The Hays Family: Labor Day at the Lake

We had to wait ALL SUMMER LONG for this weekend, but it finally happened. After all the rain we got this past spring, we thought we were home free for an amazing summer at the lake. Then the rain just didn't stop...and the water went over the spillway...and the lake flooded so much that it took out the walkway to the boat dock...and then the water went higher and the boathouse came off three out of it's four poles. Goodness! So much water. Even though it hasn't rained in the last few months, it took until September for the water to recede enough for the boat ramps to be usable.

Happy campers about to board the boat for the first time in a year!

Let's hang loose and just chill.

Captain Lila drove us around for a little bit...

while Cami gave her best "cheese" face and took in the warm sun.

For a few minutes Jared and I even got to sit next to each other. Wow! Love this guy.

Then it was time to try out the new inner tube. Lila was our guinea pig. The girl is pretty fearless and did great, although we were going at a very leisurely speed.

Jackson was up next and had plenty of spotters to help relay his 96 messages of how the boat needed to be driven. Seriously. Go a little faster. Now do some S's. Slow down. Right now!
I said slow down!! Sheesh. The kid might need to take a chill pill before his next time tubing.

Maddie went with me next and I tried to spice up the tubing adventure. Let's go a tad faster and what if we even throw our hands in the air? Oh my word. The faster part threw her over the edge and she was doing the cutthroat signal like no one's business.
Operation Fun Tubing was a big fat fail.

Lila Lou wasn't scared, though, and said she would give it a shot--hands in the air and all! She did better than the others but then said she was done when she kept getting splashed in the face.

We thought this was a good time to go for a swim. I wondered how Cami would do, but I shouldn't have been surprised. She loved it!

Mom even got their new paddle board for us and showed the kids how it's done.
It was a fun float, too.

Madison was a rock star on the paddle board

and Jackson was, too. He even got to surf a few rogue waves! And although he may have looked like a baby giraffe, he didn't fall off!

Now that's some big time lake tiredness.

We ended the first day with a zip around the lake.
There's something about a guy who can drive a boat. Right?

Sunday we were on the lake before most of the other boaters. Love this time of day. The water is calm and there's such an invigorating vibe going on.

It's the perfect time to go skiing or tubing.

Daddy even tried his hand at paddleboarding too. He's pretty swift on that thing.

Cameron and Gigi were two bathing beauties, as usual:)

We ended that day with more tubing and broke a few unknown rules set by these two ninnies.
They were all sorts of mad--funny to us, though! You would think that we had thrown them off at high speeds, when in reality, they didn't even go outside the wake.

After many hours of trying to get this 19 month old to sleep somewhere other than her own crib, she actually slept all night by herself. How could I be upset at this girl, even if I didn't need a little bit of coffee. She's too precious.