Twin Lakes 2014

Twin Lakes time again! We flew into Spokane Thursday (always a treat to not drive.)  We rented a car to make the 2 hour drive to Richland and spent two days at Steve’s parent’s house.

Gotta love Southwest!

The drive from Spokane to Richland

Steve's sister Gail from Portland, her husband and 8 kids were there, as well as his brother Dave from Utah, his wife and their 7 kids. We stayed at Steve’s  sister Janel’s house (she lives nearby) as to not add to the chaos known as the Bonner house when all the family is in town. Our time in Richland consisted of swimming at the neighborhood pool, park and games/crafts at the house.

Jacob playing with the littles

Ella, Nathan, Kendall, Carson and Luke

Luke and Ella

Daniel

Nick on Gma and Gpa's swing

Saturday we drove up to Twin Lakes (about 4 hours from Richland.) Steve’s parents joined us later that evening because of their temple shift. The ferry ride to the reservation is always a treat for the kids.

Chris (the baby lover) and Kendall

No wonder my kids love their cousins' full size vans. They are always filled with friends!

The Utah Bonners left Monday night so we got as much swimming and boating in as we could. Here is shore and dock time.

 Carson is quite the wild man on the tube. He has been dubbed “The Acrobat” by his cousins because of his epic tube wipeouts. At first they thought he should go with the younger crowd, but quickly learned he likes it as wild as the teenagers do.

BEST PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Pictures from Sunday's nature boat ride. We saw deer, beavers, and even a bald eagle! 

Chris, Carson, Nathan, Joseph

The progression of Luke throwing a fit when anyone else had a turn driving the boat...

His turn again!

Eagle's nest

There were plenty of activities and crafts thanks to Grandma. There was a lot of bracelet making this trip. I think Caleb had the most at 21? Carson was obsessed with making them. The only problem was he doesn’t have the hand dexterity for it and I had to make most of them…

Steve woke up early every morning to get a few runs on glass water. I managed to wakeboard every day. It had been a few years because of pregnancies, etc. I forgot how fun it is even if I’m not that great at it! Carson knee boarded by himself and almost got up on two skis. He wakeboarded with Steve and thought that was pretty awesome.

Kendall was pretty good camping (we did stay in cabins, but it honestly is more like camping.) It is actually easier to take a younger baby then an older one who crawls/walks. The hardest part is there is nowhere to put a baby. She spent a lot of time in her stroller and wasn’t thrilled about that.

Luke was Luke. Kind of a stinker and wouldn’t be pushed into doing anything. He refused to wear a swim diaper and would only wear his old, elastic-shot swim shorts, so everyone saw his little behind all week.  He never did anything behind the boat, but was content riding in it and swimming in the lake occasionally. 

Carson has been obsessed with fishing for a while now and had never caught one. Steve’s Uncle was up there the same week and is a big time fisherman. One evening at dusk he took Steve and Carson out to the lily pads to fish for bass. They reeled one in after another! Carson was in fishing heaven. The next day he even tried one of his catches and said it was yummy. Shocker, he always said he hated fish.

 

 

Carson learned from his Grandpa Kelley that fireworks come from Indian reservations. When he heard we were going to be staying on one he got excited. We took a trip to the firework stand and got some fun ones.

 There always is a lot of down time at the lake. It's the perfect opportunity to remind the kids (and ourselves) that we don't have to be constantly entertained with electronics.

Dinnertime

The kids are really into selfies right now. We tried a few

Ella and I (Girls gotta stick together around here!)

We did have cartoons on the laptop for our children who wake up ridiculously early (Carson's creepy face)

Bubble Gum ice cream for the boy who tried to ski

I have to finish the post of the many faces of Luke. Luke is so fun to take pictures of because he is so photogenic. He also LOVES to have his picture taken, so that doesn't hurt. Until next time TLs!!