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!