Lake House Visit

We visited my parents up at the lake house this past week.  We got there late Wednesday night and left on Monday.  Brian has a work customer about an hour south of the lake, so he visited them on Thursday morning and then worked from the house the rest of the day.  My brother and sister-in-law, Vince and Austin, arrived late Thursday night and stayed until Sunday around noon.  It was so fun spending time with them as well!  The girls just loved it and were so excited to have them there.  Clara said to Austin when she was playing with them, "It seems like you really like us." :-)  My uncle (dad's brother), aunt, and cousins also stopped by for a visit on Saturday.  It was a lot of great family time!  We spent a lot of time on the water...tubing, swimming, boating, fishing, and watching wildlife.  We also shopped, cooked some yummy food, and relaxed.  It is always so much fun up there.  It's hard to go home!

My dad and Brian head out to go fishing.

My mom took the girls out for a ride on the paddle boat.

I then took the girls for another ride on the paddle boat and got these pictures of a loon.

You can get relatively close to them in a paddle boat, but having a zoom lens on your camera helps. :-)  He was shaking his wings off from a dive under water.

The girls then tried out the new tube.

This is the sign to the spotter to slow down.  However, even though Clara is participating, she's being encouraged by Hailey to do it.  Hailey is not a fan of tubing yet.  Clara, on the other hand, loves it!

She loves to do standing up tricks.  She's a dare-devil!

This face explains it all!

Austin and I got a turn as well!

Playing with their surfboard Barbie.

Pay close attention to what Hailey says right before Clara jumps in.

This is my parents' next door neighbor, Bob.  He and his wife don't have any grandkids yet, so they love it when our kids are there!

Bob and his son tied a rope swing to one of their trees by the water, so Bob helped Clara take a swing on it.

Brian gave it a try, too!

My cousins, Jack and Ryan, had a lot of fun tubing as well!  They didn't want to stop!

Brian re-lived his younger years of water fun by doing some tubing tricks.  I think he was pleased he still had a little in him, but by the end of this run, he was spent! :-)

Vince and Austin took the paddle boat out to get some wildlife pictures.

The girls did some swimming up near the shore.

Having a great time!

Clara then wanted to do the belly tube with me.

And also with Uncle Vince.  Here she shows him how to "steer" the tube.

We spotted this juvenile eagle while tubing.  I have yet to get a picture of one sitting in a tree...they blend in too well!

Vince took a solo trip on the tube.

As well as Austin.

Vince got a little too comfortable on his turns!

Swimming with Aunt Austin.

And Uncle Vince.

By the end of the trip, Hailey was swimming and jumping off the side of the pier without her life jacket on!

She practiced going under water while plugging her nose.

Clara tried, too, but if it wasn't for that darn life jacket...

Jumping off the end of the pier into deeper water, but only if Daddy was there to catch them.  Trying to get Hailey to do this without Brian there was like pulling teeth.  She wanted nothing to with it!

Doing a little fishing for bluegill before heading back home.

Brian taught Hailey how to hold the fish and take the hook out.

Fish on!