What a Natural!

I can not believe it! Carter wakeboarded BY HIMSELF for the first time today!!! The starter board we ordered for him finally came today, so (of course!) we headed straight for the lake. He did such an AWESOME job! It took us just a couple of times to find the speed and the starting position he needed to get up, and then HE DID IT! He loved it, and did so so so good! We are sooooooooo proud!

A Visit From Cousins

Last weekend, Kevin's brother & his family came to visit for the very first time. It was so nice to have them here! We spent most of our time on the lake, but we also managed to squeeze in a trip to Incredible Pizza and a evening out (adults only) to a very nice steak house. The lake was a blast - we got a new double tube, and we were able to comfortably fit 2 adults & 2 kids in the tube all at once. We all had fun swimming (the kids were trying to out-do each other with their jumps & flips), and Keith & Kevin tried flips on the wakeboard. It was a super fun weekend; I hope we can do it again soon!

First Day of School

Yesterday was Carter's very first day of school. He's in 1/2 day pre-k every day. I am so proud and a little sad, too. I am so proud of the boy that he is becoming, but I will miss having him with me all the time. My prayer is that he will love school and that God will bless him with great teachers and friends to help him become the person that God wants him to be.

After school, we celebrated by taking Carter to dinner (his choice - Incredible Pizza)! He rode the race cars with Daddy and won a ribbon!

Lakehouse #2

This past weekend we took our 2nd lakehouse vacation in 2 weeks. This time we rented a house on Beaver Lake and invited Robert & his family. It was such a fabulous weekend; we want to make it a new annual tradition! The house was beautiful and very nicely furnished, but we spent most of our time on the water. The water was so clear and beautiful surrounded by gorgeous rock formations. We all had a great time tubing, skiing, and wakeboarding. I had my best run ever on the wakeboard (that's me in the last pic), and I finally made it out of the wake (I know it doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment, but I've never done it before since I usually spend most of my time trying not to fall on my face!). Soooooooooo fun!

700 Club

Last week, I decided to take the boys on a last-minute trip to visit Nana & PawPaw before Carter starts school. As of tomorrow, we'll no longer have the flexibility to go where we want when we want. Our out-of-town trips will have to be planned carefully in advance around long weekends and holidays, so we decided to take one last opportunity to take a spur of the moment trip.

Somewhere along the way, Bryson somehow decided that we were going to celebrate Paw-Paw's birthday (which is actually in December). He had his mind so set on it that I finally agreed. I even took the boys to the store to pick out a birthday cake. Since it was a pretend birthday anyway, I let the boys decide how old Paw-Paw was turning. Carter quickly answered, "700!" Paw-Paw was suprised and tickled at the "birthday party"!

Lakehouse #1

For 2 weekends in a row, we had amazing opportunities to visit different lakes and stay in lakehouses right on the water. Both times, we had an absolute blast! Last weekend we went to a lake about 2 hours away and stayed with a couple that Kevin knows from work. Kevin's friend, Miles, & his family all grew up on the lake and are excellent wakeboarders and teachers. Kevin learned to jump higher and to wakesurf. Even Carter rode the wakeboard (with the help of our new friend)! Carter was so excited about wakeboarding that we actually ordered a kids' beginner wakeboard for him - I can't wait for him to try it out on his own! It was an amazing weekend!