A Little R and R

It's hard to believe that our vacation has come. .

And gone!!

True to form. .

Jeremy started looking at places to stay LAST  year. .

the SAME afternoon we got home!!

We landed in the same house. .

The one with the steep 90 stair descent to the lake. .

Which also meant that in order to get OUT of the lake. .

one had to ASCEND the same 90 some steps!!

The location of the house on Grand Lake is excellent. .

And the cove is so quiet and secluded. .

That we thought it to be worth the steps. .

And don't think we DIDN'T discuss that before renting!!

The week went sooo quickly!!

And it rained nearly every night!!

 

Instead of the 100 plus degree temperatures we have seen the last 2 years there. .

the high was in the 90's only a couple of days!!
However, I'll not complain. .
Because rumor has it. .
It was around 100 at home every day!!

The first day of vacation. .

was drizzly. .

and we were expecting it. .

so we had planned to venture over into Rogers, Arkansas to do some back to school shopping.

The drive from our cabin to the city was so pretty!!

Slow driving because of the winding, hilly roads. .

But really pretty!

Tuesday morning, in the gloomy drizzle, we put the boat into the lake. .

which is usually a process all in itself!

And by Tuesday afternoon, the sun was shining.

The hours just seem to slip away there. .

Everyone takes their turn on the water. .

This year even Cami, got her own turn!

We packed the beginner skis. .

But that just seemed to scary to her. .

so we never got them out.

Surfing is her thing for now!

We did a little casting out of the poles the first night. .

And then it occurred to me. .

Well, the next morning it occurred to me. .

That NONE of us had fishing licenses!!

So. .

since we really never catch fish anyway. .

We just quit fishing!!

And by then. .

we were able to be in the boat. .

And when we weren't in the boat. .

We were relaxing in the house. .

or on the deck!!

One of the places on the water that we routinely get our boat fuel from. .

Has a GREAT place to play for the kids.

We have stopped there the last couple years for the boys to jump off the platform or on the trampolines.

This year. .

The biggest boy jumped off the tall platform. .12-15 feet we guessed.

He got a freshwater nasal flush. .

And kept me up half the early morning sneezing and snorting!!

These mats were all the rage this year. .

We saw them in the boating shops. .

And hooked up on the back of some of the expensive boats we saw during the week.

The mat lies out flat on the water. .

And then you get up on it. .

laying down or sitting on it. .

Even standing. .

And the mat continued to float!!

A neat contraption, we thought!!

Cami learned how to dive last week!!

Devin practiced surfing without holding the rope. .

And the little snot could bend over on his surf board and pick UP the rope from the water when he started falling behind!!

Grant was able to turn a complete circle on the knee board. .

And Tristan was able to do a 360 degree turn on the wake board!!

Jeremy learned how to surf. .

Woo Hoo!! (Pictures still to come)

Last year he jacked up his knee on the wakeboard (which he still won't attempt) and was convinced that he didn't want any part of the surfboard either. .

But he got his Brave On. .

And had it figured out lickety split!

Me??

I learned how to FINALLY get across the wake on a wakeboard without falling. .

After taking several strong nasal enemas in the process. .
Ah, the price of trying to stay young!!
Maybe next  year I'll learn to JUMP!!
Or maybe NOT!!

I'd still rather be taking pictures anyway!!

Water guns. .

Sunning. .

Napping. .

And jammin' out to our favorite tunes. .

And it was evident early on. .

That some people's favorite tunes. .

are NOT the favorite tunes of others!!

I came home with nearly 300 photos taken. .

And I'll bet I deleted at least 300 more while sitting on the boat browsing my camera!

Come back in a few days. .

I want to show you some photos from the last half of our week. .

And then I have a special post with my ultimate FAVORITE shots from our vacation!!

Until then. .

Thanks for stopping by. .

Oh, and for those of you that wanted the recipe for the Russian braid. .

I fixed the recipe!!

I'm not sure why the cut and paste option didn't work well last week. .

But it didn't!!

Enjoy!!