The Lake Trip
It has been several weeks and weekends full of nonstop work, moving, and getting settled so we felt it was time for a little break. Jaken’s birthday and Father’s Day fell on the same weekend as they usually do and his dad does an annual camping trip to the lake so we packed up our truck with our camping gear, picked up the jet skis from Grandpa Herman, and hit the road.
Sam Rayburn lake is only a couple hours from our home so we left on Friday after work. About an hour into the trip, in the middle of nowhere, we hear a pop and realize one of the trailer tires blew out! Unfortunately due to all of our moving lately we had taken the jack out of the truck…this was a huge mistake because we were now stuck on a pretty lonely road with a blown out tire and no means of changing it. Jaken called his dad and from the sound of his voice this was not the first hiccup of the weekend. Just when Jaken was getting ready to test an unconventional method to jack up the trailer a nice young man pulled over and happened to have his jack on hand and helped up out. Once that was resolved we were back on the road again and made it to the campsite just before dark. We put up the tent and visited for a bit before heading to bed.
Saturday was a fun day filled with water activities. We awoke bright and early and had coffee by the lake with Jaken’s dad and step mom. Hope woke early with us but promptly went back to sleep after just a short time. We decided to take a spin on Jeremy’s pontoon boat before everyone was awake and to get Hope’s reaction of her first boat ride. Joke was on us though because she slept the entire ride. We returned to camp and had some breakfast tacos before putting the jet skis out on the water.
Once the whole crew was awake we took a family trip out on the boat with the jet skis and kayak for some riding/swimming. This time Hope was awake and ready for her ride and seemed to really enjoy herself. We had her in her little life vest and took her for a swim which both entertained her and apparently made her sleepy. We brought her back up on the boat and she immediately fell back asleep. After an hour or so on the water we came back to shore for some lunch and dominos. It was extra hot so we tried to hang out in the tent with our AC unit for a bit but that turned into a sort of oven so instead just gathered under the big trees with fans blowing to stay cool.
After all were sufficiently napped and tired of hanging out on shore we took another boat trip out to swim and ski. Hope again swam for a few minutes and then went right back to sleep. This kid cannot stay awake on the water! The guys played around in the water and made sure to get good use out of the jet skis before heading back in for the evening. On the menu for dinner was burgers and boy did they turn out yummy. We all filled up and then spent the evening visiting and relaxing before preparing to leave the next morning.
Sunday we woke early again and had our coffee before packing up and hitting the road home. Of course not everything can be that simple. About an hour into the ride home and not far from the first time, another pop was heard signaling another popped tire. This time with no spare. Luckily we have created a kind of convoy with the family so help was not far behind. Utilizing a spare off of a different trailer in the group we got all fixed up and back on the road. We eventually made it to Grandpa Herman’s house to drop off the jet skis and on to Jaken’s mom’s house for a Father’s day/birthday lunch. Because we hadn’t had enough swimming yet we all changed into our swimsuits and tried out the new float Wendy had gotten for Hope. She wasn’t really in the mood for much more swimming though so she practiced her walking skills instead.
After a long weekend of camping and visiting family we finally made it back home with just enough time for Jaken to do some mowing on his Father’s Day/Birthday gift. A zero turn in Brooklyn’s new favorite farm color, John Deere green.
