September

September was our month of squeezing in a much lake time as possible before fall.

We spent part of Labor Day weekend at the lake and had my friend Kristen, and her family, down with us. They loved experiencing all that Lake Cumberland has to offer and have already been on BoatTrader.com since. Ha!

We also bit the bullet and ordered a LilyPad for the kids. It was a huge hit...and takes up a huge amount of space on the boat. ;) So worth it though!

Caleb and Luke

with Kaelyn, Kamryn, and Ethan

We spent a majority of that Saturday afternoon tied up with the houseboats. Uncle Mark scored more points by taking all the kids on jet ski rides. First the boys...

and then the girls!

Lake Cumberland is pulled down as the season goes by and Caleb was the only one brave enough to jump off the waterfall this weekend. 

We saw the most beautiful rainbow that evening as we headed back to the marina.

Creed and I left the boys at home with Marshma and Papa and spent the second weekend of September at our first Lake Cumberland Poker Run. 

Friday we had some friends take us to Harmon Creek to meet up with Uncle Mark and Aunt Cathy. They had their houseboat out there and we spent the afternoon and evening there.

I thought I saw a lot of boats Friday...

We ended up staying out in Harmon fairly late so that most boats had cleared out. Cathy made a delicious dinner for everyone and then the ride back to the marina was beautiful!

All the race boats were back at the marina that evening.

Nothing could have prepared me for Saturday at Harmon Creek...
(I found this picture online!)

We were tied up in the middle of "the gauntlet" and these are a few pictures I took of some boats circling through. This went on for hours and hours...the parade of boats never stopped!

Mark and Cathy went out with a group from their "row" of houseboats, but they were pretty packed on that boat. So, another sweet neighbor let us hitch a ride with them! Love the hospitality! Here is some of our group...

The middle of September brought BIG changes...we (tearfully) said good bye to Misty....

and hello to our new surf boat!

We bought it from Lake Cumberland Marine's satellite store in Taylorsville, so we took it out for a quick test drive at Taylorsville Lake.

It is now in dry storage at Cumberland...waiting for 80 degree fall days. ;)

Our cousin Nathan, and his wife Katie, live in Las Vegas, so we were beyond excited when they came to visit. This is the 1st time we met our cousin Brady...he is just precious!
Brady, Matteo, Caleb, and Luke

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet Claire!

Luke went to a birthday party at House of Boom and loved the new layout...we need to go more often. All of my pictures are blurry but he did the zip line at least ten times.

80 degrees the last weekend of September...YES! We figured out the perfect configuration of ballast weight and found our perfect surf wave.  We still have a lot to learn but we are loving the new boat so far! 

We were out on the water until around 9pm so after the sun went down it got a lot cooler...Luke took advantage of the heater and huddled near it.

While we sure loved Misty and will always cherish the memories of our first family boat, we are excited for what's to come...

August

Our attempt at making August as fun as possible was a success, even with the start of school. ;) We continued to soak up as much summer as we could.

The first weekend we had our friends, the Dursts, come for a visit. The kids had a blast and the grown ups enjoyed some time to simply talk and catch up (while floating on a raft!)

PeePaw and Grandma Beth came in town for a few days and took the boys back to their lake house with them. They sent this picture as they made it into Virginia. 

So, I sent them this picture:

Because the boys took up so much room, I kept Hallie and she rode to their lake house with me the following day. (Creed ended up having to work a 60+ hour week so he knew there was no way he could go.) That night, however, we took advantage of the boys being gone and Creed took me to get my current favorite meal in town...Buffalo Chicken Tacos at RecBar. 

It took Hallie and I a little longer than normal due to construction traffic in WV, but we finally made it to see this...The boys were not missing me at all. ha!

Ahhhh...
One of my very favorite places to sit back and read.

Caleb has ZERO fear when it comes to anything that involves water and he wants to surf SO bad...we may need to just get a junior board for him so he can do it. Like 4th of July week, he tried so hard to get up but just wasn't heavy enough to keep the board down.

Seeing our Minnesota friends twice in one summer was such a treat!

And then this happened...

On August 15th, we sent Caleb to 5th grade and Luke to 2nd grade. Both boys got their 1st choice for teacher and both have best friends in the class. I am thankful that while they love summer and being at home, they also never complain about school. 

Luke didn't need me to walk him in this year so I dropped them off headed to my first day of school as a teacher. I was so thankful when a friend sent me these pictures.

Tey, Luke, and Porter are the sweetest best friends you have ever seen. Thankful for another year with these cuties!

At carpool that Friday (They just had a 3 day week.) Luke's teacher came up to the car window and told me that because Luke was so good, polite, and kind, she chose him to be the first Star Student of the week. I learned that it is a really big deal because, as Luke explained, he gets to sit in the Star Student desk with a rolling teacher chair and have his own pencil holder. ;) He also gets to be the line leader all week and put up a poster all about himself. 

My favorite...he wants to be a "Lego Master Builder" when he grows up. (He met one of the seven Master Builders at Legofest two years ago and apparently has his mind set on that.)

Caleb celebrated his friend Bryce's 11th birthday at the drive in and then a sleepover. These boys are growing up fast.

We had the Bachmans to the lake the last weekend of August and had the best time. The kids wore themselves out swimming, tubing, and sliding on the houseboat slide. 

Luke was first to show the girls how to jump off the waterfall.

Caleb has decided to begin guitar lessons this year and we are so excited. He loved picking out his new guitar and is excited to start!