On The Lake

We just spent four days at Lake Lanier, and boy did we need it. This debt reduction plan has meant that we have not gone on a vacation in a very long time... and this was our big vacation until the big long-awaited Disney trip of 10/11. Although packing up for our family of six was daunting (two pack and plays, an excersaucer to keep the peanut at bay, baby gates, etc, etc) it was well worth the effort. Asa and Addison were awesome. I made a huge pile bags and pack and plays and coolers and such... and they hauled everything to the van and packed it full. If they couldn't carry something, they each grabbed an end and worked together. We did this for hours. Literally, hours. Towards the end, I pulled them aside and thanked them for their hard work, and more importantly, for doing it with "Yes ma'am" instead of complaints. I had been saving a Leapster game for each of them for just such an occasion. I let them know that if they kept it up for another 30 minutes, they would have a surprise. It was waiting for them in their seats, which made for a very peaceful trip to the lake.

We spent a lot of time just swimming off the dock. The boys must have jumped in a billion times, half of which were Asa off the second level. Ivey got the hang of swimming in a life jacket (we don't use water wings or floats in pools, so this was brand new for her) and paddled herself around the lake like a little yellow duck. She woke up in the mornings asking for her "baby soup" (bathing suit) and "life jacket". Addison and I went on a mean tube ride and I even took Ivey on the tube with me. She loved it. That girl has no fear!

Although I was unsuccessful in my attempts of standing up on a knee board, I was completely successful in teaching my boys how to ride! They both got up on their knees and went around the lake. Addison really loved it, even more than Asa. On the torpedo-inflatable-pull-behind-the-boat-contraption, they started signing to tell us to go around and round in circles until we made such huge waves that they were thrown off into the air head over heels... over and over. Those boys are crazy! What's really crazy is that, even after watching them and their high speed bucking bronco antics, Ivey wanted to ride with them! She climbed on the front and we pulled the three of them all the way back to the dock... with Ivey intentionally bouncing up and down as if to say that we weren't going nearly fast enough for her taste.