The Inner Yahoo

One of the best things about a week at the lake is that you get to literally unplug from your regular life. We don't have cable at the lake, so there was very little tv watching. Lots of time spent playing, visiting on the porch, or reading. No phones to ring (except Papack's cell from time to time). None of the "tyranny of the urgent" to distract you from your getaway.

At the lake, we get to do things we don't do in our life at home. Go on a boat ride whenever we want. Take the boys tubing. Sit in the porch swing and "fish". Ride a paddleboat. Play with our boys for hours uninterrupted. All of those activities help a person get back in touch with their true self. Their "Inner Yahoo." The person we would love to be all the time, except that daily life gets in the way.

At the lake, you begin to really relax. You begin to think about things you used to do. Things you used to do all the time, and now you never do. You start to wonder why you don't do them anymore, and just exactly what is stopping you from doing them now. And then, suddenly, that Inner Yahoo can't stand it any longer and speaks up.

That's what happened Friday morning. We had finished breakfast and were sitting on the porch waiting on the day to get started. Several people were drinking second cups of coffee. We were chatting quietly, and all of a sudden, someone's Inner Yahoo said, "I think I might ski today."

Now, it wasn't me who said that. It wasn't Brent who said that. It was Papack who said that! Before that yahoo could change his mind, we scurried around and got everyone dressed and down to the dock. I couldn't remember exactly the last time I saw Daddy ski, but I knew it had been at least 15 years. They loaded up the boat and I watched from the dock with the camera in hand. Papack is a slalom skiier, but the back boot on the slalom broke a few years back. So he skiied on two that morning. Here are the pictures that he specifically said I could not put on the blog. Hee Hee!

in the water untangling the ski rope

He flew out of the water and skiied two laps around the lake like he was walking on dry ground.

After they came in, I went back up to the house where Jonathan was napping. A bit later, I heard the boat start up again and figured Brent had decided to ski. So I grabbed the camera again and got back down to the dock. As I was walking out, I saw the boat going incredibly close to the dock, with Papack behind it again! This time, he had dropped a ski and was on one ski heading around the lake again!

And I'm pretty sure I heard a couple of "yahoo"s as he went by!

Surprise!

Over the last few weeks, I've been collecting surprises for the yahoos to enjoy at the lake. We used to have a johnny-jump-up, but I think in the post-Christmas-and-new-baby-confusion, it was thrown out with the trash from the basement. So Jonathan's big surprise was a new jumper. He LOVED it. He laughed and squealed when he got in it the first time. I even heard a, "Yahoo!" from him as he went round and round.

Coleman loves a big floor puzzle right now, and I had taken one Andrew got for his birthday. It has 100 pieces, so I figured we would all work on it together. Andrew got busy talking to Grandma, but Coleman sat and worked and worked until it was finished. We did it a couple of other times during the week too. It's a picture of Noah and the ark and some animals. If you know Coleman, you know that he is big into pirates right now. He nicknamed Noah, "Pirate Noah."

I had also taken the ingredients to make rice krispy pops one day. They're like rice krispy treats, but with peanut butter and corn syrup instead of marshmallows. You make them in muffin tins and then stick popsicle sticks in them.

Just after we finished and were getting ready to move them to the counter to harden, somehow the pan came out of my hand and got upside down on the floor. Thank goodness for the saran wrap, because only two actually dumped out on the floor. We all laughed and repaired the damage. Then Coleman said, "That's okay Mommy. It was just an accident." Sweet boy!

One night we drove over to Anderson, SC to eat supper at Chick-fil-A (I don't think we would survive if we tried to go a whole week without one trip to CFA!), and took the boys to see Toy Story 3. Gigi and Papack took Jonathan back to the house so he could get to bed on time. It was a really good movie, and I only cried a little. Brent and I both got tickled when they showed the scenes from the day care center and Coleman said, "Wow! I wanna go there!"

When we got home, the boys got new TS pajamas to wear. They assumed their characters very well.

There were also sticker books, a ring toss game, and a new board game for the yahoos that week. However, the biggest surprise of all came on Friday morning and it was nothing I had planned. Stay tuned. . .

The Paddleboat and Visitors

Back in May, at our family reunion, there was a paddleboat at the dock. We didn't take swimsuits for the boys, or Brent, so they didn't get to ride in it that day. Andrew was brokenhearted when the bigger kids took it out and he didn't get to ride it. We told him then that when we went to the lake this summer, he could ride in our paddleboat. I think it was of little consolation that day, but he did remember it from time to time and was excited about it when we finally got to the lake.

Monday morning, while Daddy and Papack were putting the boats in, the yahoos "helped" Gigi wash the paddleboat. Once it was in the water, they enjoyed riding it all week.

By the time they were finished, Gigi's clothes were drenched. You could have probably wrung out a gallon of water.

I think this next picture does a good job of explaining how Gigi got so wet.

Brent and the boys rode down to the end of our cove and fished several days. Andrew reeled one in all by himself from the paddleboat! These are pictures from the first morning in the paddleboat. You can see the vessel is listing a bit to one side. This picture was shortly before Coleman took an accidental dip in the lake. Brent turned a little too fast, and Coleman was leaning out to splash his hands in the water, and over he went. Fortunately, they were next to the dock, so I grabbed Coleman up and plopped him back in his seat.

We invited Nana and Pop-O to come for one day. We had lots of fun seeing them and eating lots of good food!

Jonathan looked so proud to join his first big family meal at the table with everyone else. He just sat and ate his puffs like a big boy.

Wednesday, Papack went and got Grandma so she could spend the day with us. It was a lot of driving for him, but we were all glad to see her. I think she got a big kick out of the boys. I forgot to get a picture of her with all the yahoos before Jonathan laid down for his nap, so here she is with the bigger boys.

Still more to come. . .

Tubing

We decided that this summer the boys were big enough to try tubing, if they wanted to. It was a blast! They both hollered for the boat to go faster the whole time they were on the tube. Each boy got to tube with every willing adult at least once. Nana and Pop-O came for one day, and the boys were excited to ride with Pop-O too. We were already away from the dock that morning when I realized I didn't have the camera. So, we'll make pictures of Pop-O tubing next summer. Here are the pictures from our first morning with them behind the boat.

Brent and Andrew went first. They started off sitting up, but soon decided it would be better to lay down for the ride.

Then Coleman and Mommy went. He loved it. We are pretty sure he's our adrenaline junky.

Andrew and Papack rode together last. It was super fun!

More to come. . .

The Lake 2010

We spent last week over at Lake Hartwell with Gigi and Papack. It was a really fun vacation, and I think we have all decided this will be a yearly event. We made lots of pictures, so I'll divide them up over the next few posts.

Here we are getting ready to head out Sunday afternoon. We were backing out, and all of a sudden Andrew decided he wanted his cowboy hat. So that meant I grabbed Coleman one too, and off we went. We really should have made a picture of the back of the car to show how much stuff can fit inside an Odyssey and still leave enough air to breathe. Brent did an impressive job of packing it all in there.

As soon as we arrived, the boys started "fishing". Lately, Andrew has really been hooked on Bill Dance. If we had somehow left their poles at home, we would have had to go back and get them. The boys perched on the porch swing the rest of the evening and practiced casting and reeling while we got supper and all our stuff settled in.

Right after breakfast Monday morning, they headed out to see what they could catch. This will be an all-time favorite pic of my two bigger boys.

They waited very patiently (term used loosely) while Brent tied their hooks and baited them. This was Coleman's first time to get to fish with a hook. He was very excited.

This is serious business.

Jonathan spent his morning playtime inside on his pallet. Gigi and I took turns staying at the house with him, as it was too hot for him to be on the dock in the morning. He had a lot of fun, and really seemed to enjoy his first vacation.

Lots more to come. . .

Moosik Camp for Coleman

This was Coleman's week for music camp. His class had an "Under the Sea" theme, which was perfect since he loves anything ocean related! We made some new friends, learned some new songs, and had a ton of fun.


About half-way through the class, we got to have snack each day. Ms. Pam did a great job coming up with ocean themed snacks for them. I got several ideas for his birthday party next month.

Here he is sitting in his little boat. She kept all the supplies in a closet and before each new activity, she'd go get what we would need. We used scarves, hula hoops, several different balls, and instruments. After each activity, Coleman would look at me and ask, "What's next?" I think he just couldn't get over how much fun stuff came out of that closet!

bouncing the balls on the sheet - our new friend Landon is next to Coleman

After snacktime, we'd go back in the room and Ms. Pam would have out different instruments to explore. They used shakers, cymbals, rhythm sticks, castanets, sand blocks, and wood blocks. The castanets were his favorite, until Thursday when the lollipop drums were out. The other children enjoyed their drums too, but Coleman and that drum were created for each other. He got his drum and started banging away. And I don't mean just banging, I mean jumping around with his feet apart and banging like a tribesman in some sort of preschooler ceremony. He LOVED that drum. I'm sure you can imagine how disappointing it was to have to give it back.

The tambourines this morning were a close second to the lollipop drum.

And here's a picture of Coleman and Ms. Pam. I don't think there are many people more suited for their work than Ms. Pam is. She is absolutely amazing!

At the end of each day, as we walked to the car, I asked Coleman what his favorite part of the day was. He answered the same every time. "A WOT." That's 2 year old for "A LOT." I think that was my favorite too.