It's Lake Season

Summer really doesn't begin for the Souths until we get our first lake trip under our belts and this year, we went down a little earlier than we typically do. We tend to avoid holiday weekends since the water is a little bit busier and traffic to and from tends to be heavier too but we had thought we would go down the weekend prior and that just didn't work out so we tagged along with Adam and Becky.

Our lake house is only about 2-2.5 hours away but we didn't get out of KC until after rush hour so we decided to stop and eat on the way down as opposed to waiting until we got there. We decided to stray from our typical Goodies Burgers and stopped at a Mexican restaurant. We'd totally go back. Food was good. Boys (and myself) were entertained. 

As soon as the doors opened at the lake house the boys were on their way down to the water where everyone else was already waiting. Justin and I got the chore of unloading the car first but we did it quickly and then joined the family on the dock to watch the sunset. 

Once the sun went down we figured out which bunk the boys wanted and I got the beds made up. This was our first trip down to the lake as a family with our new living quarters and I just have to say, it was sooooo nice. The boys had their own individual space, their stuff was up and out of the way. Bags were tucked under the bottom bunks & the floor was open. Although we added more beds, somehow, it seems so much more spacious and worked out so well. 

It took a little bit of time but everyone finally wound down on the first night but the boys were up and ready to go nice and early. We knew we were expecting rain so we headed out early to get a jump on everything but first thing first, the boys and their annual lake photo. These pictures just make my heart so happy. 

2017

2016

2015

2014

Can we just talk about how lucky these three are? They have a few memories of Nanny but never met their great-grandfather, neither have their dads, but they built this lake house 50+ years ago. They built this lake in hopes that memories would be made year in and year out for generations to come---well, you're look at the fourth generation right here. They will grow up together, spending their summers at the lake--doesn't get much sweeter than that. 

We knew our time was limited on Saturday, rain was headed our way so the boys were up early & the freezing water was holding them back. 

Justin had to run into town for a few things--gas for the mower & he came home with two new fishing poles for the boys. They were so excited, they each love fishing--one has a little more patience than the other does, you can guess who that would be but they both love to fish. 

Thankfully, I grew up on or near a farm with a pond & my parents showed me how to fish. More importantly, they showed me how to get a fish off of a hook & the moment that I would sit down, someone else hooked another fish. Well, the same fish, I think they may have caught the same three fish all weekend long that is until Colton reeled in a small-mouth bass--the biggest fish to date that we have caught at the lake. I went to remove that sucker and he stuck me, I dropped him, he went into the water but somehow on the way down he got wrapped up in the fishing line, the hook snagged the top of his body and we pulled him back out again for a quick pic. He wasn't hurt in any way and swam off the moment we dropped him back into the water. 

They didn't get as much fishing in as they had hoped before the rain started to fall & we had to head up to the house. We knew it was going to be a pretty big storm so we strapped everything down, covered the sea-doo and watched from the porch. That is until the wind got too strong and we feared the windows breaking. And then it happened, the lights started to flicker and we all knew what was about to occur---we lost power. Thankfully it was 3 pm and it was still light out so once the storm passed we headed into town for dinner. Why wouldn't the power go out at the restaurant too? Our orders were in & out went the power. They kept cooking though and besides a few small things, everything came out. We were very thankfully for gas cookers that evening. 

We made a stop at the Dollar Store for a few supplies before heading back to the house since we weren't sure how long the power would be out. I grabbed batteries, a candle and glow sticks. Becky grabbed jugs of water so that we could use the restroom when needed--takes about 1.5 gallons per flush, crazy. 

Once back out the house I suggested to Becky that we head into Versailles to the Walmart, grab a few tap lights since the Dollar Store didn't have any. While there, we not only got tap lights (worked perfectly) but we got headlamps for each of us. And boy, did we make the most of our power outage. 

At about 3 am, the power and ALL the lights came back on. Adam, Becky and I were immediately on our feet turning water off and shutting lights off. We had pulled a number of items out of the fridge and placed in our Yeti coolers and a few things were put into the freezer. I remembered that we had put the milk and OJ in the freezer about 6 am and quickly pulled them out--they had already formed iced crystals but hey, if that was the worst thing that happened then I'd call our  12 hour stint without power a success.

The next two days brought blue skies and more laughter from the boys. They fished, they swam, they rode the sea-doo and Kaden even let both Adam and his dad take him out of the cove. Big win for him, and us! He's my hesitant one when it comes to trying to activities so he would often just request to stay in the cove and look at real estate and drive. But this weekend, this weekend he got up to 25 mph. Huge! 

I hope these boys will forever cherish their time spent at the lake as much as their dad and I do. Yes, it's a lot of work to get packed up to go but it has ALWAYS been worth it in spades. Especially with family like ours.