Another Day at the Lake

Tuesday was another day spent on the water. Probably the highlight of the day happened as we were all floating on rafts around the docks. I looked up at the house and one of the outdoor lights was on! We all went crazy, screaming and cheering! That evening we packed up everything at the hotel and moved back into the lake house!

Caleb and his buddy, Annie

Caleb and Papa

An attempt at a family picture

Papa getting caught feeding Annie cheetos! With everything Caleb and Luke fed her too, she probably gained five pounds that week! She is a really, really good dog though! (She loves swimming, floating on her raft, riding on the boat, and even riding on the jet ski with Beth. It's hilarious!)

Papa and Luke retreated to the shade of the boat house for snack time and to watch everything going on.

Such a stinker!

Eating ice with Marshma kept Luke content for probably an hour!

( Luke loves eating ice out of the cooler, but it always seemed dirty to me. So, Grandma Beth cleaned out a cooler just for him to eat ice out of.)

Look closely...

That's Caleb jumping off the top deck of the neighbor's boathouse! Our fearless boy!

Deck Photo Shoot

My favorite...

More Fun on the Water

As I've said, much of our time spent last week was on the water. We were either swimming around the dock, riding the jet skis, or on the boat. Caleb loved doing all three, but Luke definitely preferred riding on the boat (although he didn't try the jet ski!) Luke was very intrigued with all the action on the boat, and never took his eyes off the skier. He even took a couple of great naps, which was great because that meant I didn't have to take him back to the hotel. (As of Monday, still no power.)

Mr. Cool

While he didn't love his life jacket, he tolerated it and didn't fight us putting it on. (His hair glowed orange in the sunlight!)

Uncle Matt took a turn surfing. (He dropped the rope and surfed, but since I was in charge of catching it and throwing it back to him, I wasn't able to take any pictures.)

Caleb's favorite thing to do was sit in the back and help out. He'd always yell, "Uncle Matt, are you ready?" (Yes.) "He's ready PeePaw!"

I LOVE this picture.

Check out the background...That's Uncle Drew on the stand up jumping the wake. He actually is on his way back down in the picture. By the way, the stand up was SO much fun, but probably the hardest thing I have ever done!

Fun on the Water

We all had so much fun playing on the water, and it was necessary since the house didn't have power! I think by the end of the week every single muscle in my body was aching, but it was worth it. We took a 9am ski run one morning while the water was still like glass, and spent most afternoons and evenings on the boat or in the water. Caleb was in his element and evens says that when he's grown up his lake house will be in Virginia too. I sure hope so!

Uncle Drew showing off his wake surfing skills.

(He's actually really good at everything he tries!)

Creed found the "sweet spot" on the wake and was able to surf too!

Ready...

Get set...

Go!

Excitement

We left home last Friday around 6pm and I think it was around 103 degrees. We stopped for dinner around Ashland and noticed that it was much cooler- only in the 70s, yet didn't know why there was such a change. After dinner I got a text from my dad that said they were huddled in the living room without power. (We later found out that they had been hit with 80+ mph winds, which knocked out power for over 500,000 people in the area.) We decided to keep going, because surely the power wouldn't be out long- Ha!

Saturday we tried to make the best of the no power situation and played on the lake. Dad also decided to go ahead and book 3 hotel rooms, just in case the power was off overnight again. Our real issue was no water. The lake house has well water, which is pumped with an electric pump, so we couldn't take showers, wash hands, or even flush the toilet.

Sunday was more of the same. Still no power, and we were finding out how bad the storm actually was. The boys took great naps in the cool, dark hotel room and slept wonderful night, which was a major blessing, but it still wasn't the vacation we were hoping for. We came up to the house for lunch Sunday and while we were eating the power came ON. We were so excited and decided to take pictures since we'd "weathered the storm" together.

A Group Shot

Luke was such a trooper! He just doesn't do well when he's hot.

Uncle Drew and his sweet girlfriend, Kaitlyn.

Uncle Drew, Papa, and Creed

Caleb loves his Marshma and Papa!

Seriously, I can't describe the excitement and relief we felt! Beth even planned a big dinner to celebrate. It was during that big dinner that the power went off again, a total of six hours since when it had first come on. The excitement was short lived, that's for sure!

Back to Life

We just returned today from vacation at Claytor Lake in Virginia. We spent the week at PeePaw and Grandma Beth's lakehouse, and also got to hang out with Uncle Matt and Uncle Drew. Marshma and Papa were even there too. It was a fun week, full of lots of excitement. Many more pictures and details to come!

For now, our view from the house...I loved drinking my coffee to this each morning!

Love, love life at the lake!

A Day at the Park

On Tuesday we decided to spend the day at the park before the heat wave was supposed to hit. It was a beautiful day and the boys had so much fun. Our neighbors, the Boltons, went too, so the boys had their buddies to play with. We took a picnic lunch and even brought extra bread and crackers to feed the ducks. It was a great, simple day.

Brody and Caleb, posing on the giant rock they climbed

Luke loves swinging and I love that he is confined to one spot. ;)

Jake tried out the swing for the first time and loved it.

Feeding the ducks may have been the highlight of the day.

Barrett's Birthday Party

Last Sunday we went to our neighbor, Barrett's, circus themed birthday party. They had yummy food, face painting, crafts, and even a cute photo booth. Happy 4th Birthday, Barrett!

The Birthday Boy

Caleb, Brody, and Barrett 

Caleb was very serious, and very still, as he got his face painted.

Trying to see his shark.

Silly boys! Brody & Caleb posing at the photo booth.

4 Year Old Checkup

Dear Caleb,

You did so well at your checkup and we are so proud of you!

You answered all of Dr. B's questions and you were even honest that you won't eat green vegetables.

While the task of peeing in a cup did cause you to be a little anxious, you were a rock star when it came time to get the shots. No fight. No tears. (You did request 2 suckers, and that only made sense since you got 2 shots.)

You weighed 36 and 1/2 pounds and 40 and 1/2 inches tall. It's so hard to believe.

We love you, Caleb!