish couldn't get enough of the water.  A broken toe wasn't going to stop her this year. 

The go-carts called our name again this year.  The kids rode the big carts with Brett and I and then drove their own cars on the kiddie track.

Will didn't quite get that this wasn't bumper cars.  Thankfully, the guy in charge didn't get too worked up about it  :)

On one of our last nights we walked the strip to window shop and have an ice cream and donut dessert.

The trip was super fun!  Everyone got along and had a great time together.  Next year, our family gathering will jump across the country to Washington D.C.  for Jillian and Steph's Wedding!!!!   We can't wait!!!