A Lovely Day at the Lake

After packing out our garbage (and amazingly not getting yelled at at the campground dumpster 20 minutes up the road) we continued north in our very crowded van. Again, we weren't sure how Buck's family would react to a visit, because we know people are being cautious. Their response in the weeks before, "We're not worried. We want to see you." Aww, so nice to be loved! All we bring is hungry mouths, gasoline usage for the boats, and an exhausting sheets and towels load for the washing machine. But no laundry this time! I carefully planned my daily allotment of loads at the rental house, so we brought home more clean clothes than dirty :)

Well, enough about that, ha! Muriel was delighted with the lake. She made sure to bark at every wave that attacked the beach. She ran back and forth and back and forth, barking, barking, barking . . . until a wave would smack her in the face and then she sounded like a kid blowing bubbles in the swimming pool :) I think she looks like a bear cub when she's wet. Amazing how much energy such a small animal contains!



Uncle L and Aunt S have lots of fun lake toys. The rainbow unicorn was new to us, but of course got a couple chances to set sail ;) The kids all paddled the kayaks--even Muri went for a ride. We had to remind the boys that  the big boats reign in the middle of the lake, so they needed to paddle closer to shore. Caelan tried paddleboarding on a windsail board, but that proved very challenging.

When the cousins arrived, water fights and lots of goofing around ensued! It didn't take long for Uncle L to get the speedboat in the water for tube rides. Graysen gave it a couple of tries, but preferred riding in the boat. Uncle L did his best to dump the older boys on the second time out, but from what I saw, they hung on tight despite all the waves in their faces.

The girls also had fun on the tube! Gabby only went on the first run, because the coarse fabric rubbed all her hiking scabs open . . . and there were a lot. She was the flag girl in the boat for the subsequent rounds :)

We all had fun on the pontoon boat (yes, this was all in one day!) The kids stopped for a swim, and Brennen's legs started cramping up. Lots of exercise in the mountain air and sunburn, so probably some dehydration going on. He was glad he got back in the boat when he did. And of course Muriel got to try out this form of aqueous transportation, too. I think she liked it better than the speedboat :)

We had lunch and dinner together, and then moved into marshmallow mode. Buck's cousin W kept catching glimpses of herself and Buck (known as the twins when they were little) in our kids and hers. It was funny watching Brennen and C--sometimes they even moved the same or stood the same. W wanted pictures of them all together--first generation "twins" and second generation "twins." They played football and talked and popped in and out of the water all day. So fun that our kids can connect with their cousins!

We wanted some group pics on the dock, too. Right at sunset--so pretty! We did serious, then silly. I utilized my NGF's "look at each other and pretend to laugh" trick, which of course the kids took way too far. Except Cody. He did the opposite, and  his sorrowful stares into the distance made the pictures even funnier :)

Silhouettes of Caelan and Muriel and a picture of the pontoon in the sunset photographed by Buck :)

We had a really good day catching up on days we've missed and discussing plans for the future. With another round of kids getting ready to launch in fast-approaching years, it is amazing to compare notes and recognize the different gifts, talents, and interests they have and the directions they are aiming. A day on the lake is a good day; we're grateful we got to enjoy one this summer :)