Saturday, August 1, 2015

Lake Trip 2015

We just got home from the better part of a week spent at the lake.  We decided to do something different this time.  We chose to rent a condo at Mountain Harbor and that was a great decision!  There are perks to doing it different ways, but honestly the cleanliness and comfort of a nice 4 bedroom condo with a view of the lake was such a great change from where we have stayed in the recent past.  Shangri La is awesome in that its right on the water, the restaurant is convenient and close, but the cabins have been leaving a lot to be desired the past few years, so we decided to punt.  I think we were all pleased with our choice!

We arrived over the weekend.  The kids had been talking about this small vacation for weeks now and were thoroughly excited to try out our new "cabin".  Here they were all enjoying the deck across the back of the condo and watched as Adam parked the "party boat" as Emerson likes to call it.

IMG_1175


This summer, all of the kids overcame their fears, each one taking a turn doing something behind the boat.  Peyton has gotten quite a bit of confidence on the jr. skies, while the others did a mixture of the training board, knee board and of course the tube.
IMG_6811

IMG_7081

IMG_7175

IMG_6997

Emerson tried to do the training board but had a little trouble so I decided to give him some confidence by letting him "ski" with me, haven't done two skies in quite a long time.   Look at his big smile!  He was so thrilled with the whole experience, he laughed and waved the entire time…Cypress Gardens here we come!
IMG_6946

IMG_6948

IMG_7148

What a fun time we had.  Being that we were there during the week we pretty much owned the water.  I was amazed at how few boats there were, it was perfect weather and smooth water for learning to ski! Adam usually wake boards but decided that he wanted to tackle the slalom ski and he did!
IMG_7002

IMG_6348

We enjoyed just chillin' all day long.  Our days consisted of something like this: fixing food, swimming, putting food away, then skiing, followed by more snacking, and floating around.  It really was quite relaxing.
IMG_6236

IMG_6696

IMG_6228

IMG_6229

We were determined to not let the kids get sunburned like last time, so we used a sunblock stick for faces and it worked like a charm!   (This was before we rubbed it in.)
IMG_7020


IMG_6372

IMG_6731

These precious little people were sharing the Oreos, oh how I loved this moment. It was a beautiful afternoon in a lovely location…it was pretty precious.
IMG_6717

Unfortunately there were a few harry moments on the trip as well.  Within the first few moments, in the kids excitement to look around, the master bedroom door got locked on the inside and we had to pick the lock with a meat thermometer!  It's never a dull moment!  Then there were several times that we "misplaced" a few kids.  When you're in a house with two decks, four outside doors and twelve people who are coming and going, it's bound to happen.  We inadvertently left one of the kids locked in the car for a brief period of time, one got locked out of the house and was outside on the deck for a few minutes by herself and another locked himself out in the garage.  As you can see, we had lots of trouble with doors and locks, but no permanent damage was done and we all learned the lesson, if ever you get left in the car, crawl up to the drivers seat and lay on the horn or try to unlock the car and get out!


These cousins had fun hanging out together, I was glad that we got to spend some quality time together.
IMG_6771


IMG_7531

One evening while we were cooking dinner, Whitney and Rob took all the big kids and went geo-caching.  My boys had never done that before so they were excited to give it a go.  Unfortunately, it was hidden quite well so even though the GPS said they were all over it, they never were able to find the hidden treasure.  We'll have to try this again sometime soon, I hear that it can be so much fun!!
IMG_6763

IMG_6745

IMG_6735

One afternoon we found a cove that had a rope swing hanging from one of the trees and the kids thought that was awesome. Uncle Rob helped all the kids get up on it and then swung them out over the water. We all got to watch as they squealed and screamed with excitement!  I know this simple fun was a big hit from the week.
IMG_6620

IMG_6673

Dad taught us a new card game called Hand and Foot (its similar to Canasta), we watched movies and there were many rounds of Hide And Go Seek.
IMG_1176

We ended the week with dinner in Hot Springs.  Balloons are always a fun treat!
IMG_1177

1 comment:

  1. Who'd have thought a meat thermometer could do the trick? Hats off to you, friend. One thought occurred to me while reading your post and that was that I hope you have your water gear locked up. While the lake might be a very calming place, you still shouldn't let down your guard in terms of security.

    ReplyDelete

Spring Break: The Sweet Spot

I've been running mach 2 with my hair on fire and have not been posting as much as I'd like to on this here blog.  I'm a few wee...