Kick Off to Summer

We've enjoyed a nice family weekend even though the weather has been cool & rainy. Paul left with two of the boys last Thursday to go on a camping & fishing trip. It was a belated birthday trip now that he is home. They came home Saturday night soaking wet & cold but with huge smiles on their faces. They where just happy to have dad's undivided attention for a couple days.

On Sunday we woke up & held our breath as we looked outside to see if the rain was gone. We had a Welcome Home Bar-b-que planned as well as the first lake day of summer. Thankfully it was only partly cloudy with a few sunbreaks here & there. We got all the food together and headed to the lake. 

We took Banyan along for the first two hours so he could play & swim in his new custom vest that Ommie made . He loved it! As soon as he realized we where going to let him swim with his vest on he had so much fun! He still is not the best swimmer so we laughed, but he could care less. He listened to Jeremy really well and came almost every time Jeremy called for him in the water. He actually listened to Jeremy's commands better then mine. I wonder if it was because I was on shore watching & not in the lake with him like the younger boys  ? 

Banyan was also  taken on his first boat ride. Jeremy goes on the boat some in the summers to fish with his dad. We wanted to see how Banyan would respond to being in a small boat out on the lake. At first he was a little anxious to be away from shore.

Soon he settled down & enjoyed the short boat ride with Jeremy. We only kept him out for about 10 minutes so he wouldn't be to frightened. We will repeat this again in a few days so he can continue to get use to the boat & lake.

After awhile we enjoyed some great food & the kids played all afternoon into the early evening. They even swam in the still cold lake while us parents hung out. Paul enjoyed visiting with old friends as well as meeting a couple new friends.

By early evening the kids where tired & cold so it was time for me to head back to the house. Paul stayed down at the lake with a few of his fishing guys . I made it home with one extra teen but Matthew went to stay with a friend so it all evened out. We all enjoyed a quiet evening watching movies and fell fast asleep from all the activity. Now we can't wait for July 3rd when Paul can sign out on leave for a month. We have some camping trips planned, a visit from my parents who are flying out , as well as Hawaii for Paul & I. It looks to be shaping up to be a good start to summer for our clan & I can't wait to share it with my whole family.