Lakehouse Fun!

First of all, before I post about our trip to the lake, I have to share a story from bedtime tonight. Carlie lost the privilege of her "night time story" because she disobeyed while getting ready for bed. So, she did not like that AT ALL, and I was having the lecture/conversation of: "You made the choice....so maybe tomorrow you will choose differently....blah blah blah." Kendyll tapped me on the arm and said "Mommy, when I am twenty something or maybe thirty, will you teach me how to get kids in trouble? Because I will be a mommy someday and I have NO IDEA how to get kids in trouble like you do!" Ummmmm.....not sure what to think about that. :) But, I told her that God will show her how to be a good mommy and that there are alot of other fun things about motherhood besides getting kids in trouble. :)

Okay, on to the blog of the day.

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Last weekend, we finally got to go on the trip we had been planning all summer. Long ago, early in marriage, we had many good times with our friends, Chad, Amy, David, and Candice....until everyone moved to different areas and life changed. So, we decided to make an annual reunion to catch up with each other. We took a road trip to Tennessee to "the lakehouse", owned by D&C's family. And, it was such an unbelievably beautiful place! As we rode around on the lake, Mark said "Now, this is what I think of when I picture a LAKE!" It was surrounded by hills and trees, outlined by rock, and beautiful water----and the view from the house was amazing.

Mark & Carlie on the deck of the lakehouse, tasting the rain as it fell.

(Note: I am missing alot of pictures, because they're on Amy and Candice's cameras! A&C, email them to me so I can add them to my post!)

On the way there, Kendyll got to caravan with Chad & Amy, and enjoyed all kinds of treats for a 12 hour ride. Amy was so creative and planned activities for the entire trip. Every 30 minutes, Kendyll and Mia received "mail" in a cereal box. It was always some kind of treat or toy, that helped the time pass. One time it was a jumprope, so they stopped to exercise before continuing on. (Kendyll talks about this constantly, Amy!) Other favorites from Kendyll's trip were the pipecleaner animals, foil jewelery, and getting to carry her beloved "Cat Pack" (the backpack ACU sent her for her first year of school. She does NOT call it a backpack---only "Cat Pack". I think ACU's got her right where they want her. :)She also had a US map, to see where they were along the way, and 24 tickets that she gave to Amy every 30 minutes until they were gone (so she knew "how much longer" without asking!) Apparently, she was awestruck as they entered Arkansas and then Tennessee.....along with the rest of her entire trip! Thank you, Amy, for taking her along for such a fun ride. It was by far the highlight of her trip.


Meanwhile, Mark, Carlie, Abby Kate, and I started out the next day for our adventure. It was a funny feeling to know that we had everything we would need to survive for at least a week all packed in our van. (Yes, I said van! We borrowed Mark's mom's minivan and fell in LOVE with it. :) Needless to say, our trip was much less eventful than Kendyll's. We did find some new things to do from a great website called http://www.momsminivan.com/ , thanks to Amy. All in all, our 12 hours consisted of many movies, lunch and dinner from our cooler, a couple of cans of playdough, alphabet fridge magnets and a cookie sheet, and lots of potty and bottle stops! The girls did great and we finally arrived around 1:00 in the morning to a housefull of friends that we couldn't wait to hang out with!

The next day was "farm day", and we visited the chickens, who so kindly laid some eggs for the girls. We also saw the tractor, the hay, the cows, and most importantly, the swimming pool! Everyone had a blast swimming, playing water basketball (the guys were highly entertained by this sport), and enjoying a little rain on our already wet heads. We also had matching shirts to take a few group pics, which I think turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, Abby Kate never got hers on....so she's missing. Oh well. We'll try again next year.

My favorite part of the trip was watching our girls develop friendships with each other. Although we see Mia occasionally, we don't see any of them enough! So, it was fun to watch SEVEN girls all find fun together, whether it be swimming, boating, eating, having dance parties (every night), taking group baths, or pretending to be dogs together. (Yes, this was the highlight of their playtime every day...)

Our two big girls, Anna Kathryn and Kendyll....

The three crazy middle ones, Mia (from the back as she watched the chickens), Isabelle, and Carlie (there is LOTS of personality between these three)...

And, the sweet babies, Carrigan and Abby Kate...


We spent Sunday at church, lunch, and then on the boat for hours! Everyone skiied, tubed, and toured around the lake. Even Kendyll, my "not so sure" girl, enjoyed tubing with Daddy and Anna Kathryn!
Mark & Kendyll in the creek checking out the crawdads!

Overall, the trip was great from beginning to end, with lots of kid-time to love on these girls, as well as some adult-time to catch up as friends after the girls were all in bed. These two families are friends I hope and pray that we have forever. They bless us in so many ways, encourage us as spouses and parents, and love on my kids more than I could ever ask or expect (especially since they were at the height of sibling fighting for half of our trip!). The only thing I would have changed is to make our trip longer---time always flies by!


Thank you Chad, Amy, David, and Candice for such a great time. I look forward to seeing the music video soon to remember our fun....just don't put Coldplay on there, okay?! Here's to JMS'08!!!

(This is the closest we got to a group picture....the daddies and girls. Somehow, the moms never found our way in front of the camera!)