Lake Powell - August 2010

Last Chance Bay, that is. We headed down to Powell the first week of August with both kids, Grama and Bompa, the Seattle Harmers, Kevin and Kurt (all the way from Hawaii!). It was a smaller trip than we're used to, for sure, and we definitely missed Auntie Leese who was starting her new job and the PA family who weren't able to make it, not to mention Nicole and brand new baby Kayla. Luckily Kent and Ashley were able to come down for the last half of the trip which was awesome, especially for Tagg!

We skied every day, did some wave-runner riding, took the kids tubing, took our nets out on a hike to find lizards and seashells (better luck with the shells!). We did find some great sandstone holes that made for cute pictures with the kids.

Probably one of the highlights was water-balloon fights with the kids on top of the boat and the "boys" in the water serving as both targets and ball returners. Sandy and Lynn kept the water balloons coming and Bompa chimed in with some good aiming techniques. Brooke and Canyon were so awesome with Tagg and Sloane. They must have stacked about a million red cups so Tagg could knock them over, and inspired Tagg to go down the waterslide off the top of the houseboat. We thought he'd be freaked out but nope! Just went down it like a trooper. Of course, when we asked him if he wanted to do it again the next day, the answer was a most definite "no!"

Sloane was a little angel as usual. She just slept and gurgled and was generally a dream. She got her first sink tubbie on the houseboat, and rocked a few darling swimsuit combinations (seriously...why don't they make swimsuits with the snaps? helloooo?! so hard to get on and off! so they were all cute for about one photo and then it was back to the dud!).

Scott and I are still freaked out enough as parents that we duct-taped the door to our bedroom shut just in case Tagg woke up and went wandering. Pretty funny, I know, but at least we knew he was safe!

We had some neighbors who were a little too close for comfort but they did put on an amazing fireworks show on our last night. Their musical soundtrack was not so great (when the 7 year old is asking what a "whore" is, you know it's no good!).

The Lightning McQueen boat worked really well, as did our new ski and wakeboard. Tagg thought he wanted to drive but usually ended up completely passed out after just a few minutes. We would drizzle him with water and make sure he was shaded...and then wish we could all get the same treatment! The boats are like some kind of miracle sleep-inducer.

Continuing a Lake Powell tradition, if you napped you got painted toenails. Tagg had 5 blue fingernails, Scott had Broncos colors and Kevin? For the first time in history, Keving did not nap long enough to get painted nails! In another list of firsts, he also made Dutch Oven desserts - peach, blueberry and pineapple cobblers. MMMMMM!!! (super handy since we ran out of fudge jumbles!)

My famous potato salad did not fare so well. After forgetting it in the freezer at home, we made an emergency call to Kent. He did make a special trip to the house to retrieve and drove it all the way to the lake only to find out that potato salad frozen and then unfrozen...well, it sucks. Nasty.

















We took the ski boats for a cruise up some of the nearby canyons which was nice. Haven't done that in years! It's amazing how narrow some of those canyons can get. We found a killer tree at the end of one of the coves and the adventurous Seattle Harmers snagged what I hope is their Christmas card pictures. It's just amazing! And then Jeff jumped off the top of the tree. Gotta love 'em!

That week at the lake is probably one of my favorite things in the world. You're surrounded by amazing scenery, incredible people and all you do is enjoy each other and life for a week. No cell phones or email, no schedules or deadlines...just a week of pure relaxation and fun. Skiing the glass as the sun comes up with my babies in the boat and that spectacular scenery as a backdrop? Life just doesn't get much better. I feel so very lucky to have this family, to be part of this tradition and to share it with our next generation. It's really a special blessing. Counting the days till next year!