Vacation 2010

Warning: Picture overload ahead and a long post to go with it.

Every year our family treks out to Washington state for our family vacation. The last two years we drove and this year we flew. My parents live in Washington and have a "place" at the lake 35 minutes away in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

We are very single minded while we are there - 9 of our 13 days were spent at the lake. I always see my friends Niki, Ken and Weisen (who's last name is no longer Weisen, but for the life of me I just can't think of her any other way), but otherwise we're on the boat.

We drive up to the river because that's where the best waterskiing is. The water is also warmer, so we swim while we're up there.In addition to tubing, we also got Bryce to ride on the knee board behind the boat. I loved teaching him how to do it and see him learn to enjoy it too.





No one will ever convince me there is a more beautiful place than Lake Coeur d'Alene and the Shadowy St. Joe River that flows into it. I literally dream about it. The drive from their house goes on the Palouse Highway, and it's so pretty:

My brother Bret and his family were in Washington the same time we were. One day we drove over to Harrison on the other side of the lake to get icecream. The wind had come up and made docking at the marina difficult. The first attempt failed, despite my mom and Bret being ready to catch us, and as the wind blew the boat out my dad revved it a little to get us docked, but Bret wasn't quite ready and all we heard was, "Oh S@#!" and a splash. He was fully clothed and came up wallet in hand. He was a very good sport about it. The problem was we still weren'y docked and Bret had been holding a docking rope, which then wrapped around the prop, leaving us dead in the water and we were at the mercy of the wind as it blew us towards the other boats in the marina. Derek (my hero) jumped behind the boat, armed only with a screw driver, and pried the rope free in the nick of time. This was very stressful for all 9 people left in the boat, especially as my nephew Ben asked repeatedly if he could jump in the water to retrieve his dad's hat. When Derek climbed back in the boat my dad revved it a little again and Bryce said, "Papa, don't you know? This is a no wake zone." =) Love that boy! We got the boat parked, enjoyed our icecream (sorbet for me) and some swim time in Harrison then headed back.

We practice driving the boat when we're there too, so we'll be ready when we leave this lakeless state and buy one of our own.

Chase did not appreciate the boat or lake very much. I think the life jacket had something to do with it. This trip also wreaked havoc on his sleeping schedule and he was up 2-3 times every night, wanting to eat.

Austin isn't a crazy man on the water like his brother. The boat put him to sleep a lot. He's very cute on the boat.

Bryce loves everything about this trip. He's a different kid out there.

My sister and her girls Sydney and Kylie live near my parents and we got to see them alot. Debbie and I are very different and our relationship ebbs and flows. Last year we didn't get along so well, but this year was great!

My parents bought a new trailer this year, so we could all comfortably sleep out there this year, except that temps drop into the 50's at night and my mom tried to freeze us out. =)

My mom and Austin. He loved swimming with her and was very successful at convincing her to get in the water with him.

My parents are both officially retired now so they're spending a lot more time on the lake, and have bought all kinds of toys to make it more fun. Kayaks are one thing, and they also bought a second Wii for out at the lake- and not for the grandkids, for them.

This day was SO HOT! It was 8pm and still 90 degrees - we couldn't get the boys out of the water, which was only about 71 degrees. Austin's lips were blue when we finally got them out. Derek and I got to try out the kayaks one morning. I'm just OK with kayaking, it's fun when you're traveling with the waves, not so much when you're against them. It's a beautiful place to do it though.

It was a really fun family trip. I'm always sad to leave knowing it's a whole year before we get to do it again.