1st Lake Experience (for both girls!)

Okay....so I've decided that our family needs a blog. Even though our family lives nearby, we never really share pictures with them, so maybe this blog can serve as my scrapbook and a way for us to share pictures of the girls! Since this is my first time to try my hand at blogging, I have now learned that I put all photos in reverse order. It might make more sense to scroll down to the bottom and work your way up so that the captions are in order!

On our way back "to town" Linden gave us a list of reasons that she likes the pool better than the lake. It was so hard not to die laughing, as she sounded just like me! She had 6 reasons...I'll try to remember them all the exact way that she phrased them!

First, pools have bathrooms.
Second, you can see the bottom at pools.
Third, I don't have to wear a life jacket at the pool.
Fourth, I can touch the bottom at the pool.
Fifth, the water is warmer.
Sixth, I can swim at the pool.

Her #1 & #2 reasons are the exact reasons I haven't been in the lake since before she was born!

We did have a great time and can't wait to do it again...next time we might try the tube! I think Linden will go to the lake some more...she just wants to be sure we know that she likes the pool more!




Here's a pic of the crew after our day on the lake!

#2 finally gave it up! We were going pretty fast, so it was loud and windy, but she slept through it all! When we got back to the dock, we took off her life jacket, carried her to the car, took a picture (above), loaded her up and drove back to D&T's house....she never woke up! We did wake her up when we got back to the house...she needed to change her clothes and eat some Father's Day dessert!

Here's where I have to brag on my hubby! So we towed the canoe back to the marina, but we couldn't just tie it up and leave it there. Ryan got in the canoe and paddled to the shore. He got out on those big, slippery rocks and pulled the canoe out all by himself. Did I mention that on our way back we started going too fast and almost flipped the canoe?! It had water in it from the close call, so it was not a light canoe! He drug the canoe across the parking lot and loaded it in his truck and then came down to the marina and got back on the boat so we could go for a boat ride above 5 mph! It ended up being a lot of work for a canoe ride, but, again....the things we do to please our kids!

#1 and Grandma getting ready for our trip back to the dock.

#2 got her chance to drive the boat, too!

Here they are sunbathing. They thought it was so cool to get to eat on the boat! D&T took the canoe for a little ride while we were resting on the boat. Ryan caught my attention and nodded out towards the water and there was a snake swimming across the cove towards us! It was swimming right by where we had been swimming! I decided that we were done swimming for the day!

#1 grabbed a hold of the noodle and started paddling around. She was really brave and just took off without me. I looked up at one point and she was about 6 feet away. #2 was doing really good kicking her feet and trying to paddle with her hands. She made sure she didn't let go of me for too long, and would only paddle with her hands when I had a tight hold of her...she wasn't as confident as her big sis! Grandpa started a great game of fetch. He had a small piece of a noodle that he threw into the water. The girls would race each other to get to it and then throw it again and swim to it again. They could have gone on and on playing that game, but we finally got them talked in to resting for a bit. Ryan swam with us for a little while, but I don't have any pictures of him in the water with the girls. The water was a little too cold for him, so he didn't stay in too long.

We jumped out of the canoe and into the lake water! I have not been in the lake since I've had kids, and I wasn't a big fan of it before kids. It's amazing what people do to please their kids!

We tried to go out on a canoe at kid's fish day on Saturday, but they didn't have life jackets small enough for #2. Uncle Nathan still has his canoe out at D&T's, so we paddled around out there. #1 likes it more than #2....we found out that she likes being in the water more than being in the boat! It was also nap time, and she had been up late and gotten up early, so she was really tired. She might have liked it better if she wasn't working so hard to not fall asleep!

#2 loved to honk the horn! Here she is in the captain's seat while Grandpa dropped anchor. At least we were in the cove where we didn't annoy anyone else with the horn!

For our early Father's Day celebration, we went out on the lake with Dave & Tess. #1 got to drive the boat! We were going really slow because we were towing Uncle Nathan's canoe behind the boat. We towed it over to the cove on D&T's property. The girls have never been on a boat before....I know it's sad! We were nervous for #1 to go when she was 18 mos, and then the next summer I was prego, and then the next summer #2 was too little....anyway, we FINALLY did it! The girls loved it!