Family fun in the sun

Summertime...sweet, sweet summertime!

Family...not just one family, but four families...10 adults and 4 children. Fun. Sun. Water. Boats. Jet ski. Fishing. Relaxing. Eating...oh, lots of good eating! Sounds like a great vacation to me! A wonderful time was had by all!

We packed up and headed south...Lake Weir bound. Ocklawaha, Florida, a little itty, bitty town in central Florida with one red light, a tiny grocery store, a few convenient stores, a church, a hardware store and a lake...a beautiful, peaceful lake with some sandy white beaches. It's a family tradition...a 40 something year old family tradition! Even older if you count the years my mama and her family went, but I won't go there Mama. I'll just say it's a L-O-N-G time tradition!

Fishing...that's what my boys love to do. When we were home getting the boat and jet ski washed and cleaned up and making sure they ran, Timothy said he didn't care if the fishing boat ran or not he was taking it. "I might have to get somebody to pull me to the fishing hole and come back and get me, but I'm going fishing!" Thank goodness, a tow rope was not needed. Each morning bright and EARLY and very quietly, because you know the Queen Bee did need her sleep, he and Carlos got up to go catch a mess of fish and each morning about four hours later they would return with...no mess of fish. We waited with anticipation each morning to see all the fish...each morning...we saw...nothing! They may not have caught any fish but they made some great memories. I told Carl I hated they didn't catch anything and he said, "That's alright. Spending time with Toot was all that mattered!"

Watching and listening to the little ones as they played, talked and splashed in the water, was such an enjoyable sight. They woke up each morning ripping and raring to go...breakfast, swimsuits, and a lathering of sunscreen then off to the water they went. That was their home for the day. Getting them out to eat lunch was a bit of a challenge for their mamas. We are a water loving family...from the big people all the way down to the little people.  The boys had a blast riding the tube, falling off the tube, trying to ski, falling off the skis, kayaking, riding the jet ski and catching "fish" (minnows) with their hands. It didn't matter what they were doing they enjoyed every single second of it. Even getting a certain little blonde haired boy to stop talking and focus while teaching him to ski was a bit entertaining. He'd have that rope wrapped all around him and he's just a yelling, "Ready!" or "Look! Mama, there's a plane!" Thank goodness Jen was in the water with him to keep him from getting rope burn and to divert his attention from the plane back to the skis. Now the girls, they had to do the more girlie things, like...doing belly flops in the water, digging in the sand, and dancing. Bet you were not expecting that...dancing! Yes, those girls do love to shake their groove thang!

Popsy playing in the water with one of the little princesses.

This little girl loves to do belly flops!

Shaking her grove thang!

These boys loved tubing!

One of the little princesses even liked tubing!

Even the other little princess enjoyed tubing

Laughter was not only provided by the little people but us big people provided quite a few laughs as well, from sitting around at supper telling stories, to doing our own water tricks. Timothy loves to ride the jet ski but I'm not so sure throwing himself off was what he had in mind when he was hot dogging it. I'm not exactly sure what he did, I just know one minute he was on and the next minute he was off. It went left and he went right. I so hate I didn't get a picture of that but I did get a real good one of him and Haley Bug getting thrown off the tube. That's right... feet, legs and butts all up in the air and not just their feet, legs, and bottoms but mine as well. Yes, mine! I was sitting backwards in the seat at the back of the boat taking pictures...which by the way is a dangerous position to be sitting in...anyway, Clark "hits the breaks" when they fell off and then blam, blam, blam! He turns from looking over his right shoulder at them to look over his left to see what all the commotion was about... and there he saw it...me...flipping, flopping and a rolling all across the floor. Not only did Clark see 4 feet, 4 legs, 4 arms, and 2 butts flying around across the water but he also saw 2 feet, 2 legs, 2 arms and 1 butt tossing and turning across the bottom of the boat. Thank goodness nobody got a picture of that!

Looks like somebody should have been holding on a little tighter

Oops! There goes Toot!

Skiing...oh how we love to ski...about 20 years ago! We still ski just to prove that we can still get up and go but our go doesn't last near as long as it used to. We didn't have a ski boat this year so everything was done behind a jet ski, a float boat (aka pontoon boat) or a mini yacht. "Hey, Clark! You wanna give me a tow?" I look up and it's Carl getting ready to ski...behind the float boat. "Los, are you gonna snatch off? That thing's not gonna pull you up! You're gonna be dragging in the water!" Smiling the whole time, "Yeah it will! And then, "Go!" As we're all standing there watching my crazy husband, I'm thinking there is no way that float boat is going to go fast enough for him to snatch off. Woohoo! He made it...about 20 yards and then down he went...sinking lower and lower in the water. It snatched him off but just couldn't go fast enough to keep him on top of the water.  Well, that just wouldn't do! "Hey, Jeff! You wanna give me a tow?" That's right this time he tried it behind the mini yacht and just like the pro that he is...up and off he went. He and Toot both gracefully got up and gracefully returned back to the dock. Did I say gracefully? Yes, I did! Isn't that the way women are supposed to do things...gracefully? Well, let me tell you there was absolutely nothing...I mean nothing graceful about my skiing episode. It was more like a skiing girl gone wild. I am usually a pretty good skier...usually! First of all, I was unable to snatch off! Once again, feet and legs up in the air as I'm laughing and flopping over side ways, but there was no way I was going to let that ski get the best of me. And, I didn't! I made it! "Oh good heavens this water is rough! Dang, I feel like I'm going 100mph! That's it, I've had enough!" After a very short distance, and I mean very short, I motioned for Jeff to turn around. There are no words to describe how bad I wanted to just drop right there in the middle of the lake but I was not about to let my husband and son out do me. Big, huge, gigantic mistake! Graceful...nothing graceful about my landing. I let go of that rope at what seemed like an extremely high rate of speed in a lake that was full of ocean size waves and it was all she wrote. The worst wipe out of my skiing career in front of God, family and all the neighbors. Oh my goodness, when I finally stopped rolling across the water, my bathing suit was so twisted up that every private part of my body was exposed. Thank goodness for deep water and life jackets. Jen told me I looked like I was totally out of control. "I was totally out of control!" So much for not letting Carlos and Toot out do me, but then again, I did give everybody quite a show! 

Carlos showing us he's still got it.

My man still looks good on a ski!

Timothy doing his thing.

Such a graceful landing! Show off!

It was a short week of making wonderful memories that will be treasured forever. I love my family and can't think of a better vacation than spending time with each and everyone of them. In a few days all my bruises will be gone but my memories will last a life time. "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates." Psalm 127: 3-5

Packed up and time to go home...still having fun and making memories!

Vacation is over and it's back to the working world. More adventures and memories to be made with My Love and My Toot Toot! That's right, Toot will be with us for our next trip...California here we come!

Til we meet again!
Only by His Grace!
   Lynne