Home at last

We made it home safe and sound. I’d even call us sane, believe it or not! (Well, as sane as we ever are.)

Our last few days at the lake house were blissful. We drove into ‘town’ and walked the tourist shops. My dad treated us all to a mid afternoon cool down at Grandpa’s ice cream shop

The boys then went on to race go-carts while us girls cooled off in the neighborhood pool. Anthony was thrilled to be tall enough to drive his very own go-cart. Brad said he won the race however it was the topic of some debate as my dad claimed Brad skirted the yellow light. Either way, Anthony’s favorite part was the fact that there was no need for a break. I have a feeling I’m going to need extra insurance in 6 years.

The girls got to fish with Grandpa:

I love Hailey's expression in this one:

Hailey actually caught one and Makenna helped release one. Ironically, their favorite part was the box of live worms. Oh, that and when the fish slipped out onto the dock and flopped around.

My uncle took us out on the “party boat” which is a huge SeaRay 55 ft curser with living quarters, a restroom and a beautiful deck. A killer stereo too! We went for a 45 min tour of the lake then on to his country club for drinks and swimming in the pool. The pool was actually cool compared to the 93 degree lake water and the splash pad was a blast for the kids.

Crusing on the party boat:

The girls passed on our return trip from the swimming pool:

Hailey with her new best friend - my Uncle Dick:

I made chicken cheese enchiladas as a special dinner for my uncle who said he was lacking lately in good ‘ol home made food. The real treat was his dessert though. He made us peach ice cream from his fathers recipe. It was hands down the best ice cream I have ever had. I will share the recipe if I can, it may be a family secret though, if that’s the case then you’ll just have to suffer thru my praise of it. After dinner he shared a DVD he compiled of my dad and family back when my dad was 3-4 years old. It was surreal to watch.

The next day, I tried, unsuccessfully, to water ski but had a blast riding the tube. Makenna even got a turn in the tube thanks to her great big brother who volunteered to take her out. She's tucked in his lap bairly peeking out:

Anthony in the tube:

After a final few hours riding the waves on the SeaDoo’s, we went out to dinner for our final night. It was a delightful local restaurant that served mostly comfort food however, they had “amazing escargot” according to my uncle. It was so good in fact, that he insisted I get my own order to try it vs trying just one of his. He said they were so good he would rather have the rest of mine if I didn’t like them than to give me one of his to try. Needless to say, I did not fling a snail across the room into an awaiting butlers hand (name that movie) but I did like them. They were bathed in garlic butter and had a cute puff pastry top hat. Hailey loved them too!

We left the lake house at 4am on Saturday morning. The drive to Amarillo went well and we arrived to the hotel with time to swim, go out to a nice dinner and get into bed by 7pm thanks to the extra dark hotel curtains. We turned around and left Amarillo at 3am (2 Tucson time!) and finally made it home at 2 this afternoon. It was miserable getting up so early both mornings but considering the kids slept till about 7am and we got to our destinations with time to relax, it was totally worth it. Believe it or not the kids were much better on the drive home than they were on the way out. I would guess that the anticipation of the whole vacation was enough to make them antsy on the way out and the exhaustion of five days in the sun was enough to wipe them out for the return trip home.

The car is completely unloaded, everything put away and we’re basking in the laziness that can only occur in your own home on your own couch.

Our laundry took a vacation too and got quite dirty. J (Scroll to the bottom to see Vacation pictures)

Thankfully, the large capacity washer and dryer plus a helpful step-mom ensured that I only came home with clean clothes. There was no kinky car ‘activities’ to dirty it up again.

Given all that we did and all the risks we took the injury list is thankfully just shy of the emergency room. We had

17 bonked heads (tables, counters, bunk beds and boat docks)

1 fall down the stairs (Hailey)

1 black eye (Grandpa when Anthonys head smacked into his after submarineing the Seadoo)

1 scraped nose

8 stubbed toes

2 virisus (Anthony and Makenna have a chest cold)

6 mild sun burns

1 major back pop

1 twisted knee

1 sliced leg (Me when a knife flipped off the counter)

12 mysterious and not so mysterious bruises

Innumerable sore muscles – ones we didn’t even know we had!

Every bump, bruse and bonk was totally worth it for an amazing vacation!