Wednesday we headed into the boat fairly early (at least by our standards...that 7:00 doesn't call my name). The water was beautiful, and we were happy to start our last day with Alex there in the water.
Amber and Tasha skied first,
I really love this picture. I totally hate this moment before I ski. Right now I'm debating if it's worth it, wondering if I will be able to get up after 3 years and 2 babies, thinking if this will be the time that I hurt my back again, and just doubting myself in general. Every time I get in the water we go through this same process, but it makes for a beautiful picture :) I did get in, and had a decent ski. It was worth getting in again, and will be next year too.
Maely is a great skier. It was so fun to watch her tackle the wake, and the surprise on her face when she made it back over was awesome. She also had the best fall of the week (at least from my camera ;))
Another boat kid :)
Hugs for Grandpa after you ski are a great tradition :)
These three next pictures are of the three girls who were constantly being confused this week. These three blonds all had braids at different points of the week, Maggie and Olivia have the same swimsuit, and if they were far away or not wearing their life jackets (which are luckily 3 totally different colors...) it was a lost cause to tell who was who. I heard Sophie call to some younger cousin 'I am Sophie! Not Olivia!' on Wednesday or Thursday, and I know I called to Maggie twice during the week. It definitely helps that Sophie is pretty small for her age and O is tall, so they are all within a few inches of eachother.
Wednesday morning the kids also started a rock store. At first it was a small operation more about organizing and kids playing...
Then Zach showed his sales prowess by introducing strategic marketing, watching economic trends, and various promotions. He attempted a monopoly on the rock source and pitted sibling against sibling, cousin against cousin in a brutal sales war.
Amber and I have so much fun together, and I miss her terribly now that we don't live close. The pain of being hours instead of minutes away will never go away, but I love how easy it is for us to be together, and our families to be together as often as we can manage. One great example of that is our husbands. They get along as well as we do, and often act and speak and think in identical ways. I couldn't stop laughing when Amber pointed this out to me in the next picture :)
Some of my younger (but now older) cousins
I'm confused about these pictures....we must have been in two different boats that day? My computer is having a hard time putting pictures from 5 cameras in consecutive order, so maybe this is all from the same trip. Either way, here are the kid boat pics from Wednesday. Maggie is a great skier who is working with a disconnected rope and doing awesome! She was a great example to O of trying hard at something that isn't easy on your body but is fun once you get it!
O on her second time skiing, first with Alex. I'm so glad that she tried again after a frustrating first attempt!
Her kicking legs were in full force, and she swam herself both up and down in a few seconds. She was a great sport for trying again, and next year we will try to keep legs still and strong :).
Carter was next up on the kneeboard
Then Makenzie again...she loves it the most :)
O kneeboarded alone, and did great! She was stressed out about it, and gave the 'cut it' sign almost the whole time, but she did a loop back to Alex and did wonderfully.
Zach skied us in,
Then Olivia drove us back out :). She was totally at home behind the wheel, and Chris was wonderful in his great uncle duties ... I love everything about this picture
Front of the boat (Hunter was totally asleep in this picture)...
The hammocks were a huge hit all week, and the kids got more and more adventurous with them.
Alex had to leave that afternoon, but we were lucky to get a special delivery a couple hours before he left, and Dan got it blown up right away. This bull was great fun for the kids - and some of the grownups :)
Maggie
Kade
Elli
Paige
Caleb
Maely - she got a little crazier treatment than the other kids :)
Kade saw Maely's run and decided to get back on, and Dan called in reinforcements...getting the bull going was hard work!
Olivia
Carter also went on, but after we put the cameras away, so we don't have record
Teagen
Believe it or not, this is Dan trying to get on :). It may have taken longer than his actual ride
After Alex flipped him, his toes stayed curled up like that way longer than I was comfortable watching...he has some serious breath-holding skills!
I had to give it a try, after all, my dream in high school was to marry a rancher and live that life. On a side note, I'm so glad that my dreams changed!
I spent most afternoons in the cabin with the babies napping. Getting one good nap in each day totally saved us, but Hunter was a little better at sleeping on the boat and other places, so he didn't need quite as long as Makenzie at naptime. Maggie was so fun on Wednesday, she came in and played with his for over an hour, finally gaining his trust toward the end so he would actually touch her! For Hunter and big crowded gatherings, this is a big deal.
I'm not sure how often I saw Maggie without an Otter Pop in her hand, so this is a more natural look for her. I also loved how her beautiful crown braid just got more and more fluffy all week, but stayed in and was beautiful the whole time.
This is from Amber, while I was in the cabin he apparently walked up to her like this and she said 'Cool Carter, let's take a picture!' He smiled for this then said that he was actually stuck and could she please help him get out? I love that kid :)
This was another time when Carter and Teagen just started their own game and were totally happy playing for quite a while with each other. I debated cutting down on our cabin toys this year because we are always down by the water, but I'm glad Hulk and Spiderman made the cut :).
Kade had the perfect example of Twin Lakes Tubing hair at dinner that evening :)
Grandpa T Buzz and Carter had some serious story time that evening. You might think that it is a very intense story, until you look at the picture and realize that it's Aladdin :). Maybe dad is just realizing that Jafar is evil?
Thursday morning found us right back where we love to be, playing in the water :) I had so much help with the kids for the 4 days when Alex wasn't there that it gave me a false confidence that I can travel with the kids by myself. Since that time I have scheduled 3 more trips this fall that Alex can't go on, we are taking fall by the horns, and I couldn't do it without my wonderful mom and sisters and other family members who step in with arms and cuddles and reprimands when I am occupied elsewhere.
Here is a cute picture of Amber and Hunter playing in the water. He wasn't super happy about it until they discovered that the tire will come back after you push it away :)
Jennifer, Mica, Lily, and DJ playing with Makenzie. She is famous for finding a buddy and latching on like crazy, and she wasn't short a buddy at Twin Lakes. It was a fun week full of cuddles!
Amber found a nice, if not super comfortable napping place just behind our mom circle...so I couldn't help but take a few pictures of it!
Kade showed Carter how to aim his water gun, then how to shoot it straight in the air, then how to have a mini water fight but come out ahead with the use of a big floating donut. It was super fun to watch them playing together, and Carter loved the attention from his super cool older cousin.
Teagen was asking Grandpa here how much Iron this rock had in it, if the veins might be copper, and if he thought a magnet would pick it up. He is so interested in the world and how things work!
Super cute Suzie and her beautiful mom :)
O was getting a little pink, so she headed in for the afternoon with me to read and stay out of the sun. I loved how she found her own chapter book, joined Emily on the adjoining chair, and officially became one of 'those' people :). She is gearing up for first grade and is so excited about all the new opportunities that school will have now that it's not 'Kindergarten for little kids' anymore. Do we think this has anything to do with the fact that her brother will be in Kinder this year??
Haha...Amber had a whole photo shoot of Teag like this, but I couldn't help stealing a couple pictures. His animated face and amazing expression just kills me.
Getting time on the floatie was important for Carter, but he's not quite up to swimming out to it on his own, so he was super excited when it floated in shallow enough to walk to! He spent quite a while out there just waving to anyone who noticed him out there :)
We went for ice cream (I think a daily tradition, but we don't quite go every day), but when my cone broke as they were putting the ice cream in, the scooper just smashed it back on and said 'here you go!'. I wasn't impressed, but the ice cream was delicious, even licked off the back of my hand as it dripped down.
My amazing grandparents...love you both!
After dinner and a quick clean up of the grand cabin, it was time for Kids Night! Suzie and Hunter aren't quite old enough to join in the fun, so they had the baby jail to themselves while parents played games. I got beat badly at a couple games by Emily before giving up and finding a book :) The kids were so funny in trying to play together, which ultimately led to just touching and pushing each other, but neither complained, so we let them go at it. Definitely something that comes from being the youngest of 3 or 4 kids!
The performance song for Kids Night this year was 'You're Welcome' from Moana. All of the effort that the young adults put into this every year is amazing. They spent many hours before this cutting out different craft materials and gathering everything that they would need for the various age groups. My kids look forward to this every year, and this year Carter and Makenzie were two of the youngest 3 or 4 kids :)
Just check out Teag's posture here. He sang like this almost the entire song, except for when a dance move prevented it :)
Makenzie was quite comfortable on the stage :)
One part of the song is a yelled word (I can't even remember which word, but it's toward the end of the song). About 30 seconds before that part, Olivia started covering her ears for no apparent reason :). She has never loved loud noises, but it took me quite a while to figure out why she was doing this. Finally, quite a while later, the yell happened and she went back to dancing.
Thank you Kids Night Helpers!!
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