River Weekend 2011

It was our 5th annual friends river weekend this weekend. This year was the best one we have had yet (we say that every year, but it is true). This year, the Gowens and some of their family joined us. Mr. Mike as Kyle named him when he was little is an extremely talented skier and teacher so we were pretty excited to have a second boat and lots of education. Most everyone did something or learned something new! Mr. Mike said he logged 8 hours of boat time over the weekend (actually boat running time..not including all the waiting and getting ready).

Here are some of the pictures that I happened to get of the fun! We had 6 people ski for the first time, several people ski in pairs, some new tubing fans, and lots of people learn how to ski better! These are all messed up in order of the weekend, but oh well!

Kathleen had never skiied with someone so her and I gave it a whirl. We got up on the first try thanks to our boat driver we think. The best part about this is that Kyle was in the boat with Mike and we yelled for him to take pictures. He hasn't even really used my camera, but he got this shot and about 12 others that were really good!
This was the highlight of my weekend. Kyle made the transition from skiing with the boom arm to getting up behind the boat on his own! He wasn't the only one! Four other kids got this far and two made it from teh boom arm to the short rope!

This picture warms my heart. He was SOOOO pleased when he got up. He struggled a bit more than the other kids to master this. Anyway, when he got up and realized he was really skiing this was the look on his face! He got up 6 times. Mr. Mike told him needed to practice on his getting up skills so he kept getting up and then skiing for a very short time and letting go so he could do it again. Mr. Mike had way more patience than me!!!

Another great highlight of the weekend. Conner starting jumping off the dock where he couldn't touch with Daddy and once by himself and he discovered tubing. Conner has tubed before many times, but always slow, very controlled, and quite nervous. Well, some reason today, he decided he was ready for wild rides! He was so adorable in his enthusiasm for it. His wild was wild enough for me, but nothing compared to the teen boys!

The other boat was at the sandbar so after tubing, we dropped the boys off to go climb the mountain of sand!

Just wanted you to see some of the wild Conner thought was cool!

Just cute... Conner being like the bigger boys.

After Conner realized he loved tubing, he came and got me and asked if I would go with him and Kyle. He told me not to worry, we would go fast and I might be a little scared, but we wouldn't fall in! After seeing Kyle learned to ski, this was the best moment for me of the weekend. Conner was so thrilled and I was honored to share the fun with him!

He doesn't appear to like this does he?

Me and my boys!

I really did not want to post this one, but I had to. Conner requested it. He wanted everyone to see how much braver my boys are than me! I like to think I am more aware of what's coming, but Conner was pretty proud to be braver than Mommy. I guess I will let him have his moment!

I loved this one because you can see Kyle putting his arm over to keep Conner on the tube! In reality, I think Conner was safer in the middle holding on than Kyle is in this picture, but it warms a momma's heart!

Just a cute picture to share!

Due to Callie being sick, I missed my annual adult girls tubing run. Luckily Denise Gowen was there to fill in. They were still laughing later so I think so! I think my neck and body are probably thankful I missed this one.

Callie had kind of a rough weekend. She was a bit off on Friday, but she did play on the beach, swim a lot and go on her first waverunner ride with Daddy. Saturday morning, though, she would cry if I put her down so I thought she was tired. It took me several tries to get her to bed and then slept for four hours AND I had to wake her up. Who knows how long she would've slept. By Sunday, it was obvious that she was running a fever and sick. We wanted to maximize river time, but also catch urgetn care because we suspected a potential ear infection. We made it just in time. She does have an infection in one ear and a really red sore throat so we got her some meds.

Also as a side note, Callie and the boys are all on one policy, but when we got to the pharmacy tonight, they told us that Callie's insurance had been cancelled (not the boys though). We had to pay full price for the medicine. OUCH!!!! Hopefully, we can sort it all out tomorrow and then send in a pharmacy claim!

I have tons of wonderful pictures of everyone and all of the fun they had, but I will let them share their pictures on their blogs and facebook. It was so fun to cheer everyone on as they learned new skills, laugh, relax, and enjoy life with friends. I can't wait til next year!