Lake House 2016

Oh man, this blog post has been a long time coming. I put it off at first because I had to write the whole Primary Program for Church, then I got sick, and then, I'm just not into blogging like I used to be :/ Anyway, here it goes!

We got to spend the last week of July at my grandparents' lake house for our annual family reunion (my mom's side). I had been meaning to get Janie a little suitcase like Aiden, so the night before our trip we hurried out to try to find one and didn't have any luck. But we did find Janie her very own Dory backpack..haha.

Saturday, the 23rd, we spent most of the day flying to New York. We had an early flight flying out at 7 in the morning and then we had a layover in Baltimore.

I was loving Janie's laid back style ;)

The kids did pretty dang good. We got a splitter so that they could both watch the tablet.  And it was so nice that Janie had her own seat, now that she's 2 and everything ;) 

We were shocked that Janie didn't sleep during the entire flight to Baltimore. We got a little delayed there and she ended up falling asleep in the airport. Bummer that it wasn't on the plane :/ Luckily the flight from Baltimore to Rochester was short.

We didn't make it into NY until like 7:45 that evening. This year was the first year that my whole family ended up staying at the hotel instead of the lake house (some families had chosen to do this in previous years). We've officially outgrown the lake house and there really wasn't room for us. Plus we have 2 kids now (this was Janie's first year) so it worked out better to be able to leave in the evening to take our kids back to the quiet hotel to sleep. I was definitely bummed because one of my favorite things is to wake up in the lake house and be able to look out at the lake, but luckily the hotel was maybe 5 minutes away. Anyway, we dropped our stuff at the hotel and stopped into the lake house to say hello to some of the family there. We chatted for a little bit before we called it a night. We were beat!

The next day, Sunday, we had to wake up the kids to make it to 9:30 Church. They weren't too happy with us. Probably good that we only stayed for Sacrament Meeting. We did get this great picture though ;)

Michael, Jenn, Mom, and us.

We headed to the lake house afterward and took a Sunday boat ride. This was Janie's first time on the boat!

Bad lighting.

Grandma and Aiden.

Trent and Aiden got up in the "tree house" with Dane and Adler (who you can't see too well). 

Janie jumped.

All through the week our kids loved just hanging out on the boat while it was docked :)

That evening we took a night boat ride. I need to get a picture of that from Jill.

Monday we woke up to pouring rain. Trent had already headed off to the lake house to get as much boat time in as possible since he was leaving Tuesday. The kids and I took our time getting ready and just hung out at the hotel to wait out the rain. Once the rain slowed down we headed to the lake house, and by the time we got there it had pretty much stopped. We hurried to get our swimsuits on and meet Trent out on the boat.

Jill and I took the jet ski out with the kids. It was Janie's first time and she did not like it..haha. She pretty much screamed the whole way!

Trent was wake surfing when we found the boat, but I coudn't get a good picture from the jet ski :/ Here's Amy wake surfing.

Aiden loved sitting on the back of the boat and "supervising."

Quinn, Adler, and Aiden on the trampoline a little later.

It started to rain again so we all got dressed and thought we'd take the opportunity to go on our annual book run. My grandpa made a tradition of taking all of the grandkids to Barnes & Noble to pick out a book every year and my grandma has been so great to keep up the tradition. Aiden chose Dragons Love Tacos and has loved this book! I got The Boys in the Boat and Trent got The Alchemist. Janie was napping when we left so Amy stayed back with her and Quinn. We picked out a super cute book for her, Ellie.

My mom got this picture of my uncle Jeff reading Aiden's book to him back at the lake house. So cute!!

That evening we had pie night. Peach was the favorite!

Tuesday Trent got up early again to get out on the boat before his flight later in the afternoon. My mom got this picture of him wake surfing. I wish I had been able to get a picture of him after he threw the rope in :/

We made it over to the lake house and met up with the boat again.

Janie took the wheel ;)

Janie and Grandma.

Trent's flight took off around 2, so I took him to the airport. The kids and I were so bummed that he couldn't stay the full week, but he was starting a new job so he had to get back (which actually didn't end up happening that week, but that's news for another day..ha).

Who let that little girl in the hot tub?!

I thought this picture was so cute of Adler sitting at the end of the dock while the boat and jet ski pulled in :)

My grandma purchased paddle boards this year, so Wednesday I tried out paddle boarding for the first time. They were a big hit during the family reunion.

Janie must have felt insecure with me standing b/c she started to get nervous, so I ended up kneeling down with the kids.

I wish I had done this more during the week! It was one of the only things I could do since I'm pregnant ;)

A rare picture with GG! Looking after her great-grandkids in the hot tub.

Thank goodness for Puddle Jumpers!

The young Whitmores (my mom's youngest brother/sibling) got in on Wednesday and Aiden was so happy to have Tessa and Sawyer to play with!

Aiden and Tessa on the inner tube.

My mom and her 3 sisters playing Spike Ball :)

And later the kiddos gave it a try ;)

Aiden and Janie hanging out on the hammock.

Thursday

Kyle let Janie sit on his lap :)

Jill and Amy double skiing.

Janie watching with Grandma.

Everyone convinced me to get out and give wake surfing a try since it's the lowest impact water sport, so I got my pregnant little self out there..haha. It took me several tries (it had been a while and obviously my balance felt a little off since my weight is distributed differently while pregnant), but I'm glad I tried.

I was sore the next day though!

Janie headed back in with Aunt Amy. She felt much more comfortable doing the koala hug ;)

Jenn and Michael tried out wake surfing together!

We came in for lunch and what not and later took the boat out again to let the little kids inner tube. Aiden went out with Aunt Jill and my cousin Jordan and Adler (her son). He loved it and was so bummed to come back in, but with a family so big no one gets much time for anything, especially the little kids, unfortunately :/

I caught this back at the lake house :) Courtney and Cameron were so sweet playing with the little ones. They loved fighting with the pool noodles..haha.

That evening "the girls" did our annual gummy run. We typically get candy (not necessarily gummies) and then watch a scary movie. I don't usually watch the scary movie (I don't do scary movies, I hate how I feel afterward), but this year was weird. With half of us at the lake house and half of us at the hotel it kind of just fell through. I know the girls at the lake house ended up watching something. I, of course, had to get back to my kids. Thank you to my mom for helping out in the evenings with the kids.

Friday was crazy! It was the last full day of the reunion and it was PACKED! We got to the lake house around 10 with plans for our annual Olympics that afternoon.

Last day - I had to get pictures of the beautiful lake house.

Cutie Janie just loved the boat, when it was docked of course..haha.

Aiden spotted a dead crawfish from up on the dock and Uncle Michael made his whole day when he retrieved it for him. Aiden carried it around with him on a paper plate the rest of the day and even made me put it in a baggie to take home on the plane with us the next day to show Daddy..haha.

It was probably around 1 that the Olympics went into full swing. This was the first year that we did boys vs. girls! I did not get to participate much because I had to keep an eye on my kids.

A few of the events.

Human Battleship.

Concentration (remember this game...Concentration *clap clap clap* 64 *clap clap clap* no repeats *clap clap clap* or hesitations *clap clap clap*..haha. I was able to play this one :))

I don't know what to call this one, the Balloon Challenge? Everyone tied a balloon around their ankle and you try to step on and pop the other teams'.

There they go! It didn't last long!

Cutie Quinn and Richard.

I don't have pictures from all of the events (for instance, we always do cheers at the beginning), but we always end with a timed relay race.

Kayaking was part of the relay race...

...and doing a headstand on the paddle board!

Aiden played in the tree house during the relay.

Girls team.

Boys team.

Technically the girls won, but I feel like they kind of just gave it to us. It seemed like the guys won more events, but the girls won the relay race. Anyway, my grandma treated everyone to Abbott's custard afterward.

We got back to the lake house and celebrated Quinn's (my nephew) first birthday (!) and Ian's 19th birthday :)

The lighting coming in from the skylight kind of messed up this picture, but Quinn is a cutie monkey.

Right after that we had Thane (my cousin) and Shelby's gender reveal party. I'm telling you, it was a crazy day! And I don't have a picture :/ I may need to come back and add some pictures to this post from my mom. But they're having a girl!! Due in December!

My uncles Cary and Rick got the sailboat up and ready. We missed out on going out on the regular boat (boat time is hard to come by..blah), so I'm glad Jenn pushed us to come out on the sailboat.

Again, I don't really have any pictures :/

That evening was a little rough. I think the few days of being on my own without Trent (I was the only person there with kids and no spouse) caught up to me and the tears came flowing. I actually think it was a combination of multiple things.  The hormones from being pregnant of course, I think I was feeling a little sad it was the last day, and maybe I was just feeling a little sorry for myself :/ I am not one to ask for help because I don't like to inconvenience anyone. It made me cry even more (happy tears) when everyone jumped in to help me when they saw that I was struggling. My sisters helped feed the kids, then Uncle Michael took them in to watch a movie, Thane just hugged me, and so on. I really do have the best family. I just need to humble myself and ask for help when I feel like I'm going to lose it.

The rest of the evening was wonderful and such a great way to end the reunion.

The 3 amigos. Jenn (my twin), Thane, and I. Class of '06 ;)

We threw the kids in GG's bath.

Jesse got the fire pit going and we had s'mores.

And our final night boat ride. Some may have skinny dipped ;) Call me lame, but it's not really my thing.

More tears were shed the next morning saying our goodbyes. But I have to be honest, it was so good to get back home to Trent! I told him, never again. I can't do the lake house without him. Fingers crossed that he'll be able to make it work to come the whole time next time!

All in all, it was another wonderful week at the lake house. It truly is one of my very favorite places and I am so grateful to my grandma (and grandpa, of course) for their generosity. We have had a family reunion every single year since I can remember and, because of it, my cousins are my very best friends. Here's to next year!