Week at the Lake - LOTS OF PICS!

What a fun week!! We did so much and took soooo many pictures, I'll have to update through them.

First though, I just have to write a little about how big both kids are!! I know I say that all the time but it really just amazes me how fast it happens. Noah is such a big boy and Kylie has just been talking up a STORM. She can communicate anything she wants - *wants* being the key word though. She's definitely getting a little attitude! :-)

We left home at naptime last Sunday and arrived mid afternoon. We went straight to the beach when we got there and had a fun afternoon. I realized I had forgotten Kylie's booster seat and we thought it might be a problem but the kids ate at this little table all week and they did great! (By the way, you can see Noah's boo-boo really well in this shot - it's amazing how quickly it healed, you'll see it disappearing throughout the week - it's completely gone now).

Watching a show and snuggling with Aunt Leah before bedtime

Monday morning, there was a 4th of July parade at the lake. We watched it a few years ago and it was just a few people - this year it was probably close to 100 of us! Grammy brought stuff to decorate their bikes and a wagon and we were actually in the parade! They both loved it and it was so fun.

Helping Grammy decorate!

Kylie decided to ride in the wagon instead

(Strangely enough, Kylie wore this same dress last year at 4th of July. It was a little tight but it worked!)

Waiting for the parade to start - a little love for Daddy

Some group shots

And we are off!

(you can see behind us, some people REALLY get into it!)

Noah did great riding his bike!!

After the parade

After the parade, it was time for a boat ride....

Papa got to relax some while Noah was driving! :-)

And of course Kylie's turn...

She loved the boat this year. Last year she wasn't thrilled so I was glad that she likes it now!

A picnic lunch for the kiddos...

... and a little rest

Noah didn't really sleep but was very tired

Later on in the day, time to play with the water on the porch. Grammy had a water table and a blow up pool but the hose was still the main attraction. :-)

Noah got funny new goggles for his birthday from Aunt Leah - he loves them!

(notice the eyes)

Monday night, we went to dinner at the marina. The plan was to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. We were able to stick with the plan except the weather wasn't so nice. It was raining but we sat out on the (covered) deck anyway and still enjoyed it! After dinner, Grammy and Papa took the kids back home for bed and Leah, Bill, Waylon and I stayed and had a few drinks at the outdoor bar. So much fun!

I'm losing track of days now but I think this next picture might have been from Tuesday. More beach time in the morning, I guess! :-)

At one point (I think it was Tuesday), my dad brought the boat around to the beach area and Noah and I swam out to him and climbed on and went for a ride (Kylie wasn't thrilled about being left behind). We just went for a bit but when we got back, we pulled up to the beach area and I asked Noah if he wanted to jump off the boat. I didn't think he'd really do it but he just went right up to the bow and jumped right in! I was so impressed! He wasn't scared at all.

Waylon left on Tuesday afternoon to head back home so he could work Wed, Thurs, and Fri and then came back to join us early Saturday morning.

Tuesday night, Grammy's new iPad read the kids a book before bedtime. :-) Too funny.

Wednesday morning, getting ready to go somewhere (a walk maybe? - it's so hard to remember!). :-) Noah loves to say, 'ALL SET!' and jump to this position and Kylie had to copy him of course. :-)

Wednesday morning, Papa and Noah tried out the kayak!

Naptime means relax time for Mommy!

Noah woke up from his nap and came down to the beach with Papa to fish. He looked so sweet sitting here fishing....

Bill cooked two chickens with all sorts of fixins' in cast iron pots down on the beach. It was so yummy and fun to have a little party while it was cooking, too!

Bill and Leah

Snack time for the kiddos

My ditter and me!

Sweet Kylie-girl

Kylie LOVES the water. She kept wanting me to throw her up in the air (wun, twooo, FREEE!!!). And they would say, 'a-GAIN!'

We tried for a long time to get a shot of them both wearing these glasses. This is the best we got but I think it's adorable anyway!

Thursday the kids, my parents and I took a ride on the boat down to the marina for lunch. Leah and Bill stayed back to do yoga on the dock so they drove my car over and met us. Afterwards, my parents took Kylie back to take a nap and Noah rode back on the boat with me, Leah and Bill.

Feeding the fish with Grammy

Mommy and her girl

Kylie was being silly trying to feed Noah french fries. They are so cute together!

After we got back, Noah was exhausted so I put him to bed and I took Leah and Bill tubing and wakeboarding. We had so much fun but only managed to get a few shots of Bill tubing.

This is one of my favorite shots that Leah got of him.... :-)

Friday morning, I took off to the grocery store by myself (a treat in itself!) and put together enchiladas for dinner that night. While I was doing that, Kylie and Grammy hung out riding bikes and Noah and Papa went fishing. They caught quite a few fish but two decent sized ones and Noah was so proud and excited!! They decided they were going to eat them for lunch and I was a little nervous about how that would go but Noah was really excited. He wanted to watch my dad clean the fish and I tried to steer him away but he really wanted to watch and was completely okay with it - even watched him cut the fish's head off!! Ugh. I could hardly watch myself. Yuck.

So proud!

Watching Papa clean the fish

Eating the fruits (or fish?) of his labor

After dinner on Friday night, we went for a quick boat ride and took Papa's homemade ice cream out for the kids. They loved it and we all loved the evening ride.

Again - so sweet together (most of the time anyway!) :-)

Papa's girl (she loves the men in her life)

Early Saturday morning, Daddy came back! Yay!! We were all so happy to see him but the kids were just SOOO excited. They were fighting over his attention and affection and wanted nothing to do with me! It was very cute.

Later in the morning, more beach time. I got my mom to french braid my hair like she used to do all the time when I was little! She'll have to teach me how to do it on Kylie someday...

Fishing with Grammy

The both kids wanted to jump off the dock. They both did it several times and Noah didn't even need to be caught.

Kylie is fearless, too. She jumped right in also!

While the kids (and Waylon) were napping, Leah, my dad and I went out on the boat for more tubing and wakeboarding. It was the first time I've done either in a long time but it was so much fun!

Soon after we got back, Noah woke up so we decided to try out tubing with him!! We went pretty slow at first but he kept wanting to speed up. We went a good speed at the end and he LOVED it. He keeps saying that was the best part of the whole week. That's my boy!!

Then he jumped off the tube and even jumped off the boat a few times and we just played in the deep water for a while. He LOVED it and so did I!

Back at the house, bubbles and more water play....

Leah and Bill took off that evening to head back to DC and we had more ice cream and then another evening boat ride. Got some more good group shots, too!

Beautiful sunset!

This morning, we just played around the house, cleaned up, packed and took off to have a quick lunch out with Grammy and Papa before heading back home to Cary.

What a fun, fun week! Thanks Grammy, Papa, Leah and Bill for making it so perfect!