An Action Packed Day
Today was an action packed day at the lake house!
The grandchildren arrived today with their great-grandparents in tow. They were supposed to be here on Monday but a last minute appointment near home kept them from visiting us until today.
After Monday's appointment, they had school on Tuesday and they have their last day of school tomorrow so that left today open for a quick day trip and they'll be back on Friday to stay for close to a week. After canceling their visit to us on Monday they were itching to get here today!
The weather was rather chilly and windy this morning so we decided it was a perfect day for hiking to the summit of Owl's Head Mountain overlooking our lake. It was sunny and clear but a bit too chilly for swimming on the beach. This worked out well because when we arrived back at the house after hiking it was definitely warm enough for swimming and a little kayaking.
The hike was great! The views were spectacular and, although we (the adults) had to endure a brief barrage of "let's go back to the lake house" and "I'm hungry", we all had a great time.
Everyone even walked under their own power (although, I was originally intending to refer to the kids walking under their own power, it is amazing that my legs and feet held out... the trip down was extremely painful but I made it under my own power)... even Kenzie walked the entire way... up and down! She and Lukey also crawled through a tunnel-like cave on their own. It was a great hike.
When we arrived back to the lake, all the toys came out of storage... beach toys, water toys, lawn toys and two new kayaks... one for Lukey to use and one for Kenzie to use. The lawn and beach area were a large play area for the kids.
Lukey did fairly well testing out the new kayak even though it was quite windy. First, I gave Lukey a few lessons in how to paddle... forward and backward... using one side of paddling to turn one way and how to use the other side to turn the same way... then I had him practice getting back onto the kayak from the water in case he falls off his kayak.
I had him paddling around the shallower swimming area at the beach. Once I was confident he had control of steering where he needed to go, we ventured out into slightly deeper water around our dock area. It wasn't long before it got too windy so we headed back to the beach. Once the wind died down a bit we again ventured to the deeper water. This time, however, I had Lukey paddle in a wide circle as I followed... then I led while paddling backwards... then we did a few laps between our dock and our next door neighbor's dock before the wind picked up too much again. Lukey did quite well!
Nan, Pop and the kids headed for home so Lukey and Kenzie could get to school for their last day of pre-school tomorrow. After a quick cleaning up of a lot of toys, Gee and I got started on dinner.
As Gee and I ate dinner, we watched the sunset.
I shot approximately 600 photos today (loons, hiking, views from Owl's Head, kayaking, ring toss, bubbles, and lots of the kids) and I plan to share a few of them sometime soon but, for now, I'll share only two (I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open)... the above photo from the summit of Owl's Head Mountain and the photo, below, of tonight's sunset.
Okay... I'm heading to bed now as I listen to the loons calling and echoing across the lake...
The grandchildren arrived today with their great-grandparents in tow. They were supposed to be here on Monday but a last minute appointment near home kept them from visiting us until today.
After Monday's appointment, they had school on Tuesday and they have their last day of school tomorrow so that left today open for a quick day trip and they'll be back on Friday to stay for close to a week. After canceling their visit to us on Monday they were itching to get here today!
The weather was rather chilly and windy this morning so we decided it was a perfect day for hiking to the summit of Owl's Head Mountain overlooking our lake. It was sunny and clear but a bit too chilly for swimming on the beach. This worked out well because when we arrived back at the house after hiking it was definitely warm enough for swimming and a little kayaking.
Everyone even walked under their own power (although, I was originally intending to refer to the kids walking under their own power, it is amazing that my legs and feet held out... the trip down was extremely painful but I made it under my own power)... even Kenzie walked the entire way... up and down! She and Lukey also crawled through a tunnel-like cave on their own. It was a great hike.
When we arrived back to the lake, all the toys came out of storage... beach toys, water toys, lawn toys and two new kayaks... one for Lukey to use and one for Kenzie to use. The lawn and beach area were a large play area for the kids.
Lukey did fairly well testing out the new kayak even though it was quite windy. First, I gave Lukey a few lessons in how to paddle... forward and backward... using one side of paddling to turn one way and how to use the other side to turn the same way... then I had him practice getting back onto the kayak from the water in case he falls off his kayak.
I had him paddling around the shallower swimming area at the beach. Once I was confident he had control of steering where he needed to go, we ventured out into slightly deeper water around our dock area. It wasn't long before it got too windy so we headed back to the beach. Once the wind died down a bit we again ventured to the deeper water. This time, however, I had Lukey paddle in a wide circle as I followed... then I led while paddling backwards... then we did a few laps between our dock and our next door neighbor's dock before the wind picked up too much again. Lukey did quite well!
Nan, Pop and the kids headed for home so Lukey and Kenzie could get to school for their last day of pre-school tomorrow. After a quick cleaning up of a lot of toys, Gee and I got started on dinner.
As Gee and I ate dinner, we watched the sunset.
I shot approximately 600 photos today (loons, hiking, views from Owl's Head, kayaking, ring toss, bubbles, and lots of the kids) and I plan to share a few of them sometime soon but, for now, I'll share only two (I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open)... the above photo from the summit of Owl's Head Mountain and the photo, below, of tonight's sunset.
Okay... I'm heading to bed now as I listen to the loons calling and echoing across the lake...
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