A Grand Time at Grand Lake

June 2014

 

After the wedding festivities concluded, we had a week of fun at the lake to look forward to.  We stayed in a big 5-bedroom house, with plenty of room for everyone and beautiful views of the lake.  We had a nice. relaxing week filled with all kinds of lake activities. The dock was about a 5-minute walk from our house, and we spent two of our days out on the lake in the homeowners' pontoon boat.  All of the kids really enjoyed the lake.  Here's Livi, ready to head out one morning:

Grandpa had driving duties, but all of the kids got their chance to be co-pilot:



 

While everyone else enjoyed the ride:

 

Grandpa bought kid-sized fishing poles for all of the grandkids, so they were really excited about fishing.  We pulled to the shore a few times to try our luck.  We had fun trying, but the fish weren't biting much out on the lake.

Ian paddled the kids around on the inner tube when we were on the shore:

But when the boat started moving, those of us who were brave enough used the inner tube in more exiting ways!  Jack and Ben were our little daredevils - both of them would stay out on the inner tube being pulled behind the boat for as long as their Mommy or Daddy could hang on:

Even Livi got out there - even if only for a second!



In addition to the fun on the lake, there were lots of other fun things to do around the lakehouse.  Uncle Ian brought water balloons.  Water balloons are really fun, but it takes a really long time to fill them up and they are gone in seconds.  But those are some awesome seconds!

There was a giant yard behind the house, leading down to the lake.  Perfect for running out some energy:

We walked down to the boat dock to fish a few times.  I love this shot of Grandpa's boys, following behind him to the dock, each with his fishing pole: 



We had much better luck there, with fish biting pretty much within seconds of the hook hitting the water - sometimes even without bait!  Everyone was very excited, and decided that fishing was pretty fun stuff!

Grandma was really excited for everyone to make smores.  On one of our last days at the lake, everyone gathered around the grill to roast their marshmallows:

Yum!  (with a photo bomb by Aunt Katy!)

There was also time for relaxing. The kids watched the Lorax a few times when it was time to calm down a little:

A few very fierce ping pong matches took place.  Tommy was a little out numbered here:

Of course, as is the case with most Bitler vacations, we ate well.  Each family was in charge of preparing dinner for one night of the trip.  Mom and Dad prepared paella, the Davises prepared fish tacos, and the Mhires made pasta.  All of them were delicious, but I think the kids' favorite part was the pre-dinner appetizers.  We had trouble pulling them away from the queso!

We had beautiful views of the sunsets over the lake.  A perfect time for some father-son bonding:

Of course, no night would be complete without bedtime stories from Grandma:

We celebrated a big 6th birthday while we were there.  Happy birthday, Evan!



He got his much sought-after rainbow loom.



It took some studying from his Dad, but Evan was able to make some lovely bracelets for himself and his cousins:



On our last night, we all went out to a local lakeside restaurant.  The food was decent - nothing amazing, but a good dinner (except for poor Dad who chipped a tooth on a rock in his fish :( ). 

Livi loved her cheeseburger - that's a big bite!

All of the boys got grilled cheese sandwiches.  Jack thought his was pretty tasty:

We even managed to sneak in a sister photo at the end of the night!

I may be writing this post on Thanksgiving, but really am so thankful for my family and the time we get to spend together. I don't stop to appreciate it nearly enough, but I really am a lucky girl!

 

Congratulations Courtney and Griff!

June 2014

The day after our anniversary, we headed north to Grand Lake in Oklahoma to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Courtney.  We had a fun week planned at the lake with my Mom, Dad, Grandma Dot, and my sister's family, but first, we were excited to celebrate the occasion that brought us together.  We arrived at our lake house on a Friday and quickly changed our clothes to head to the rehearsal dinner.  The wedding was at a ranch with a beautiful view of the lake.  After a full day in the car, all of the cousins were happy for some space to run around, but they mostly decided they liked climbing on this rock:

My Dad got a couple of really cute pictures of Olivia sitting on the rock:

 There were plenty of rocks to hunt, too:

 Grandpa got in on the fun, as well:

 And Ben had fun with silly Uncle Tommy:

 While the lovely ladies admired the beautiful views:

The wedding photographer took some wonderful shots of our family:

 

We had some delicious hamburgers and hot dogs, grilled by the groom-to-be and his groomsmen and headed back to the lake house to get a little rest before the big event!

 

The next day, we headed back to the ranch for lunch and so Grandma could get her hair done before the wedding. While we were there, we heard that some frogs were hiding in a puddle down the hill from the ranch, so we all set off on an adventure:

We found the puddle and there were indeed frogs jumping in and out - it was all very fascinating - and dirty.  It was a good thing we all had time to clean up before the wedding!

We arrived back at the ranch a little early and had some time to relax before the wedding began. Jack loves to play games, so Tommy taught him how to play checkers.  I love his concentration:

The more experienced checkers player, Daddy was the victor this time.  Jack likes losing about as much as his Mommy does:

And some boy time.  I can see many more of these conversations as these three grow up.  So cute!

Finally, it was time to begin.  Courtney was an absolutely beautiful bride!

Her proud Dad walking her down the aisle:

And the beautiful bride and handsome groom say "I do"

Jack was very well-behaved for the ceremony.  Livi, not so much.  She spent most of the ceremony with her Daddy where none of the other guests could hear her :(

We got a few family pictures after the ceremony.  Of course, there were many photos of the bride and groom, but we mostly have photos of our immediate family:

Mom, son and daughter - do you think there's a family resemblance here?

Cousins!!

From the ceremony, we all headed down the path to the reception area:

The reception was in in roofed barn-like building.  They gave everyone bubbles to blow during their first dance:

Livi couldn't quite figure out how to actually blow bubbles, but she had fun trying:

The meal was delicious - chicken fried steak with all the fixin's - and the cutest individual-sized fruit pies for dessert. I wish I would have taken a picture of them!

The shooting range was right behind the reception area and some of the wedding guests had been out shooting clays earlier in the day.  Luckily for us, they were pretty poor shots.  The kids had a ball picking up all of the clays that hadn't been hit:

As Livi learned (much to her dismay), they break pretty easily:

The bride brought along some glow sticks for the kids and our night ended with some fancy moves on the dance floor from Evan, Jack, Ben and Olivia:

Such a fun celebration.  I'm so glad we were all there to celebrate together.  Congratulations Courtney and Griff!