Tubing at the Lake

Hi Everyone!

So, tell me how you spent your Father's Day weekend! BBQ-ing?? Baseballing?? Napping??

We spent ours at the lake.  Well, not the Lake, just a lake, a little spot called Horsethief about an hour east of us.  Yes, Virginia, there are lakes in Kansas!  Nothing like the Great Lakes, of course, but where there is enough water to float a boat, you will find land-locked natives desperate for water out to find some fun!

Steve's sister, Jennifer, brought along a camera, so we all took turns snapping some pics of our afternoon together.  

Here's what went down:

Next to snacking, tubing was definitely the main event.  We didn't even attempt to get the skis out, because the water was too choppy, but no one was about to back down from a tubing challenge.

There was so much energy on the boat, and the kids were totally wound up with excitement to go tubing.  I tried to show them how to make the "hang loose" sign with their fingers before I snapped this one, but the pinky and thumb only instruction was a bit challenging.  They kept making the devil sign.  I was having mental flashes of them head banging at an Aerosmith concert (Lord have mercy). It sort of defeats my "Honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker. 

The 7 little offspring of the boating crew were just sure that Jen and I could not handle the tube.  

Wrong-O!  

After a little dance warm up to Mustang Sally we were ready to show 'em how it's done.  I remember the days when being able to roller skate or play my saxophone really impressed them.  It's not so easy anymore.  What's next, sky-diving?

I realize that this isn't exactly a super close-up shot of our strength and bravery, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that we were awesome!!!  

The dads did their best to capsize us, but they failed. Jennifer put it well when she said that we were like Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump hanging on to the mast of the shrimp boat in the middle of the hurricane screaming, "C'mon! Is that all you've got??"

She's hilarious, that girl!  I laughed so hard I nearly lost my voice.  Praise the Lord it came back just in time for me to yell slightly raise my voice at the boys today when I needed to break up a fight.

Who's the captain of this boat, now baby?  That's right, I am. I mean we are - the Tubing Queens and Charlie!

Speaking of Charlie, he lu-u-u-ved the water.  It looks like he is shriek-crying here, but he's actually laughing. He likes to show of his man-teeth.  You can only guess how much fun it's been getting those molars in! I know he's only 1, but I'm hoping that this means he's also advanced in other areas of life like math and room-cleaning skills.

Here he is, takin' in a little smushy cheeky smooching' from Daddy after a nice cool dip in the lake.  Babies are so yummy!

Speakin' of yummy.  My kids were in hog heaven.  You know when you catch your four year old consuming a stack of about 30 Pringles (which he called his chip sandwich) you may be a junk food Nazi. According to our estimates this is the amount of food consumed by 6 of the ship mates, not including Charlie (and they were still hungry when we got off the boat):

 - 5 cans of Pringles potato chips

 - 12 granola bars

 - 6 packages of Twizlers

 - 5 packages of peanut butter crackers

 - 1/2 bag of cherries

 - 16 Capri Suns

 - 3 quarts of lake water

Not to worry, though, they earned every non-nutritious bite, because the Tubing Queens made sure that the crew kept the deck swabbed and the tube reeled in.  

After five hours of boating, swimming and tubing, we all went home and fell into bed.  

It was definitely one to remember!