Lakauai {Life is Good} » lake

Even More Lake Fun!

lakauai — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:59:32 +0000

A Storm and the Swing

lakauai — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:24:26 +0000

I have always loved thunderstorms. There is something so magnificent about them. There is a change in the air, a kind of electric feel. The sky looks amazing before, during and after a great storm. The wind starts to whip the trees and sends stray leaves flying. As the thunder begins the symphony the lightning starts the dance. When the rain finally arrives my favorite place to watch it come down is from a back porch.

This particular storm arrived on a late August afternoon. You could see it coming from way across the lake. I took lots of pictures as it moved across the lake. It never actually started to rain on our side, but you could see the wall of rain from way off. Pretty cool.

Late this afternoon or evening, Poppy had a bright idea to build a swing. He and Todd started talking it over, trying to figure out the best way to do it. They started thinking about the building materials they had on hand and what would be best to use. They started building it around 7:30 or so. The twins were so excited they could hardly stand it. Tomorrow morning could not come soon enough for them to try it out. It quickly became one of the most used and loved things at the lake.

The Smith’s at the Lake

lakauai — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:33:39 +0000

Traci and Sam brought Mayson and Trey over to the lake on Saturday. It was not the greatest day to be out on the lake because it rained off and on all day long. That didn’t stop the kids from swimming, tubing and having loads of fun anyway! Mayson loved riding on the 4-Ball. She is a bit like Lael in that way, totally fearless! When Poppy brought out the watermelon all the kids bit into their pieces as if it were the last fruit on earth! They all had watermelon juice running down their chins, arms and chests. We ended the day with a little fishing and sitting around on the dock.

A New Game & Caeden Skis

lakauai — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 23:13:23 +0000

I can’t remember whose idea this new game was…..but it caught on like wildfire. I think they only started with 3 people, then added another and then another. The object of the game was for the first person to toss the ball up in the air, the 2nd person to catch it and toss it to the 3rd person and so on….So, Chace was first, Madeline next, then Shaw, then Mallory and ending with Lael. I don’t know how long they worked at it, but I have 18 previous unsuccessful tries caught on video before this one!

Lael had been talking the big talk about trying to waterski again on her birthday. Well, her birthday came and went and she chickened out. Yes, Lael, the daredevil who will do anything – twice – chickened out. She tried it at the beginning of the summer and got quite a bit of water up her nose and decided that she would not be trying that again. Caeden didn’t want to try at all. Then when Lael chickened out on their birthday, he said, Well, I’ll do it! He tried and did pretty well that day. I didn’t get any pictures then because I was in the water with him. Today he wanted to try again, so he did and did well again. He was able to get up and ski for just a bit before falling. I think next summer they will both be zooming around the lake when they will be able to control the skis a bit better.

Here is a group shot of the 5 of them after the successful final jump.

Cheap Manual Labor

lakauai — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:03:07 +0000

It’s not all fun and games at the lake! There is still lots of work to be done. This particular day it was new stain for the dock. Just looking at the dock you wouldn’t think it was all that huge, but when you are down on your hands and knees painting each particular board it is beyond humongous!! So, we started looking around for cheap labor. Madeline and Mallory had already been helping since way early that morning, they definitely get the gold star!!! Caeden and Lael were excited about getting to help, Chace not so much! I guess when you are a brand new 8 yr. old, you can look at this kind of project as a wonderful artistic opportunity! However, even they got tired of the job before it was complete. Here are a few pictures to document the fun they had!

Making memories on the water

lakauai — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:33:05 +0000

I have some of the very best memories from when I was little at the lake. We used to live on a small lake in Tuscaloosa county. Even after we moved, we still spent a lot of time there on the weekends and in the summer because we had (and still do) have a LOT of family there. I learned to waterski when I was 4! Waterskiing, riding the inner tubes, and just swimming in the lake was the most fun. Now, my kids are able to do all of these same things. Different lake, different boat, different time for sure – but same amount of fun and memories being made!

Fourth of July

lakauai — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:53:11 +0000

I love the 4th of July! It is a great holiday to just sit around with the Fam, chill and of course EAT! The lake is the perfect place to do all of this. My cousin, Cori, and her family came up to spend the day with us. Everyone had a lot of fun. Chace and Dylan took turns trying to stay up on the waterskis. Then they moved on to the one person tube. Todd was making it his mission to throw them off. Dylan learned a hard lesson while flying by the dock on one of his rounds – tie your swim trunks tighter!! Cori and I were just walking down to the dock when he was riding and all of a sudden, all we see is a bright white hiney streaking by! I haven’t laughed that hard in quite some time. His swim trunks were stripped off and then he couldn’t let go because his hand was stuck in the handles of the tube. It was a priceless Kodak moment, too bad we hadn’t gotten down there 10 minutes sooner. I probably would have had the video camera going, and that would definitely be YouTube worthy! Dakota and Lael rode the 4-Ball tube, Lael loving every second of it. Dakota was more like Caeden, not exactly thrilled. Madyson spent all of her time in the water with Chris. She didn’t want to get out for anything!! Cori and I got on the 4-Ball too. Todd slung her off one time and I didn’t even realize that she was gone. Fun times!

At the Lake

lakauai — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:58:38 +0000

We are going to continue the fun we had in Chattanooga at the lake for a week. Todd is off on Monday for the July 4th holiday, so he will stay til then, then he will have to go back to Huntsville without us. We will stay at the lake, hang out and enjoy! Today we mostly just sat on the dock, taking turns riding the tubes and waterskiing. When it got dark we settled in on the dock to watch the fireworks show from across the lake at Cedar Bluff. It was awesome! I thought we would be able to hear them much more clearly though, but Dad said that it was farther than it looked. I tried to get pictures of the fireworks, like I do every year. But, I failed again, like I do every year! I did get a great shot of the Fam though!

At the Lake

lakauai — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:48:40 +0000

Caeden has been asking of Dylan could go with us to the lake for a while now. This weekend was the perfect time to try it out, we were only going to be there for an overnight stay so it would be nice to ease them into it without a full weekeds worth of time to get into trouble!

Easter

lakauai — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:00:15 +0000

We spent Easter weekend at the lake this year. It was really nice just to hang out with the family, not worry about getting all dressed up to go to church and all that. Plus, the huge yard has so many hiding places for eggs!! The twins were their usual way competitive selves while hunting eggs though, so it almost made that part not fun. It is always like that with them. They are competitive about everything – but egg hunting takes it to a whole other level.