Lake Break

Yesterday was one of those perfect, memorable summer days. Some friends of ours invited us to spend the day with them at Lake DeGray, a beautiful, quiet lake between Hot Springs and Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Just driving there was neat for me because it brought back memories of my college days at OBU when I used to drive that road (Hwy 7) to Hot Springs. I don't think I've driven that way since 1999. We met the Parten and Stankiewicz families at the boat launch and motored over to meet up with the Rice family on their pontoon boat. I'm generally pretty scared of getting in the lake (I picture giant catfish, alligator gar and maybe even some sort of lake-loving snakes swimming just below the surface of the water), but it was scorching hot so I set aside those fears and hopped in. Rhett went out on the tube for the first time ever and loved it! He was so cute when he returned, grinning ear-to-ear, with a major wind-blown hairdo. There were three other boys there his age, and they jumped and splashed for hours and hours. Cute as she is in her swimsuit, there are no pictures of Alexee below because she spent the day with her Grandparents in the air-conditioning in Hot Springs (thanks again, Bob & Rose Mary). I'm sure she would have loved the boat ride and even the swimming, but I'm nervous around water as it is so it was nice to just keep an eye on Rhett for the day.

Here are the four sweet boys. All families present had a boy first, then a girl. The boys are all about the same age (a 9 month span between youngest and oldest), and the girls range from 3 months to almost 2 years old. It's so fun to watch these little boys play together--they are hilarious and all have their own cute personalities. Pictured L to R: Lawson, Garret, Logan and Rhett, excited about getting to the cove and jumping in!

We packed sandwiches for lunch (is it just me, or does everything taste better out on the water?) and tons of snacks. Water makes me hungry--I snacked all day long! Rhett and I taking a lunch break:

Loving the boat ride:

Here's his first tube ride. The boys and their daddies (plus Maddie, Logan's sister) went out in the ski boat for this adventure and had a blast. I love Rhett's expressions and his hair!

After the kids had their turns, Ali and I decided to give it a try! It was quite a sight...us trying to get into the tube was even a challenge. We had so much fun--we screamed and laughed the whole way!


Maddie is so cute and she's not afraid of anything. She did everything the boys did--maybe more! She was doing flips off the back of the boat at one point!

Garret enjoying a delicious sprinkle cookie after a swim:

Lawson on the jumping platform (at least that's what they used it for):

Lawon's cutie pie sis, Maylee. (Maylee promised she wouldn't tell Alexee and Lindy, Garret's sister, that she got to go to the lake.) She was a trooper. We enjoyed watching her maneuver around the pontoon in her puffy life-jacket. She did a lot of bouncing off things and rolling around, but loved every minute of it.

Rhett found the snack box. Swimming seems to work up quite an appetite.

For some reason these next two pictures almost make me cry because I kinda have a flash-forward when I look at them. I know it won't be long until these 4 year olds are in school and then all grown up, and we'll wish we could turn back time and watch them play the way they did yesterday. I love their sweet little pink cheeks and wet hair. They were beginning to look tired at the end of the day, but I don't think anyone wanted to go home.


Ali & Maylee

This was on the ride back to the boat launch as we were leaving. She was so tired, but she was really liking the wind in her hair.

What a fun day!

When we got back to Hot Springs to pick Alexee up, Lane's Mom had a huge dinner prepared. We had BBQ ribs, potato casserole, monkey bread, baked beans and a delicious ice cream and Oreo dessert. What a perfect ending to a perfect day! Thanks to the Partens and the Rices for sharing your boats with us...we had a wonderful time!