Lake Days...

We have absolutely loved our time at the lake!  The kids have been soaking up cousin time and we all have been soaking up the views and vistas.  Colter tried water skiing for the first time and really did not like it.  He promised Will he would try again on Monday and regretted making that promise all weekend.  However, on Monday he kept his promise!  He got up pretty easily and enjoyed his ski the second time.  He was so happy and proud of himself saying he didn't know what he had been so worried about earlier?!

The kids play with their cousins all day.  I am so thankful for a big group of cousins.  Wyatt is a trooper and plays games with the little cousins as much as the big ones.  They played ninja one morning for an hour.

We escaped the rain and thunder one morning for the refuge of the bowling alley.  It was perfect fun!

We brought some bikes and Colter really liked going out on collecting adventures to bring me back a flower in every color of the rainbow.  He even found two wild strawberries (they were delicious).

Will gave wakeboarding a go.  He likes wakeboarding...he is pretty good at it.  I thought he shouldn't do it since one of his shoulders is partially injured.  Alan told Will that Alan had sworn off wakeboarding for life after a fall that took him a year to recover from (hurt his back).  Will did four runs with decent results.  On the last run...you guessed it...he wiped out and didn't let go of the rope in time...ripping his arm out of the socket.  

We made a mad dash to the hospital with Grandma Judy driving, Uncle Kenny (who is a nurse) attending, Lorien supporting, and me trying not to scream "I told you so!".  So many little tender mercies also came along for the trip to the ER.  Alan gave Will a blessing of healing and comfort before we left.  The ER team got Will in and sedated pretty quickly and the whole ordeal was done in a few hours (from arm rip to return trip).  I know it felt like an eternity to Will but the timing was faster than eternity.  I think it took them ten minutes to get his shoulder back into the socket, which is not short, but they did it while he was sedated so all was good.  Now I have a slightly disabled husband who might not be able to drive the RV back home...oh boy.

Thankfully, I can drive and in an absolute pinch so can Lorien or Wyatt.  Speaking of Wyatt, he was the baby whisperer on this trip bouncing baby Tanner until he fell asleep for an afternoon nap.

Lorien was the water skiing whisperer, holding the training rope for ALL of Adell's attempts at getting up on skis.  Doesn't Lorien look so cute in her neon bikini?

Colter gave water skiing a third try and was a professional by that point.  He went three times around the bay and took time to try dropping one hand for kicks.  

Wyatt kept suggesting I come to watch him get whipped around on the tubes sometime.  I took the invitation and spent nearly two hours trying not to get too motion sick while Grandma Judy turned out water donuts on the lake.  Judy really knows how to drive a boat!  I was so impressed with the way she gave those grandkids the wildest, fun, crazy, neck-snapping, scream-inducing tube ride you could imagine...all while keeping them so safe!  She kept her eagle eyes out for other boaters and water sportsmen and her eyes on the kids being dragged behind out boat.  What a pro!

It was a great trip.  I am glad we made the time and wishing we could stay longer.  Thank (as always) for showing us so much fun Echo Lake!