Where Help Is Needed...

... there Sam will be.

 

 

And More Bad Luck!

Two days after Reed was born we got the call that the boat was finally ready to be picked up... a month after we dropped it off!  Dave quickly made some reservations and we dropped the boys off at my mom's and picked up my dad for a trip back up to Lake Nacimiento.  I was trying hard not to miss my boys too much, which was proving very difficult... especially since the birth of my nephew was making me crave time with my littles!  So, I decided to make the best of it and since I rarely don't have my kids with me I figured I could not only leave my big camera at home (I only brought my iPhone and my underwater camera), but I'd also take full advantage of not having to worry about Jack's allergies ;)

We headed straight to the boat shop to check things out and then immediately hopped on the road to the lake to test out the boat.  It seemed to be running well!  We were stoked and we immediately pulled out Dave's wakeboard and tossed him in the water.  

And during the first run, this happened:

Which really sucked.  And just totally figured, with the way our luck had been running.  So instead, Dave got to try out my board!

Then I got to go, and then dad got to go!

 

It was so nice to be able to use the boat again... we played around for about 2 hours until all of the sudden the boat died again.  We were having the same issues and we were not happy about it!  We immediately loaded the boat back onto the trailer and hopped on the road to take it back to the shop, where we were told that there was one last thing that they could try, but if that didn't work then they were stumped and would wash their hands of it!  Unfortunately they didn't have a computer for diagnostics, and we weren't going to leave the boat up there again anyway, so we had them change that one last part and then headed back to the lake.  Again.  It was seriously getting to the point that we could have driven that road blindfolded!  Anyway, we put the boat back on the lake and tried again, but we were still having the same problem.  LAME.  We decided to give up, so we put the boat back on the trailer and headed to our cabin, where Dave googled boat problems and places that we could take the boat while my dad and I decided to walk down the steps behind the cabin to swim in the lake.  It was beautiful, and we couldn't resist!

The view from our swim spot.

The trip wasn't entirely wasted, though... as I was reading my book on the balcony of the cabin I noticed a man on the balcony of the next cabin over who was alternating between taking pictures of something towards the lake and turning his head to try to get my attention. I stood up to let him know I saw him, and he very quietly told me to look at the tallest tree overhanging the lake.  So I did, and I was thrilled to see a bald eagle perched there!  I had never seen one in the wild before (not that I can remember, anyway)!

We had a pretty uneventful trip home, and I was so thrilled to see the boys and to bring baby Reed a souvenir that I just couldn't help buying for him.

And if you're wondering if we ever figured out what was wrong with the boat, well... not really.  We brought it to a local place, and they ran diagnostics and tests and they basically told us that they could not get the problem to duplicate and as far as they were concerned there isn't anything wrong with the boat!  Sooooo, it might work, but it also might not.  Their best guess was that there was air or water in the fuel line and that it has worked its way out.  So, I guess we'll see next time we get around to taking it out!  It's hard to plan a boat day when we don't know if the boat works, huh?

 

The Curse Of The Reeves Family Summer Vacation Continues

Our summer vacation of 2011 didn't go quite according to plan.  If you'll recall, we had a disastrous first day, and had a mini disaster each day following.  Not enough to completely ruin the vacation, because we're positive people, but enough to stress us out a lot!  So we were pretty excited when it looked like our 2012 summer vacation was headed in a different direction.  We had decided to try out Lake Nacimiento for the first time, and Dave found a fun house to stay at that included a slip for the boat, a mini-golf course and a community pool, which we were really excited about.  We got to Paso Robles, which is about an hour away from Lake Nacimiento, and ate lunch and filled up the boat.

 

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!