Couldn't Get Enough!

Well, since we didn't get enough of the goodness, we just had to go back to Ashley Lake again in August.  I mean, just look at this place!!  That water just calls to me!

We had so much fun, with my parents, and some time on our own and with friends!  I don't know if it's possible to ever feel like you get enough time there though, we were still sad to leave!  One of the highlights this time was the Lily Pad that my parents bought!  The kids spent hours on it, wrestling, running back and forth and jumping off - even the adults enjoyed have wars on it too!

  

 Then of course, we spent a lot of time waterskiing!  I love these pictures of the kids, they totally show their personalities out there!  Dakota is confident and happy on the water, Mason, although he's quite good, is always hesitant and nervous to do it, and he literally squeezes his eyes closed sometimes when he is scared to cross the wake or something!  Although he actually did get really good at crossing back and forth, and if you caught him in a good mood, he had a big smile and was confident too!

 Griffin is a big talker, and thought he'd be awesome at waterskiing and totally wanted to do it.  Yet as soon as he got ready to go, his skis kept "magically" falling off, or else the rope would fall out of his hands or something!  CRAZY how that happened over and over! Ha ha.  He's hilarious, that little sneak.  He never did have an official attempt with Lee, he chickened out.

  But later in the trip, he tried again with me, and got up for a while!  Still very nervous, but at least he gave it a shot!  Guess all he needed was his mama!!

 And of course, Lee and I enjoyed our Slaloms 2-3 times a day, or as much as our tired bodies could handle!

Another highlight was the new Bow and Arrow that Grandpa bought and taught the kids how to use!  They seriously loved it, and shot at the target for hours!  Dakota especially loved feeling like the real "Brave" from the Disney movie!

 And yet another highlight was the new kids wakeboard that we bought this year.  The kids really wanted to do it, but we were nervous that they might not be able to get up.  But it turned out to be a huge success!  Dakota got up her 2nd try, totally excited and not evern nervous, and she got really good by the end! She was so cute and got really confident - doing her hang loose sign, feeling her spray in the water, crossing back and forth like a pro, and trying to jump on the spot.  She loved wakeboarding even more than skiing.

Mason of course, was a little more nervous, and didn't really want to try!

 But with some bribery and coaxing, he finally got up after a couple days of trying, and near the end he got quite confident on it as well!!

 Scarlett enjoyed tubing with her brothers and sister and the occasional wakesurf with her Daddy!

 And this picture is classic, it totally looks like Lee is forcing Mason's head into the water!  But actually, Mason and Dakota both think it's fun to dunk their own head in while they are surfing.

 And the kids always seem to love to spend time in the hot tub, even when the weather is HOT!

And some other highlights are building fires (Grandma is the master, and she taught our kids well!!), roasting marshmallows, catching a frog, and just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa! (Scarlett was especially obsessed with Grandpa this year - she constantly called out "Bapa!" and asked for him whenever she woke up.  It was very cute.

And then we had a couple days with some good neighbor friends of ours, Meshel and Rob, and Griffin's best buddy Jack!  (And Scarlett's boyfriend Nash!) They had a blast together!

And then we had the Leishman's stay for a couple of days as well.  They brought their Jet Skis which was a new fun thing for the kids to try - they LOVED them!  And Lee and I actually enjoyed the stand-up one, which is actually a lot harder than it looks!!  You start out laying down, then move up to your knees, then try to stand up, and they are very wobbly, especially if you go over waves!  So we both had some good wipeouts and got a bunch of bruises on our knees and elbows.  It was fun though!  It was great to teach them and their kids to wakeboard, ski, wakesurf, etc!  And Mason and Dakota loved having some older kids to do "wild" tube rides with!