Maely skied amazingly,
Then Amber skied and put us all to shame,
I skied one last time as well.
One of my 'home' places...I miss it every time we aren't there. One of the funny things about living so close is that we could totally go up there, but I never will without the family that make it home :).
These sweet cousins had so much fun together the entire week!
The chair sitters :).
Lizzie tried (valiantly) to race Grandpa's boat to the other side of the lake. Try again next year Liz!
At lunch, Hunter took things into his own hands when no one got him the food he wanted. Apparently we left that bag of grapes a little too close :)
The Grovers' kayak was well used the entire week, but the funniest thing I saw was it towing a tuber on Friday afternoon :)
David pulled out his computer to show Grandpa his skiing pictures. My Grandpa turns 80 this October, and he skis beautifully. He's an inspiration to this granddaughter in many ways :)
A cold, tired, and maybe a little grumpy Olivia gave Amber some Auntie cuddles :)
This picture was taken during the 5 minute attempt at a water fight. It's been a few years since a water fight had any umph, and Amber reminded me that it's the same number of years since Evan was last at the Lakes....a connection??
Friday afternoon I realized that Carter and Makenzie hadn't been out on a tubing run this year (Olivia had gone with cousins almost every day) We took the younger cousins out on a boat, and it was a blast. Carter and Teagen were the wild cards as far as knowing if they would enjoy it, so we put them in the tube with others we knew would have a good time. The girls went first with Carter, and they were hilarious. They gave the 'faster' and 'bumpier' signs the entire time, and tried to convince us they weren't having fun, but their faces give them away.
The Stays came by with their group of older teenage tubers also.
Olivia's legs and Elli's braids are making the same shape! :)
I took Makenzie and Teagen next, and spent the entire time trying to convince Kenz that she was having fun. I should have focused more on keeping Teag in the tube, he really wanted to touch the water :). Fortunately he stayed in, and Kenz gave one wave to the boat before we decided to cut it.
The girls went with Teag next, who was definitely ready for a faster ride. They all did great again, and Grandpa gave them a great ride. I get pretty nervous about whiplash tubing injuries (I can thank past experience for that...) so my Dad is really cautious with me in the boat and with my kids...he manages to give them great rides anyway.
Elli's braids again :)
Boat fun!
The last group to go was Carter with Tasha and Grandma. The pictures from this ride aren't especially flattering, but they are SO funny. They started trying to make OSU, but the S was a little complicated for Carter :)
At the end, my dad was trying to sub the front of the tube. It's definitely more challenging with these huge sitting tubes, but he managed to once a little, then the second time worked better than he thought. The tube went under and tilted almost vertical, my mom and Tash slid off into the water, and when the tube came back down, Carter was still gripping tight to those handles :) It was hilarious to see them totally soaked and him sitting there just laughing at him.
All the kids (minus M) wanted in to go back to the dock in the tube...but my dad might have been going too slow because they all decided to surf their way in :)
Apparently after Grandpa takes everyone, he also buys them ice cream one last time :) This time Grandpa Sorenson passed by, wondering if he was the one buying these cones, but Dad told him he was off the hook for these particular kids...
Teag is always a ham...I think he would do anything for a laugh :)
Amber was looking for something refreshing...not sure why she chose this particular cooler when the milk was right next to it :)
Carter the fruit bat :) The kids got more and more creative with the hammocks throughout the week. I saw a few fall on their head, but never from far, and they always got right back up to try again!
Cabin olympics didn't happen this year, but the kids put their climbing skills to the test.
Of course, while the moms are busy taking pictures, Hunter helps himself to food again :)
I was standing slightly in the way, so Amber told me to suck it in...I'm not sure hiding behind the fireplace is my sport :).
I'm not sure when this happened, but the Stays helped all the kids assist the Princess of the Lily Pads again this year. It's one of Olivia's favorite part of the week, and Makenzie was able to participate this year as well. I could be wrong about the story line, but they soaked Tim to scare the slobbering guards, then got to eat some slobbering guards as well :).
When it got dark, the Princess of the Lily Pads also invited all the kids to a glow dance party :). Our little ones were asleep for that, but Carter and Olivia partied it up with all the older cousins.
After the dance party, we had to unpack the kitchen food. Getting all packed up is sad and hard because everyone is tired, everyone has their own packing to do and their own schedule, and mostly because no one really wants to go home. This year we decided to do a draft with the 4 contributing moms who could take food home :) Mom used the first overall draft pick for Mint oreos (which she immediately shared with all of us, but she seemed quite attached to the lime Tostitos that she took next :)
I tried to get all the way packed up Friday night, because my Saturday was going to be crazy regardless. I don't even try to get the kids in the water, but I didn't have Alex and there was a LOT of stuff to get loaded. My dad, Dan, and Zach were such amazing help to me the entire loading process, I don't think I made it all the way down the stairs carrying anything heavier than the baby that followed me everywhere :) I also got to drive Emily to the airport, which was awesome because I never have enough time to chat with my sisters. We got our group ferry shot, but Grandpa was trapped in the truck and couldn't open the door, so we are a partial shot here. I also stole Amber's group ferry shot. Between both we are 4 of the 7 Romrell kids at the Lake this year, so not bad percentages! I know Tim and his boat were on the ferry after us, 2 boats and a couple RVs is usually all the big stuff. Someday I will remember to get a shot of the ferry full, it's such a cool thing to do each year, and is equally special to my kids :).
After a super short 2 hour drive to Spokane to drop Em off, then 1.5 hours home, we were home with plenty of time before dinner. I laughed when I came into the playroom and Hunter was taking a ride in the Barbie boat...he had never done this before, and was super proud of himself :). He obviously missed the Lake as much as I was :).
No comments:
Post a Comment