Dog Days of Summer

It's HOT!!! HOT!! Ready for some rain and cooler temperatures. Sure would have been nice to have saved some of those flood waters we had back in the month of May. I think it rained almost every day in May and now July and August are dry and hot.

Speaking of the flood waters from May, here is a sight we saw when we were at the lake the other day.

Oh well, life is still good and we have had some fun in spite of the crazy weather. Last week Amy and I took the kids to the Carrollton Rainforest Water Park and had a great time swimming and splashing around. The kids are now big enough to jump and dive off the diving board  (do candyballs, i.e. cannonballs)  into deep waters! :-) So proud of them and their being able to swim and not at all afraid of the water.

At the Malt Shop waiting for snow cones!

God blessed us this past weekend with a visit from daughter Sara and family. They pulled up in our driveway last Wednesday night with jet skis in tow ready for some fun at the lake the next day. We were excited, but managed to sleep that night. 

On the way!

Brady helps with the jet ski while his Dad parks the trailer.

Grandpa and I rented a pontoon boat for the day. I had been concerned about the heat, but the day was breezy and not bad at all. We practically had the whole lake to ourselves, which was really good. Two or three other boats were on the lake, but that was about it. It was so windy there were whitecaps, so we took the boat over by the dam which was much smoother for the kids to ride the tube and for swimming. (Swimming at the dam reminds me of a song my Mom used to sing about the three little fishes ... "and they swam and they swam all over the dam." :-) Just thought I would throw that random thought in there.)

The boat had a cover, we had a couple of coolers filled with all kinds of goodies, including fruit, cold drinks, snacks and homemade peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies. The kids had a blast being pulled on the tube all day. So thankful for Barrett, Jason and Sara pulling those kids for hours.

 Waiting for his turn

On our way home late that afternoon, we stopped at a great place for dinner. The restaurant was next to a place called Hydrous Wakeboard Park. Of course, we all (the guys especially)  had to investigate and after checking that out, their plans for Hawaiian Falls the next day were ditched so they could learn to wakeboard. I think pictures describe it better than I can.

Getting their instructions.

Pretty cool!

This was the learning area.

The actual wakeboard park was much bigger and Brady was able to master his skills enough to go back for private lessons in the big park later that day! They both got to body surf, too!

He was on his way upstairs! LOL!

Kate and Jack came Friday night to stay so they all had a ball playing. We did Pei Wei for dinner and then the time came for pallets on the floor. Kids always love a pallet ... most of the time, that is. The problem on this night was that Brady wouldn't be joining them because he's resting up for a big soccer tournament the next two days. After a lot of haggling about who is sleeping with who, we finally got it all worked out! Whew!

On Saturday, waffles and bacon smell up the house real good and then Brady and his Dad headed out for the soccer fields. 

I managed to get a pic of the three guys before they left!

Noah and Grandpa resting up between soccer games.

The tournament was played both Saturday and Sunday under clear skies and I am not kidding, it was hot as blue blazes out there. (In my own humble opinion, I really don't think this is a good idea to have kids outside in that kind of extreme heat running back and forth kicking a soccer ball! But, who am I to question that?) We all survived, had fun watching our team play and win the championship. Brady went home with another trophy to add to his collection.

Grandpa and Nonnie were left home with some pretty wonderful memories of a good time with our family. Lots of moments to cherish and be thankful for.