Boating on Lake Anna

At this very moment, I have two children at school, and two children napping.  Can I even begin to describe how wonderful the peace and quiet is?  And rather than taking a nap myself, I'm using this time to update ye olde blogge.  I'm always looking out for you!

Earlier this summer, my father-in-law suggested we all go boating out on Lake Anna some time.  This sounded like plenty of fun, but due to scheduling conflicts, and the fact that Lake Anna is two hours away from us, we weren't able to make it happen until the very tail end of summer-- but better late than never, right?  Naturally, the night before this excursion, I began panicking about all the things that might go wrong when you mix kids and boats (not to mention my penchant for seasickness on small vessels), so I'll admit that I was nervous that things would go badly-- anything from sunburns to drowning played out in my mind.  This might have caused me to lose sleep, except Craig coming home from class around 11:30pm and Colton waking up ten minutes after I fell asleep took care of that issue instead.  So I started out the day exhausted.  (You know how there are some people who can get four hours of sleep and be fully functional?  Like doctors?  Yeah, I am NOT one of those people.  I like my full eight hours, thank you very much, and I make no apologies for that.)

But my fears were unfounded because we had an absolutely wonderful time.  And thank goodness, I remembered that we still had some Dramamine left over from Hawaii, and took some that morning!  The weather was perfect-- sunny, but not too hot, and with the pontoon boat motoring along, there was a splendid breeze.  And, Tom had splurged and rented a brand new boat, so it was clean and comfy and just wonderful.  I even managed to take a nap on the boat (hearkening back to my days as a regular commuter on the Seattle to Bainbridge ferry), so it was all good!

Here are plenty of pictures of us looking wet, windblown, and happy:

Yes, here's how paranoid I was: mandatory life jackets for children!

Feeding the baby, while on a boat

My Mother-in-Law enjoying the view

Bentley watching the wake trailing behind us

"I'm on a boat!"

Exploring one of the tiny islands inside the lake.  Kendra makes me laugh-- the pose and the swimsuit falling off her...!

Going for a very refreshing swim

Colton was very excited by his red solo cup!

Supervising Bentley while he paddles around

Kendra waiting her turn

Grandpa helps Bentley take the wheel

Kendra gets a turn, too, although she spent the entire time looking at everything except where the boat was headed...

Ryder was thrilled that he got a chance to steer, too--he looked like a little race car driver

Awesome booty shot of my two eldest

Thanks for a wonderful day, Tom and Donna!  We'll have to do it again!