Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen

Friday, April 9, 2010

Spring Cleaning at the Lake

We have been blessed by Jim's parents with a wonderful get-away lake retreat. It's only about 1hr. and 15min. from our house so it's the perfect weekend respite where we can regroup as a family and enjoy many outdoor activities like fishing, boating, tubing, knee-boarding and much more. We were really spoiled when Jim's parents were still the owners because we'd just show up and be able to jump right into the fun stuff. However, now that we've taken over, we, and our children, have learned that there's a whole lot of work that needs to be done before we get to play. Great lesson to learn. Some of us learn it faster than others, however. :)

Jim usually begins his work day by trying to get the mower started. Never an easy task. This year, he brought the parts to fix the steering mechanism and even got the mower started on the first try! It only stayed "started" for about 5 min. Guess we'll be needing more parts.


With minimal complaining this year, the boys got to work on gathering sticks from the yard and the dock because they know the faster they get their work done, the closer we are to taking a boat ride.

There had just been a pretty decent storm the week before so there were a LOT of sticks to drag to the burn pile.


Then of course, Daddy started sweeping out the boat house and dock and provided even more sticks for the boys to drag. If that's not enough, there are also sticks brought up out of of the water inside the boat house as well.


And where is sweet Josi during all of this? Waiting on the boat watching her brothers do the grunt work. Like I said, it takes some of us longer than others to get the "work comes first" concept. (Let me say that Josi did "help" me inside of the house making beds and cleaning bathrooms, however, we still wanted her to do some of the outside work as well).




This was Miss Josi's reaction when I told her she had to get out of the boat and help or we weren't going to be able to go on a boat ride. (Priceless)




So, she stomped her way over to the stick pile, bent over to pick up a bunch of sticks...


And threw them ever so fitfully into the air....No, they did not make it into the back of the golf cart which I think is just the way she intended it! (Gotta admire her stubborn streak...I mean spunk!) She eventually cleaned up all of her assigned sticks and so it was finally time!



A.J. is just as excited as the rest of us for the first boat ride of the season!


Time to load up and go for a cruise. Too cold to tube just yet. :(



Got the captain at the helm. Mom's in the back taking pictures. We're ready to roll!

Someone's a lot happier now that the work is done! Me too, Josi...me too!


Yep, nothing like hard work to make you truly appreciate kicking back and relaxing.


And there's nothing like ending the day with your family "almost" all together, a dog by your side, and the wind in your hair. We are truly blessed!

13 comments:

  1. It has been wonderful weather for outdoor activities. I'm with Josie, I'd rather work inside that out, any day. She's just too cute! I love the pouting picture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guess we'll be enjoying the "lake house" from the comfort of blog land this summer.Sigh. Well... we still have the beach!!! And won't it be super fun this year with Nadia toddling around in her little swim diaper!!! Can't wait!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful blessing, my friend. Looks like an amazing place the Father has blessed you with. LOVED all the gorgeous pics of the family...but where's mom?????

    The pics of Josi are priceless :) Love it.

    Love and huge hugs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like everyone had a great time - eventually :) Love Josi's sour puss! She is a cute! Can't wait to see more pics of time at the Lake House when Nadia arrives. What amazing new experiences she will have :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like a lot of fun!

    Oh, and maybe it's a 'girl thing' because mine are a lot like Josi :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a great family weekend! I saw you in one picture- in the mirror! I can't wait to see Nadia in the boat, in her life jacket, sitting on Josies lap!It already seems like she should be in the pictures and it is hard that she is not yet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like fun! At least the boat ride did =) Aw Josi, too cute!! I've seen that face before! :)............ I love when AJ sitting in the boat with the wind in his ears and he sticks his little paws in his ears to try to get the wind out! He doesn't usually succeed! I can just see Nadia in the boat laughing at AJ trying to get that wind out!
    Can't wait to come tube and knee board, or it is wakeboarding? Of course i'll help clean sometime......... just make sure i'm in a good mood! :) Just kidding! Anything to help my auntie and unclie (unclie sounds weird but o well=)!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fun times! Excellent pics!! Love the close ups of Josi!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hadn't gotten to see a good photo of Josie yet- OH MAN!!!! That kid is gorgeous- I know where she got that lovely hair:) I'd love to ask which lake if you can email it to me:) We are looking for good "day trips" for this summer since Rich will be spending his vacation time between Haiti and family in NY this year. Would this lake be a good family trip?

    ReplyDelete
  10. This thing deleted my comment! Grrrr. I loved this post! I'm so glad you guys have a place to retreat and regroup. I'm also glad we were able to share in that with you in the past. Hopefully we can do it again this summer (hint, hint) :) I love the piece about Josi- PRICELESS! It reminds me 100% of a sweet, little, too often stubborn little girl I know named Emma. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well, I know I already posted a comment a couple days ago but I know how much my auntie loves getting comments(I'm dead serious she LLLLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEESSSS getting them...... so comment alot everyone!)(your welcome auntie;)) And ya know, it's actually fun to post a comment, you get to type, you get to read blog posts, see pictures, and a bonus, see other peoples comments(fun, right?) Nadia is just around the corner! Hallelujah for that! WoooooHooooo (just picture the hurricanes guy doing it. if you dont know who that is, then you need to turn to channel 50 sometime........wait, the seasons over;( waaaaaaa (just picture a baby doing that.... I know you know what that sounds like;) Well I got to go to bed (school night:( Adios!

    ReplyDelete
  12. P.S. my most recent post I said I had to go to bed (which I have to do in a minute or else my mom will kill me)(not really;) says I posted it at 6:04..... just lettin ya know its really 9:06.... didnt want ya thinking i was going to bed at dinnertime! :)))))

    ReplyDelete