July Recap: Cedar Crest Part 1

Cedar Crest was a little different this year.  Social distancing was part of the reason, but also because we lost Bart over the winter.  We were all sad to think about going without him, but he loved it at the resort and he loved that we were all able to spend time together for that week.  I know he would be happy that we went and he sure blessed us with a beautiful week!

There was another reason the week was different too.  Dave and Tanya were (and still are) fostering a little girl around Jace's age.  She is adorable and sweet and funny!  Jace loved having another friend his age to play with.  Meg and Rylee loved having a little girl to fawn over.  I can't really share more about her on the blog so you won't see her here in pictures, but just know that she was a special and amazing addition!  Hopefully, she will be a permanent addition to their family if all goes well.  :)

Another fantastic addition to our week: 

Vern and Heather brought their beautiful new pontoon!

Oh my gosh, and I can't forget: Walter, their new Corgi puppy!

Clearly their were a lot of new additions.  :)

Walter walking through Meg's legs (paddle board tricks!).

They also brought this cool water toy that is part knee board and part water ski.

You start lying down.

Then pull up to your knees.

You can ride like that or...

or you can transition to standing up.

Tada!

Jace preferred to jump off the lounging platform on their pontoon.

We spent a ton of time on the pontoon (I was taking around 600 shots a day!).

We also learned their family's new favorite game (Warbles - very fun!)

and did some fishing for our fish fry.  Jace contributed this whopper!

They didn't have the floating dock or the water slide this year.

Luckily, Dave doesn't mind tossing the kids around.  Lol!

We brought our hot dog so the kids took turns riding that.

Dave showed everyone how to do a 360 on the kneeboard.

Max definitely want to learn that.  

This was from his first successful attempt!

Of course, Rylee wanted to learn how to do the 360 too.

I love watching these kiddos have fun on the lake.  :)

July Recap: Cousins Part 4

It was a different visit this year: no Jon, no Connie for most of it - they were both missed!, and no outings for shopping or restaurants - thankfully there was take out!  But we were still able to get together and that's the most important part.  The kids created more summer memories that will last a lifetime.  :)

Last day photos - always bittersweet! 

Tickle attack!

Traditional swing photo of the girls.

I need to get a progression of them.

Love these kiddos - they are all growing up too fast!

Cousins Summer 2020 Visit - that's a wrap!

July Recap: Cousins Part 3

 Campfires.... 

and s'mores are always a tradition.

Being silly...

The boys love to play chess with Grandpa Chip.

What's better than relaxing on the dock?

P.S. Rylee and Maddie took all of the photos this night.  

Here are a few more of their artistic shots.

July Recap: Cousins Part 2

 When we're not in (or on) the water, 

the hammock is a great place to relax.

Or you can play on the tree swing.

Aww!  Rylee is always jealous of how Maddie and Ben snuggle.

Jace isn't much of a snuggler - unless it's with me.  :)

Clearly both kids like snuggling with me.  :)

July Recap: Cousins Part 1

My kids look forward to seeing their cousins all year 

so they were so ecstatic we could still all get together.  

Most of our activities are outdoors anyway.  

We eat all of our meals on the deck (like Rafferty's Pizza!).

We spend the rest of our time on the lake.

(Rylee is in the background showing the cousins how to water ski. 

 Maddie tried a couple of times, but never got up.  Maybe next year!)

This was probably breaking some social distancing rules, but we took our chances.  :)

The 4 are always switching places and taking turns sitting in the swamp seat.

Getting some air!

This is the epitome of lake life!