Sun is back in full force

We spent all day long out in the boat and on the jet skiis. We had a great time letting the kids drive the boat and they all got a lot of intertube time in right up until dinner. Noah seems to be the craziest in driving the boat and wanting to go even faster on the intertube and jet ski.









We did take a distraction and went on a hike. I'm sure we scared all of the bears and other animals away with our family coming down the trail. We gave the kids a chance to take some pictures and they had fun with this. Noah did end up falling 2-3 times and was carried out of the hike by mom and dad at different times.








We decided to head over to another resort today, Elkins, because they have a sandy beach and play area, expecially a place to get ice cream. It's a nice place that also serves huckleberry daquiries









It was hilarious to watch people try to throw trash away trying to get into the garbage can. They really are hard to get in to











Fun to dig and make sand castles like always. We brought good shovels this year so we got to make all sorts of tunnels.











Jonah having some alone time doing some thai chi and relflection.












Noah took this picture of us in the woods. I'm sure that's where I got my aunt bites waiting for him to snap the picture. It's all part of the experience.

Noah is the crazy driver

The boys get so impatient waiting for all the adults to get ready to take them out in the boat. We do take a long time.

Hot tubbing with the cousins at the end of a hard day. Thomas thinks it is great to have cousins around to watch and play with. Being with the boys.

Obviously the day was hard on me to. I did get a good nap in at 7 p.m. while I was "watching" the kids

Jacob got some alone time with Papa skipping rocks and having deep conversation.

At night we play games if we can keep our eyes open. We played Settlers of catan.

Windy day filled with creativity

I thought this was a great picture of Papa, the pool man, trying to take off the cover with the boys watching. The kids have had a blast in the pool this week. If they get too cold, they run back to our unit and jump in the jacuzzi to warm up. Jonah swam last night until 8:30 when we had to drag him out. From there, he went straight to bed.

Jonah was so trashed from a long day in the sun and on the boat. We put sun screen on, but he was the one with a little sun burn on his face. This is the "sun daze" that we have all felt before after a great day on the water.

Since the water was a little choppy this day, we did more projects, games, etc to keep the kids active. Jacob was making some space station with Papa and was telling him what he wanted him to do.

Rebecca and Sue had a project going with Noah and Jonah (God's Eyes) which didn't last too long but still did the job for awhile.

All the while Thomas crawling around wanting to see what everyone is doing. He has had a great time watching all of the activity. He has also gone in the pool twice and loves it.

The favorite project of the day was making mini-cakes in coffee cups for each child. Josh used to make these and his mom got the recipe and ingredients so that they could make them. You put it in the microwave for 3 minutes and it rises above the coffee cup and just when you think it is going to explode, their done. The kids loved them---so did all the adults. The kids loved to watch it grow

Here is Noah with his. May look a little interesting, but they were good, especially with white chocolate chips in them. So far today, the weather looks warm and the water is like glass. Today is the last full day for Sarah, Josh, Thomas, Mike, and Beth, so we are going to be on the water as much as possible. More pictures to follow. Have a great summer Friday!

More fun in the sun!

This seems to be the picture that I have in my mind all year long as I wait to come back. This picture means tranquility, relaxation, and a true vacation. I love this place.











Jonah got a lot more mojo this time around and he let Aunt Sarah drive more crazy-like. They had a great time. Some of the close-ups of Jonah are hilarious because of his face.










Sarah was going to try and stay off the jet ski this year since she is prego, but she just couldn't help herself once the new jet ski was brought out. She had to take it for a spin. It didn't deter her even though her mother was yelling from the balcony and pointing her finger at her only like a mother can.







A BOY AND HIS TOY....NOTHING LIKE IT!













This turned out to be an awesome picture of me catching some air behind the boat as Josh, Jonah, and Noah had a leisurely Cruise. I need to blow this up and put it on my wall to remind myself that 37 years old isn't as old as we think.









So fun to see Noah's face. Too bad they never have any fun.












We found Noah and Jonah in one of the closets watching a movie. We couldn't find them anywhere until we heard noises coming from the closed closet. At least they were taking care of themselves.
















The first day, I felt like we had two year old's again. Jonah and Noah came out from their rooms and they had put "chicken pox" all over their body. They had a red pen and the put dots all over each other. Thank goodness we were on vacation, because all though we were not happy, what could we do? We tried to wipe them off, but then just left them. Not sure why we they had to revert back 4 years in their development.

Kids have been helpful with getting anything ready that has anything to do with the boat or the water.

Fun to see the kids getting along so well. I guess we need to move up here and just play all year for the kids never to fight. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Jacob was back in his room doing "surgery" on one of his stuffed animals but he accidentally cut it with scissors (again something a small child would do) so Papa had to do surgery himself and fix the stuffed animal. Always something going on around here. Jacob did have gloves and a mask, but we didn't need it this time. All that was needed was a needle and thread to get the job done. We are having a great time and we realize this because we can't ever remember what day it is or what the date it. True vacation rhythm.

Too much fun

I'm not sure kids are allowed to have this much fun during summer. We spent all day long yesterday whipping ourselves into a frenzy on the intertube. We started out where Jonah only wanted to go 5 miles per hour and by the end of the day, we were whipping him back and forth across the wake.







Sarah and Josh went to get the jet skiis looked at and we took Thomas off on the boat and had a great time. Josh and Sarah came back with a new Jet ski which just threw everyone for a loop, especially the adults. We had more fun than the kids did.








It is so much fun to hang out with the boys on the lake. Home, work, and the stresses of life seem so far away.











While Sarah and Josh were gone, we loaded Thomas up with icecream, but we had to hose him off before they came home so they wouldn't know. He did end up skipping a nap which could have been due to the sugar overload. We'll never know.








Rebecca did have a great time on the jet ski and said she got it up to 53 miles per hour. I got it up to 52, but since Reba is so competative, she is the winner. My goal is going to we trying to break that record.









Sarah was driving the boat when she had Mike and Josh on the back and they were flying. Mike did end of taking a spill at some point but no broken bones.










Loved the jet ski. Can't say enough about jumping over waves.












Funny to see Jonah's face and Noah's hair. Noah absolutely loves it. He always wants to go faster and go over bigger bumps.











When Sarah was driving the boat and had Mike and josh on the back, there was slack and she gunned it snapping the rope. She didn't want to pose for the picture, but I didn't give her the choice.

Josh took out each child after dinner and let them drive. Brave man. They had a blast.

The five minutes Mark has had to read his book before he was interrupted by grandchildren. I will post some more pictures later but the internet connection is a little harry up here and the wind is also causing some problems.

The Trip Begins...Stop #1 Moses Lake, WA

We headed out of Bremerton by 9 on Friday morning so we could make it to Moses Lake by 1ish. Many more bathroom stops than one might think necessary later, we arrived just in time to take advantage of sunny weather for the rest of the day. The Lazy River was a favorite of all. Our nephew, Thomas loved the little graded pool that's like a beach.

Here's Jacob coming out of the water slide. It literally shoots you out like a shotgun. Though it took him awhile to muster up the courage to go and the stamina to pass the swimming test (down and back crawlstroke without touching the bottom), he loved it once he got there.

Papa and Thomas enjoying the sun.

There was a wavepool divided in half...one side was for body and knee boarding, the other side was for surfing. Jonah and Jacob enjoyed the body boarding, and Josh tried his hand at the surfing side more than once. It's much harder than it looks. Grown men made complete fools of themselves repetitively, attempting to master it, while local kids made it look easy.

All of us in the Lazy River