Towards the end of the train ride there was a hill and the conductor asked everyone to lift their hands and shout "WooHoo!" on our way down! We couldn't resisit!
Then we drove to a lookout point near the dam and took some family photos...
Well, the heat had returned (full force) and so we really wanted to head back to the water and cool off!! Noni and I took the boys back to the swimming area while the rest of the grown-ups went for a kayak and canoe ride down the river. Today, the water was still cold but it felt AWESOME!! The boys ran right in getting their heads wet and everything and even Noni and I walked in all the way up to our necks! It was refreshing!
It didn't take but a few minutes for the boys to get almost TOO brave in the lake. Before long we were nearly halfway across the swimming area where Noni and I would stand and the boys would swim even further!! I think Ashtyn inparticular would have swam all the way across to the island you see in the background if I had let him!! He's such a little fish!! 
Saturday evening, Uncle Tyler grilled us an amazing meal of bacon wrapped chicken and mashed potatoes (he makes the BEST mashed potatoes!!) and then us girls went to the movies. While we were at the movies Brandon took the boys fishing. The boys had been looking forward to fishing for weeks before our little mini vacation. We knew that there was slim to no chance of them actually catching anything on their tiny superhero themed fishing poles but they didn't know that. They just wanted to cast and reel. I'm actually sad that I missed it! When I got home from the movies the boys had tons of stories, that they told in loud shouting tones with excitement, and had had alot of fun "fishing" while the sun went down spending time with just daddy!! I think it turned out to be really good father son time! Brandon said they fished for about an hour and at one point Ashtyn thought he had caught something but his hook was just caught on some weeds. Oh well. Better luck next time! They definitely made a memory they won't soon forget!
Our lake get-a-way was absolutely amazing! It's always nice to get away with family. It was fun to wake up early in the morning and take my cup of coffee out on the wrap around deck with Ashtyn (one morning we actually spotted three deer!). It was fun to sit up late and talk. It was fun to wake up every morning and eat breakfast in a swim cover up wearing no make-up! This weekend made me realize that visiting a small town not only makes you fall more in love with the large city you live in but it also makes you realize what life CAN be! It's nice to remove yourself from the rat race of life from time to time and forget that you're competing at your job for a raise, competing with your peers for acknowledgement and competing with society to be super mom. It's refreshing to remember that you don't have to look perfect everyday to have fun and it truly is the simple things in life that mean the most! It's even better to remind myself from time to time that not everything needs a schedule. Hopefully I can hang on to this feeling of simplicity for awhile before the pressure to be "on top of my game" all the time takes hold again. Until next year, that is, when hopefully we can return to this lake, or maybe another lake, and remember what life is truly about all over again.
3 comments:
you are so right! it was an awesome time with my family....Noni
Your commentary here at the end is a tear-jerking tribute to setting priorities and making memories. Maybe every-so-often we should remind each other of what you just said. God knows that I need it!
FISHING YES! hey are you guys using size 6 hooks? For adults try DARK red 10" soft worms big bass love those! For the kids use Berkleys GULP Watermelon Pearl Minnow Soft Bait (in the bag). The pan fish and small bass are attacking those like crazy! Pan fish also love shrimp from the frozen section of your grocery store. The pre cooked in a bag kind. Just put a little piece on the hook and wa la haha
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