The Lake: Chapter 4: the girls

The girls were so excited to be waking up in the same house.  They enjoyed some early morning sunrise discussions on the deck, as well as chocolate chip pancakes and many snacks.

They spent a great deal of time swimming, trying to keep up with their brothers on floats and noodles and jumping off the dock.

 They even got kayak rides with different parents.

(there's the front of the house)

and, of course, ice cream on the steps.

The Lake: Chapter 3: the dog

As mentioned before, the dog was a big fan of the lake.  She was probably wondering what took us so long to show her such a wonderful place.  She was non-stop retrieving the ball in the water and in the yard for 3 days.  By the 4th day, she was asking to go back in her cage and rest in the air conditioning.  

It was very cute to watch her basically do head counts of the kids, though.  She was very anxious when Kylie was napping in the house and the rest of the kids were swimming.  She paced back and forth, up and down the hill because she knew a child was missing.

I was a little worried her energy would end up knocking a kid into the water, but she was so careful around them, even bringing them the ball once in a while to play mini-fetch.  (side note: the Chuck-it toy we use to throw the ball had to be replaced after this weekend from such over-use)

Will was overheard talking to Tank here on the deck, asking her if she's "in charged" of this lake.

And finally, by Monday, we had a tired dog and a tired boy.

The Lake: Chapter 2: Dock Jumping

There was a whole lot of jumping off the dock this weekend.  Will, especially, is an amazing swimmer for his age, and he was throwing himself off the dock into the wake of boats and jet skis on purpose because he likes swimming through waves.

and there's the dog.  Non-stop.  Or so we thought.  Just as we were packing up on Monday evening, Megan threw the ball into the lake for her and she actually looked at the ball floating away, looked at Megan and then trotted back to the house and laid down.  FINALLY!  

Miss Kylie shares her brother's fear of nothing.  She jumped right off that dock over and over again.  She has learned to kick and paddle and swim underwater a bit as well as get herself back to the surface when she goes under.  It won't be long until she's right there with Will (he was swimming at her age!)