Lake Powell

 We had a last-minute chance to go to Lake Powell with Nate's high school friend and his family last weekend. LaMont and Nate spent a lot of time rock climbing and know each other well. LaMont's company has a house boat and he invited us all to stay a few days. House boats and toddlers aren't a good match, so I was going to stay home with Kit while Nate and the rest of the kids went. How could we say no?! But then Nate's sister, Margie, was willing to have Kit stay with them-so nice! I knew the Fullmers would take good care of little Miss, and they did! 

We spent the first night in a cheap hotel, we had to leave late and drop Kit off and the drive was about 5 hours. So around 11 pm, we checked in and snoozed for just a bit before getting up way too early to make it to the lake by 8 am.

One of the things we did was kayak. There was a little cove across from where we docked the house boat the kids called "Lizard Cove". It was fun to kayak (or swim) to and from the cove. 

Grace had discovered a different little cove that she wanted to explore. It was more out in the lake--outside the little nook where our boat was docked. She and I took the kayaks and and found this beautiful little area. The water was super sparkly and the rock formation awesome. We wanted to swim but there was dead fish that kept us in our kayaks. 

LaMont also had a speed boat there. The kids always love tubing. And this time we tried Wake Surfing. It's so awesome! You basically surf behind in the boat. Once you're good enough, you can do it without even holding onto a rope. I was so proud of Gibson who tried over and over and didn't give up. And then, he got up! LaMont was super patient with us all while we learned.

Anderson did it without the rope! First time I believe! 

Grace was able to let go of the rope too.

I even got up! (It think people were surprised. :)) But I never got to the point of not using the rope. Next time! It felt so good just to be in the water and to swim, honestly. I miss swimming. 

One of my most favorite parts of the trip was sleeping on the very tippy top deck of the house boat and star gazing. The stars before the moon rose we unreal. You could see the Milky Way, so bright! I honestly am not sure if my children have ever seen the stars like that. I know it's been a really long time for me.  Hopefully we can get in some more serious stargazing soon!

Nate, of course, was super man and got up and went running. Grace went with him, I wish I had too! 

The last night we had a Glow Party! The kids had an awesome time playing with the glow sticks in the water. It was awesome to watch. I was a little worried we were going to lose someone swimming in the dark. But we didn't. All is well.

I'm so grateful for good friends willing to share their good times!