Wakeboarding

Every day at Shaver, everyone went wakeboarding.

Every time, Saxon would beg to go.

But by the time all of the big kids had their turn, it was time to go back.

 Finally on the last day, he got a chance to try wakeboarding.

 

(Nate)

However, he was very upset about having to use the pink board.

It was Brookie's old board and it was the smallest board we had.

Kasen and Wyatt got in the water with him to help him.

He got up for a second and then he fell.

After a handful of tries, he decided to kneeboard instead.

I was so proud of him for getting out there and trying.

I remember trying to learn to ski...it was awful.

I hated trying and falling and trying and falling over and over while the boat has to keep circling around.

When I finally got up on one ski for the first time, I was so relieved, that I quit.

I could officially say I did it and I never wanted to do it again.

I never did try it again until Mike and Jeff introduced me to the sally rope in Chicago.

Now I ski every summer, but never without sally.

Wake Surfing

Dylan brought his wake surf to Shaver and let us all try.

It was really fun!

I tried it for the first time...

I love this picture of Kasen throwing the rope back to the boat.

I didn't let go of the rope when I went, but Dylan and Kasen did.

Then Dylan was nice enough to take Saxon.

Everything the big boys did, Saxon wanted to do.

Wakeboarding, wakesurfing, kneeboarding, tubing...everything.

It was so cute and Saxon LOVED it!!!

Knee Boarding

This year at Shaver, Saxon really fell in love with knee boarding.

At first he just wanted to ride on his tummy.

He liked it because he can still maneuver and cross the wake, but he won't fall.

He looked so cute and little out there.

And seriously, this child is FEARLESS!

One time, the boys suggested to him that he should try to get up.  They explained how to loosen the straps, get your knees in place, and then velcro yourself it.  I figured that it was too many instructions for a 5 year old and I thought he would just ignore them.

In fact, at one point, he got so sick of everyone shouting advice to him from the back of the boat that he started saying,

"I'm just going to do this however I want!  Don't tell me to do things."

So, after the latest instructions, my little guy was off behind the boat getting ready.

Then he shouts "Hit it!"

And we're off.

At first he just stays on his belly.  Then he holds the rope with one hand as he starts to loosen the strap.  Then we see his little bum go up in the air and he tries to maneuver his knees under him.  And then he had it!  He was up on his knees, in the right spot, knee boarding.  He was really doing it!  He even strapped himself in.  He adjusted the velcro over his knees and got himself all snugged in.  It was the cutest thing ever!  He looked so little out there.

Not only was he knee boarding, but he was doing an amazing job.  

He had great balance and great control.

After a while Kasen asked,

"What will happen when he falls, now that he's all strapped in?  Will he get trapped under water?"

What will happen?  Now we were a little nervous.  If he were to have a huge wipe out, it would probably knock him out of the board, but what if he just tipped over?

One of the boys suggested that we start pulling him in so that we can get him close and then stop the boat and just pull him in.  It sounded like a good idea, so the boys started pulling him closer.  While they were pulling him, my mom was slowing the boat.

It seemed to be working until the boat got too slow and he tipped over.

The knee board flipped over and trapped him, all strapped in, underneath.

  Kasen immediately jumped in the water and started swimming towards him.  A second later his friend Wyatt jumped in too.  

Saxon some how managed to get his body through the straps and it ended up around his waist.  He could get his head above water just long enough to take a breath and cry out and then the board would push him down again.

It was probably only a minute before Kasen reached him and flipped him over.  The two boys untangled him and towed him in.

When they got him to the swim step, I pulled him in, wrapped him in a towel and hugged him.  He told me how he couldn't breathe and how he was stuck.  We gave him his own Diet Coke to make him feel better (I know, I know...but it was the best I could come up with in the moment...) and then my mom let him help her drive the boat.

After we got back to shore I asked him if he was scared.

I should have known better.

He's not scared...he's mad!  How dare those stupid straps trap him like that...next time, he wants someone to take off those straps and throw them away so he can knee board without getting stuck.

Like I said...

Fearless.

So proud of this boy!

Shaver Lake - Jumping Rocks

We just got back on Sunday night for a trip to CA and camping at Shaver Lake.

Shaver is one of my favorite places in the world!

It seems like everything always falls into place when I'm there.

One year I left Utah with horrible allergies.  When I got to Shaver, they were gone.

The year I was pregnant with Dalton, the perinatologist was worried because he was measuring below the 10%.  After a week at Shaver, he was up to the 15%.

This year, my kids went to bed every night at 8:00, slept through the night, and woke up again at 8:00 a.m.

They behaved, they got along, they didn't have tantrums or meltdowns...it was wonderful.

They loved every minute of being with Grandpa and Jenna!

Saxon fell in love with Aunt Lori and Dalton fell in love with baby Gabby.

Bridger loved having cousins around to play with.

My kids are growing up having the same kind of experiences at Shaver Lake that I loved having as a kid.

I love it! 

One of the kids favorite things to do at Shaver is to find jumping rocks.

Each year, the lake is at a different level, so different rocks are at different heights above the water.  As soon as we get there, the kids start scoping out the best jumping rocks.

This year we camped and beached in the loop and since the lake was low, we had some great jumping rocks right by us.

Here is Dylan and Saxon jumping:

Saxon jumping on his own:

Stevenson Cove:

Left - Saxon getting ready to jump

Right - Saxon jumping

Left - Dylan holding Bridger

Right - Dylan jumping with Bridger

 (Funny side story - See the old guy with the beard?  He was helping us because he was charmed by my mom and Aunt Lori.  My mom started blasting "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog" on her ipod and then her and Aunt Lori got up on the back of the boat and started singing and dancing.  Then these old fisherman grabbed some big sticks and rocking on on guitars and singing along with my mom and Aunt Lori.  After it was over, we all cheered and laughed, and then the fisherman stuck around and helped the kids get up the rocks so they could jump off.)

Kasen and Wyatt helping the boys.

They were a HUGE help the whole trip.

Saxon:

Bridger and Dylan:

Saxon:

We had such and AMAZING trip!

More pictures and stories to come...

Fourth of July

We are hardly ever in town for the fourth of July.

We loved going to Chicago for the 4th or to CA.

But the lakehouse in Chicago is gone, and our Shaver reservations are for next week.

So, here we are.

Luckily, Mike was in town too so he took us to the Western Stampede Fair.

It was interesting...

Most of the rides were broken.

We overheard some carnival workers saying that they had been taping things back together.  Kasen said that he has never seen so many mullets and missing teeth in his life!

Me either.

Kasen asked "Is this what fairs are like in Utah?"

Umm...not the ones we usually go to.

The ones by my house are cute and small and full of families.

We usually see all of my neighbors.

Gregor and Joy stopped by but Gregor said that it creeped him out, so he left :)

It was really funny.

But...the kids had a BLAST and Mike was our hero for finding something fun to do.

Dalton and Saxon got their hair sprayed green and Dalton got to ride on a pony.

He LOVES horses and this was the highlight of his week!

He cried when he had to get off...

When we came home, the boys decided to launch rockets.

Everyone promised me that rockets will not cause wildfires.

Utah has had a ton of fires lately and I do not want to cause another!

So, they adjusted for the wind and aimed the first rocket.

They counted down...

3...2...1...

Blastoff!

The rocket went up, the parachute came out, and it sailed right over us and landed on the neighbors roof.

So, there went the first rocket...

The second rocket was bigger.

They adjusted it even farther to try to compensate for the wind.

The kids launched it and it shot like a missile straight into the field behind us.

It landed in the dirt, where the second charge went off, charring the ground.

Didn't everyone promise me that rockets DO NOT start fires!

Luckily, it didn't, but it was close...

They went out and brought it back and tried again.

They readjusted the stand...again...and launched.

It went up, the parachute came out, and it flew straight into a tree.

About 50 feet up.

Nate and Kasen climbed over the fence to to try to get it back.

They broke off a tree branch that was about 30 feet long, but it didn't even come close.

Then they tied two tree branches together, but still couldn't get it.

They tried throwing rocks at it, but still no...

Oh well...I think we lost that rocket.

The baby was dying to climb the fence and go with the big boys!

After rockets, we did fireworks out front.

Mike bought giant sparklers and some fountains and the kids had a blast!

Even baby got a sparkler :)

I hope everyone else had a great Fourth of July too!

Balloon Launch

Every year I think it would be cool to go to the Provo Balloon Launch.

But...you have to be there at 6 a.m., and I never want to get up early enough to go.

But this year, Kasen was in town and he wanted to go, so we all got up early to get there.

I was amazing! 

I wasn't sure at first because it got started late, but once the balloons started filling up, it really was stunning!

The sunrise over the mountains:

Jeff and Meg came so the boys got to play with their cousins :)

The LOVE the girls.

The girls looked so cute too, all dolled up at 6 a.m.

My boys were still in their jammies LOL.

The boys favorite balloons were the piggy bank, and Smokey the Bear.

Kasen's favorite balloon was the 150 foot tall Coke bottle :)

We loved it!

We'll probably go every year that we are in town for it.