Family Reunion

Every Labor Day, Josh's extended family gets together at a local camp to have an annual family reunion. People drive and fly in from several states away. There's usually at least a hundred people there, if not more. It's kind of a big deal. Josh even took off a half day from work, as he was supposed to be at the fire station for the day.

The boys have really enjoyed the reunion the past few years, ever since it was moved to a summer camp location. By labor day, all of the campers are long gone. But that leaves a big, empty playground with really tall swings and lots of slides mostly empty. It leaves basketball courts open for shots. And most importantly, it leaves a big creek open to explore.

We start by exploring the creek below the dam. The boys wade and eventually go swimming in the water below the dam.

And then we make our way up above the dam, where the paddle boats and the canoes rest on the bank of the creek.

It's a long day. The boys don't really eat much, especially when the fried chicken runs out before we get to the line (poor Sawyer was heartbroken over that one). Xander would have passed anyway, so he wasn't too worried. It's not the food that attracts the boys, it's the water.

I have no idea where they get that from. Really.

Four Months

Bruno is a Cane Corso. Typical males range from 100 to 120 pounds. We're thinking Bruno might be on the larger end of the scale. He's four months old and continues to grow ...

He's also a typical male puppy, trying to be the alpha and run the house. We're working on things like manners with the boys (not jumping on their backs and knocking them down, which he's been known to do) and not growling at everyone he sees. He's very protective of his Mommy. He likes to lay right beside my desk while I'm working, and he's always right by my feet when I get up. My sweet boy ...

 

Cliff Jumping

What trip to the lake is complete without stopping at the kids' favorite cliffs and taking leaps from the top of the rocks into the water? It started out with the big kids, cousins Austin and Kyndal and Connor, jumping from the rocks. Xander watched them jump just one time last summer, and since then he's been hooked. He stuck out his arm, pointed at the rocks, and said "Xander's turn. This one!" And off he went to the rocks, part of the cliff jumping club of cousins.

Sawyer typically just watches. There are times when he wants to be part of the group, and he will swim over and stand on the lower levels of rocks. He can also sometimes be talked into taking one tentative jump from those low rocks, though he first tries to talk you into picking him up and throwing him from those low rocks. He doesn't trust himself to clear the ledges, I think. But he always manages to take that one jump, and he always manages to jump far enough out to miss the ledges.

The height of the rocks vary by the lake level, sometimes being really high out of the water and sometimes staying pretty low. Either way, the boys (and girl) have a blast jumping as long as the rest of us are willing to sit in the boat or the water and watch (and as long as the anchor and/or the wind will allow us to hold the boat off the rocks).

First Time

Our boys have grown up on the water, just like I did. It took a few summers for them to truly love the lake (not having a bottom to rest your feet on was a little hard to accept) the way they always loved the pool, but they came around.

Xander's first words once we get to Grandma and Grandpa's house at the lake, are "Boat? Time to go?" He can't wait to go swimming. Or cliff jumping. And now, perhaps tubing ...

My fearless little man tried tubing for the first time over the weekend. He's climbed into the tube a few times while we were stopped swimming, and he's watched big brother Connor ride in the tube many, many times before. But this past weekend was the first time he's shown any interest in climbing in and going for a ride himself. "Xander's tube. Yes!" he told us. I'm pretty sure the look on his face says it all!

Lake Days

Despite having a new puppy at home, we managed to make it to the lake to visit with Grandma and Grandpa a couple of weekends late in the summer (special thanks to Grammy and Pappy for taking care of the new puppy while we traveled)!