Labor Day '13

Another fun holiday at the lake!

We invited some friends up to celebrate and enjoy with us.

As much as I enjoy visiting with all the adults,

the kiddos are the most fun to watch.

Pure joy and enjoyment!

Of course, all the water toys were turned into weapons and warships! 

Love watching them jump off teh top of the dock.

Pure abandon!

(top left, clockwise: Jarrett, Katie Beth, Jacob and Blaine)

top left, clockwise:  Will, Jarrett, Kallie and Cole

I totally remember doing this as a kid ... how many kids can fit in a tube?

Then the question is who can stay on the longest??

Love the smiles all around!

Katie & Kallie bringing down snacks ... 

and Matt and Alexis on the waverunner.

She loved it!

The guys all out wake boarding ... 

Chad, Bo and Barry.

What a fun day!

So blessed to call these friends ... :)

July 4th??!!

This is the only picture from July 4th holiday.

Which is crazy.  

Because if you know us, you KNOW that we are usually at the lake.

Skiing.

Tubing.

Sunning.

Boat riding.

Eating.

And just plain enjoying.

Not so this year - seems it was the summer of RAIN!

Not just a little.

But monsoons.

So ... rather than doing all the above on Independence Day, 

we went to see a movie instead!

Man of Steel, it was.

Nana & Jacob went to see Despicable Me 2.

Definitely did the best we could to make lemonade out of lemons.

And one big plus to all the rain?

The lake is nice and full.

More full than its been in years!

O's New Ride

Dad's been on the hunt.

For a new boat.

Ol' Blue just wasn't cutting it anymore.

She was a good boat ... served our family well since the early '80s!

But it was time for something with a little more get up and go.

Dad's always loved Nautiques.

Always.

He's looked at them.

He's driven the neighbor's.

He's always loved the way they look in the water.

And he loves the power their motors put out.

So it was no surprise, to me at least, that when a new boat was finally found,

it was a Nautique.

She's a beauty.

Not sure she has a name yet, but Big Red would be fitting.

'Cause she's big ... and she's powerful!

See how roomy??!

And those 2 big circles on the upper bar?  Speakers!!!!

Dad made Bo learn right away how to drive ... that way he could just sit back and enjoy!

So we had to break her in ...

I slalomed ... it was so much easier coming up!!

Blaine wakeboarded ...

Jarrett kneeboarded ...

And then Bo decided to try wakeboarding for the first time - 

Blaine's giving him some pointers here.

He got up on the 2nd try ...

... but catching the edge of the board STINKS!

Nana even skiied ... 68 years young!

The older 2 tubed ...

... then we pulled 2 tubes.

We shut the lake down.

I love this picture right here ... that's Blaine in his summertime happy place.

Who am I kidding??  It's my happy place too!

Labor Day 2012

Labor Day = lake time ...

more fun memories!

The whole Strickland gang came over on Sunday to play ...

These 2 ... so cute waiting for an adult to go to the dock with them ...

This girl ... 13??!!  What?!

Sweet brother shot ...

we were glad to have Jess come from North Georgia ...

Of course, homemade ice cream was involved.

I think he may have used half the bottle of chocolate syrup though ...

Mom's kayak was the biggest hit with the kids ...

Some top-of-the-dock watching ...

yes, Micah is 15.

Yes, he is putting the life jacket on like a diaper.

And yes, the synapsis in his brain have not connected.  

Yet.  

Watching some of the Strickland kids learn to ski.

Quite the audience, eh?!

And no day would be complete without a pontoon ride to top it off.

Kinda like the whipped cream on a good piece of pie.

On Monday, the Warbington, Mock & Stokes families came.

This was the Stokes first visit.

Yes, that's a death grip Amanda has on Kip.

She's not a huge fan of the water.

Any water.

So I was super proud of her for trying something new!

Good convo ...

The oldest 2 of the bunch ...

they perked up immensely when Micah showed up!

More ice cream!

Fun on the bank ...

Micah, Wes & Ethan ...

Micah jumping off with Ty ...

And, of course, a pontoon boat ride ...

... which was cut REALLY short due to this sky ...

And as we headed home, this was in our view ...

perfect ending to a great weekend!!

The {other} Nephew

Fairs fair.

Since Jess got his own post last year,

Micah gets his this year.

Because this kid can flat out wakeboard 

(among other things).

Seriously loves it.

Loves the fact that Mom & Dad's lakehouse is only

10 minutes from his house.

Isn't afraid to call at random times to see if O can pull him.

I know that makes both Mom and Dad happy.

That's one of the reasons they wanted Riverhaven.

Anyway, I grabbed my camera and rode in the boat 

a couple of weeks ago so I could snap some shots of his insane skills.

Here goes:

Coming up - board is horizontal as he comes up.

Interpreted:  extreme pull on the arms & shoulders

 Notice he keeps the board horizontal just for fun ...

ridiculous strength in this 15 year old!

 

Warming up ...

Oh yeah ...

Yeah, I know.

You'd think the photographer could get him in the center of the pic.

Please cut the photographer some slack.

It's not easy to hold the camera steady,

while going really fast,

and hitting waves along the way!!

Okay, so this set of pics shows what happens when you go hard ...

... you fall hard.

This was a pretty bad one.

His ear hurt and we were afraid that he busted it.

So we put him in the boat and took him back to the dock.

So proud of this kid!

And Blaine LOVES to follow right along behind him!