Pennies In My Couch: Boat + Family + Train-Shaped-Pool = Great Anniversary Weekend!

On October 18th, Dave and I celebrated our 7th year of marriage! In thinking of how we wanted to mark the occasion this year, we really had nothing but our boys and our new boat on our minds, and so we invited my parents to come with our family to Lake Mojave. Of course, they said yes, and since my cousin and his wife had recently had their baby, they left early and headed to Las Vegas to see them before meeting us at our hotel in Laughlin.

Once we got to the hotel, we dropped our stuff off in our rooms and loaded into our truck and headed to the lake to launch our boat! As soon as Sam saw his life jacket he started pouting, but he chilled with grandma and managed to take a nap, just like last time. Unfortunately, we had a little moisture-control issue with Jack's life-jacket and it was wet and smelled quite rank. Luckily we had brought along the life-jacket he wore when he was 15 months old (don't worry, I checked the weight limits!) and so was able to wear that. Since it wasn't a ski jacket, though, we weren't able to blow up the tube for him that day. He didn't seem to mind, though, as he was really enjoying riding along and kept encouraging "Daddy, go faster!" And oh boy, did he! Dave loves to go fast, and Jack is just like his daddy! Sam, I think, is more like his mommy, though... I wanted to bury my head in my life jacket, too!

After a bit, Dave decided that he was tired of driving, so Jack and I jumped in the water! When we were done, I decided that I needed to get used to driving the boat if I was ever going to be able to pull Dave as he wakeboards. Baby steps, right? So, I hopped behind the wheel and tried to be brave as I got the feel for driving the boat. Jack did not have to try to be brave, though. He asked to drive the boat, and he did such a great job!

After Jack and I practiced driving the boat, we decided that we didn't want to be on the lake after dark and so we just parked the boat and chilled. It was a gorgeous day, as you can see, and we all enjoyed just hanging out together on the boat!

We got the boat back on the trailer and made our way back to our hotel just in time for us to change and run out to get dinner! We were so hungry and we were thrilled when we saw that there was an In N Out right next to our hotel!

After dinner, we decided to explore our hotel! We were staying at the Tropicana Express in Laughlin, and the reason we had chosen it was because the theme of the hotel was... (drumroll please...) TRAINS!!! Jack was thrilled over that (big surprise, right?), and he was so excited to explore the hotel and see all of the train-themed elements!

That night, Jack stayed in my parents' room while Sam stayed with Dave and me. Jack was so excited that he got to have a sleepover with grandma and grandpa! The next morning (our anniversary and Sam's 8 month-day) we rushed breakfast and packed a lunch and were on the lake as soon as we were able! The first thing we did, of course, was to pull out the wakeboard! Dave drove us to a good spot and then, since I still wasn't ready to tow anyone, he turned the reigns over to my dad. The wind was high, so Dave's ride was really rough, but he did a great job. I only got two photos of his ride before he decided that he was done, though, and unfortunately one was of him laughing because my dad didn't have enough speed, and the others was of him wiping out in a face plant!

After seeing how choppy the water was and being a little nauseous from being sleep-deprived and slightly seasick, I really didn't want to go wakeboarding. I knew, though, that later I'd be mad at myself if I didn't suck it up and get in the water, so I put on my life-jacket and strapped the board on my feet all while sighing and grumbling to myself "I really don't feel like doing this." My mom said to me "Whenever it was my turn to water-ski I'd always try not to get my hair wet. If you make it your goal to not get your hair wet, you'll have fun!" so I did the same thing... and I ended up having a great time, without even getting my hair wet!

Fortunately Jack's good life-jacket had dried out overnight, so when I was done with my ride we blew up the tube for him to ride! He wanted to ride with daddy, so Dave and Jack hopped in the tube and I, after being forced by my dad, had my first experience towing someone behind the boat! Jack and Dave had a blast, and I felt a lot more comfortable with Jack being pulled behind the boat now that I knew what it was like to be the one pulling him and feeling exactly how much control I had.

After Dave and Jack's loooooong ride, it was time for lunch and to give Sam a break! So I pulled into a little alcove and found a great little beach to park at and play on! In the soft sandy bottom it took a few tries to get the anchor to stay and Jack was loving the hilarity of throwing the anchor over and over and over again, and even after they finally got it to stay he was playing with the end of the rope pretending that he was trying to toss the anchor. It was very cute :)

We all ate and I held, fed and comforted Sam (who was quite relieved to finally be able to move without that life-jacket on!)

Sam pretended to "drive" the boat while dad took a quick nap...

Then Dave, my dad and Jack hopped onto the shore to play and throw rocks

My mom was even brave and she decided to jump off the back of the boat and swim to shore! If you know her then you know that she hates being cold and it's always so hard to get her to go in the water if it's not absolutely necessary (or warm!), so this was quite amazing. She could have just hopped off the front of the boat right onto the shore since we were parked, but she chose to swim! (In case you can't tell, I'm still a little shocked! LOL!)

Jack came running to meet her...

And then she and Jack and grandpa went on an adventure...

...while Dave explored...

... and Sam played and explored and was just plain cute on the boat.

After the adventures came back down from their excursion (Jack said to me "We had to come down because there were snakes up there!" So glad I didn't know that before he went up!!!), my dad practiced his swimming skills in preparation for his first sprint-triathlon that he would be participating in a few days after we got back home, Dave hopped back on the boat to rearrange some things and I, not wanting to force Sam back into his life jacket so soon, handed Sam to my mom so that I could ~~enjoy the beach as well~~ take more pictures.

Then Jack decided that he wanted to show Dave how good he "flies", so I hopped in to help him! (I wish we had a picture of the splash, but look how high he gets!)

He loves it when I throw him and was so proud to show daddy :)

After we had played ont he beach for a while, Jack said that he wanted to ride the tube again, so we tossed him in along with grandpa, and off we went! Dave pulled this time so I was able to watch him closely... I am pretty sure that he didn't stop talking and laughing the whole time! He loved it!

When grandpa decided that he couldn't hold on any longer (Jack could have stayed in there forever, I'm sure!), Dave decided to take advantage of the water, which had calmed down considerably. It was so smooth, in fact, that Dave decided to be brave and go outside the wake... and he made it! Check out the trying-not-to-smile smile on his face!

And then it was my turn! Dave being brave made me brave, too, so I had so much fun playing around... and this time I didn't worry about getting my hair wet!

After my last run we were about done, so we drove around a bit more before heading in to the boat (un)launch and then back to the hotel, where we changed and ate a delicious dinner in one of the restaurants there. The next morning we all packed up to get ready to go... but before we could go we had to do one more thing...