Summer Memories...Love the Lake (part 1)

We are home from a great overnight trip to the Great Wolf Lodge! We had a wonderful time playing in the water, but all the water play wore me out (or maybe it was the keeping track of kids 5 around all the water!) Anywho, I haven't even looked at all of the pictures from our trip yet, so a blog on that will be on the docket for later this week. For today, I will continue playing catch-up with a blog about another kind of water fun...

Another summer has come & gone & I know you are sad that I skipped several posts on our time at the lake. So because I know you really missed seeing all the photos of tubing & swimming & dock jumping & more, I've combined ALL the pics into this one post! (Please contain your excitement!) We will hit all the big summer holidays, from Memorial Day to Labor Day with 4th of July in between! (Okay, so that was a great idea, but in reality, when I saw how many photos I have just from our Memorial Day trip, I decided separate posts are necessary! You're welcome!)

We opened our lake season as usual with a long Memorial Day weekend at the lake. After the winter, the kids were all excited to get back in the water! We also bought a couple of new "toys" in the off-season, so it was fun to break them in.

 One of the new purchases was this 4 person tube where the front 3 people can sit up. Last summer Darcy was a bit timid with tubing, but she loved this!

This year, Drew feels he should be driving the boat

If he can't drive the boat, he will just rest

The new tube is great for taking in the sights.

 And it is also fun for doing "tricks" too!

Look Ma, no hands!!

 One of Drew's favorite things to do on the boat...nap!

Lucy is taking after Drew & Darcy, she loves napping on the boat!

 Drew's other favorite thing about boating...snack time!

Emily taking Duke out on the kayak

Jeff, king of the fire pit! (Hmmm, kind of looks like something out of Survivor!)

Fishing!

Sitting on the dock of the bay...

No fish biting, so Sophie decided to try a different spot

Lucy was good at finding comfy spots!

Roasting marshmallows!!!

Mom, are you going to put this on your blog?

First catch!!

Jeff & Mal out on the kayak

Sophie jumping off the big dock

Sophie & Molly striking a pose

 I love this one!

Now check this out, even Darcy jumped off the big dock holding Emily's hand!

 And she came up smiling! 

 Group jump!

 Someone still does not prefer to have his picture taken...

Pure sweetness, right there!

Land ahoy!

Hold on tight!!

Love those piggies!

 Darcy's a fan of a good boat ride nap, too!

 The Daddys got a turn on the tube

The ladies: Emily, Kelly & Mallory

Might as well, take a little rest

 Aw, sweet Zoe!

Still miss our faithful girl!

Big family dinners!

Drew has a knack for always finding the best seat in the house!

Sweet Lucy girl, always happy & content

A nice boat ride after dinner to get ice cream, great way to cap off a great day!

Chillin'

Sunset over the water, a nice breeze...

Life is good!

Sweet snuggles

Sweet sisters

Cousins

Hey look, I made it into a picture!

More sweet snuggles!

Sweet Zoe

 Love this pic of my wonderful in-laws

Drivers Ed

While things are always a bit crazy in our household, regardless of where we are...one thing that I do love about our time at the lake is that the pace of life is forcibly slower. We can enjoy more family time and also some nice one-on-one conversations with our kids. We are so thankful to enjoy these special moments with our kids & extended family.