Lake Vacation

Have you ever had one of those super relaxing vacations? The kind where there was very little work, you could shut down and play and the only thing you had to worry about at the end was when the raw spots on your elbows would heal. 

That was the kind of vacation we had at the beginning of July. Our good friends, Brian and Michelle, invited us to spend the Fourth on their lake in Missouri. We took them up on their offer and never once regretted it. 

 We spent most of our time on/in the lake. The kids had never water-skied nor tubed nor been on a boat or really played in a lake. Bill is a fantastic teacher and we have some pretty determined kids. Audrey worked and worked at getting up and staying up on her skis and by the end of the second day she was up for a while. 

 But most of the time she preferred hanging out on the boat, catching some rays. She also spent some time getting to know Karina. We became friends with Brian and Michelle when we all lived in Ames. Audrey and Karina are about six months apart. We have pictures of them playing together. It took a while for them to get comfortable hanging out with each other. I mean, their moms and dads are friends, so there's no pressure or anything. 

The dads climbed aboard the tube and Michelle tried to give them a run of it.

Did I mention how relaxing this weekend was? 

 Karina has been working on slalom skiing for a while. It took some mental conquering but within a few attempts she was up!

The whole boating, tubing, skiing thing to this kid is just another thing to master. 

He and Steffan took to the tube and each other right away. 

This kid did not take to the boating thing right away. 

Brian pretty much gave it all he could to whip these girls around. Karina thrived while Audrey endured.

We coaxed Luke out of the boat and on to the tube and guess what? He liked it! He likened going over the waves to going over a whoops section in motocross (it's never out of our minds) and wondered if Villapoto ever tubed. 

Sometimes holding your head up against the pull of the boat is tiring.

And then you're done.

This is a different kind of whoops. 

Bill took a turn at skiing and did well. I strapped them on, as well, and got up right away but couldn't stay up. After more than a handful of wipeouts and wedgies, I was done.

Our kids and Brian and Michelle's kids are all within months of each other. Audrey and Karina; Ben and Marissa; Luke and Steffan. Of course, Ben wasn't going to play with Marissa just because she is his age, so Audrey and Karina stayed by her side and Luke tagged along with Ben and Steffan.

I told you he was determined. The boy was soaked clear through to bone but he got up and stayed up.

And then there was fishing in the early morning. They caught and released and enjoyed the quiet. 

 Since we were there for the weekend of the Fourth, they took us to see the fireworks on the lake. We watched from the boat and it was fun but driving back in the dark on the lake with all the other boaters was not fun.

Michelle and I got to spend some time chatting here and there, even though neither of us are pictured. We all hung out with all of their lake friends, enjoyed a rib supper, set off our own fireworks (legal in Missouri but not in Iowa), floated in the lake, lounged, talked some more. *sigh* It was, sincerely, such a great time.

Thanks for inviting us, Brian and Michelle, we'd love to come back.