After a doctor's visit Monday morning confirming Andy had a ear infection, teaching a class, and confirming that we had people painting the house, we hit the road!
Andy was a tired kid-- he fell sound asleep about 5 minutes into the car ride (which is miraculous and a little slice of heaven all wrapped into one)
The rule at the lake is that every (kid) wears a life jacket when on the dock. The water is deep and dark and that is not something we mess around with-- I was VERY happy with this rule! Water safety is something I am in full support of! Cal is a great swimmer, but if he were to hit his head, it isn't like the pool where I could get him easily-- the thought of that sends chills down my spine. ugh.
In other news... we had to borrow puddle jumpers from friends-- a had a friend lend me a PINK one for Andy. He didn't mind it.
He "boyed" that thing right up by marking some territory on the dock. My brother in law hashtagged this pic on instagram: #rippleeffect and you really can see the ripples in the water-- makes me laugh so hard....
We went up there with two other families, not including Julie and her family. All together, there were 9 kids. Let me tell you, it could have been a disaster. But every mom was the kind of mom that you would want to go on a trip with with kids-- laid back and easy going and total go with the flow attitude. It made this trip absolutely work perfectly!
Every person had someone sleeping in their room-- their own kid or not! Julie (and her hubby Jay was there for part of it) had Libby's daughter sleeping in the day bed in their room. Dana had her two kids AND Emma (Julie and Jay's daughter) sleeping in her room. Libby slept in a room with her baby. I slept with Andy in my bed, and there was a room with Cal, Scott and Fenton all in it-- and it ALL worked! We were dreading the worst and really, no one could complain! Kinda amazing!
These three boys became fast friends and played together perfectly-- they were total boys together, of course.
We got there Monday afternoon and a storm rolled in soon after we arrived. We waited for that to pass, which it did quickly, and then we headed back down to the dock. Julie took rounds of kids on jet skis which they loved- especially Mr. Cal Williamson...
He was also wearing a puddle jumper, which he was not too excited about. But once we explained that it was the rule, he never questioned it-- gotta love a rule follower!!
This was Tuesday morning-- the boys were pretty much a pack non-stop! Julie put together little baskets for each family filled with fun stuff. The boys loved checking out each one...even though they were all the same.
These two wish they were neighbors.... but then we may never see them again. They got along SO SO well together!
The boys spent hours shooting their squirt guns at any and everything.
They took this job very seriously, as you can tell by Cal's expression...
Andy was obsessed with the diving board. The first day he was on it non-stop. Not jumping off of it. Just standing. And looking. And pretending.
I gotta tell ya-- I am about over his not wanting to swim business. There is no reason he was swimming a few months ago and now freaks out like he does. He's high maintenance, I tell you.
Anyway....
They had a great water toy called the POPerazzi. It gets pulled behind the boat-- the kids thought it was awesome. We played on it at the dock later too- Cal was having a blast! (Andy was worn out and took a fabulous nap!)
There is a little Mexican restaurant they love to go to that we all went to Tuesday night. It was yummy!
Julie had an idea that she wanted all the kids to wear capes for a pic on the boat with capes blowing in the wind... here we are getting ready to head to boat...
Why is Andy's face so funny in this picture?
We realized life jackets would make the picture very safe-- but would not not do the capes justice. So we lined them up on the dock... I love this picture...
We loaded the boat to head to dinner and had a great ride over! The capes stayed on for most kids...
Andy was SO excited each time he saw a boat. You'd think he's never been to the beach before....
Andy and his "fairy God mother"
The boys...minus the birthday boy!
Me and Julie!
Goofy kids....
Apparently, their bladders were full immediately upon returning from the restaurant. They all lined up ad got 'er done... (yes, my boys are still wearing capes...)
We had a blast celebrating Fenton turning FOUR!!!
