When we pulled up to the cabin we were greeted by some four-legged friends who continued to visit us throughout our stay.
We were pretty excited about the house, and we didn't waste any time putting the boat on the lake. We went for a ride immediately, but soon discovered that the boat was not running very well. It would idle fine, but once we gave it gas and it hit a certain RPM, the engine would completely cut out! Which, of course, made for an interesting ride on the tube... Jack and I were lucky to be able to hang on with all those crazy stops and starts. We sat and relaxed on the boat while Dave tried to figure out what was going on. I kept telling him that I thought something sounded asymmetrical with the steering, but Dave couldn't figure out what I meant and that didn't make sense as to why the boat would be cutting out. The boys were just loving being on vacation, though, and didn't really care that the boat wasn't going anywhere!
Unfortunately, we weren't able to figure it out so we limped the boat back to the slip and went up to the clubhouse to eat our lunch while Dave googled and called around to find a place that we could take the boat to, hoping that if we brought it in fast enough we could have it back in time to play with it before our vacation was over.
Dave found a place to take the boat, so mom and I took the boys to the pool while Dave and dad put the boat back on the trailer.
Thank God that my parents came with us, because Dave and I were able to leave the kids with them instead of taking them with us when we took the boat back to Paso Robles, which was an hour away. We were told that they would be done with the boat by 4 so Dave and I hung out and explored the town on foot while we waited for the phone call. As it turned out, though, the part we needed for the boat wouldn't be there until the next day so Dave and I headed back to the cabin. When we got there, the boys decided that they wanted to go play miniature golf
The next day, we were waiting for a phone call about the boat, so we lazed around in our pajamas all morning, telling stories in grandma's bed, eating pancakes, exploring the cabin and watching Finding Nemo.
Then we got a phone call that the boat needed a lot more work than we thought and that we wouldn't get to use the boat at all on our vacation! We were bummed, and Dave and I once again had to leave the boys with my parents and get back on the road so that we could check out the issues with the boat and sign some papers. We had to decide between taking the boat home to be worked on or leaving it up at the lake to be worked on and returning a week after vacation to pick it up. We decided to leave it there and have them just do all the work, including the general maintenance, and then Dave and I headed back on the road to get the boys and take them to play on the shore at the lake. Of course, when we got there I realized that I left most of the sand toys in the boat (at least I remembered to grab the life jackets), so we grabbed some spoons and bowls out of the kitchen for digging before heading down to the shore. We found a great spot! The boys had fun digging and swimming!
We had considered spending one day of our vacation in Paso Robles at the Mid-State Fair, and since we no longer had a boat to play with, it wasn't hard to make the decision to go for it. So the next day we all piled in the truck and headed back on the road, which was starting to look very familiar to Dave and I, who had driven the two-hour round-trip every single day so far! We had a great time at the fair- there was something there for each of us!
This next picture cracks me up... Jack decided that he wanted to go in a fun house, but we didn't have any tickets left for an adult to go with him. I decided that he was old enough and gave him very specific instructions and sent him in, but Dave and my dad were worried and kept trying to peek though any opening they could find to keep an eye on him and make sure that he was okay. I wish I had gotten a movie of them... it was pretty cute :)
Jack was so excited when he saw this "ride"! He had seen it at the Discovery Cube when we went for his birthday but we weren't able to do it then, so we were thrilled that we could let him do it this time. He had so much fun and he talked about it for months!!!
Then Sam caught sight of the horses and we were only too happy to let him ride... he adores animals its so fun to watch his concentration. It's like he doesn't want to forget a second of it!
On the way back from the fair we stopped by the boat to grab our sand toys before heading back to the cabin. The next morning Dave and I were excited about it being the first day of vacation that we wouldn't have to make the two-hour round-trip back to town! The boys had been begging, so we decided to play mini-golf again. We had a lot of fun playing, even though we found this crazy monster-sized bug (that apparently is a tarantula hawk) that scared the boys. Sam quickly lost interest in actually golfing and alternated between sitting on the hazards on the green and conducting an invisible orchestra using the plaque as his music stand.
Then we headed back down to the clubhouse to eat lunch by the pool and play at the playground.
After lunch we decided to go back to the shore of the lake to play one last time, since it was our last day. This time we had our buckets and shovels!
So, our vacation did not turn out at all like it was supposed to, and we ended up spending a lot more money than we had planned on (boat repairs), but we did end up having a pretty good time despite that. The boys were really confused, though, as to why we came home without the boat, but Sam didn't waste too much time wondering... he was too tired from all the fun we had!
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