Lake Powel (part 2)

 We got so many great pictures this year of these kiddos (and grown-ups) playing in the fantastic Lake Powell "playground" that they needed their own post!

 Tye and Marsh before one of many crazy high cliff jumps

 Bentley surveying the scene before taking off into the water. He was seriously the bravest boy this year and jumped from some really high spots. I was so proud of him and he never made it a big deal but just sucked up his fear and went for it. He is so fun!

 

 Marsh and Joseph on a jump

 Cute Livs rockin' her shades

 Joseph waterskiing—that background is just too beautiful

 I fit in my annual waterskiing, in the middle of the day even! We hit some unusually glassy water one afternoon while my whole little family was out with my dad on the Malibu. My kids were super excited at the prospect of seeing my ski so I had to pull out my A game. It was pretty fun to hear them cheering and rooting me on!

 One of my favorite LP pics of all time—pure joy on that girl's face!

Cute blonde girl up on the red rocks

 Brave Livs trying out some higher jumps

 Family jump with uncle Marshall a little hidden in the back

Stacey and I got our nerves up and tried out some cliff jumps too. I don't think I've jumped from this high in many, many years but it was pretty fun—total adrenaline rush!

 Glassy morning glory

 Beans cruising around on the knee board

Late one afternoon we wanted to hike around the cliffs by our site and so we took these kiddos while Luke napped. It was such a sunny, hot day that we had to keep taking dips in the lake along the way to cool off (even though we were mostly soaking wet already.) 

 Our houseboat is peeking out of the left hand side of this picture. We had such good shelter from morning sunshine and crazy wind due to these big cliffs.

On our last night we made a little campfire, lit sparklers on the beach, and made s'mores. It was Luke's first s'more (I always like to put him to bed before we do fires :) Stacey caught that classic shot of my Dad jumping up because Luke had just burned him with a sparkler...ergo, Luke and fires don't mix well!

 Cute pics of snuggly cousins

The boys pulled out their handyman skills and fixed a sinking wave runner. I think they were pretty proud of their work and the machine held up great for the rest of our stay. Meanwhile the kids gave themselves relaxing spa treatments in the "special, soft sand."

The saddest part of our trip began with Tye's busted up finger from a ricocheting ski rope handle. It got worse and worse after he hurt it so he and my parents made a plan to head to Page early the next morning and get him an x-ray, but just before they drove off in the boat that morning, my mom tripped on something in the dark houseboat and really hurt her toe. She went with the boys anyway to find out if she had broken her toe and we ended up with two broken patients! They were both badly hurt but rallied for our last day on the lake. 

 

All too soon it was time to head back to the marina and unload off the lake. It was perfect timing really as Mason was getting sick, Tye's injury was not feeling good, and all the littles were worn totally out. It's always hard to leave this beautiful place though—such an awesome family tradition!

 

Our 2014 Lake Powell crew.
Thank you mom and dad for yet another amazing LP adventure!

Postscript: we pulled off the lake on a Saturday and decided to make the quick 2 hour drive to St George to stay for the rest of the weekend and unwind before heading home. As soon as we got to the SG house our kids were searching for their swimsuits so we could take them up to the pool! Never enough water play for these guys:

Lake Powell (part 1)

 

Matching boys on the shuttle bus drive from Page to the marina

Heading out on the houseboat! I love how ecstatic my kids are every summer to just get in water already! We took our first dip out in the channel and I only captured the little ones as Joseph and the bigs were jumping off the top of the house boat first chance they had. It was the beginning of thousands of jumps that week :)

 Our campsite this year. Gorgeous views surrounding us and a ton of sand to play on. With the water level so high this year it was tricky finding a good spot. We had to clear away a lot of prickly bush debris but it was so worth it. These kiddos had a ball playing in the shallow water and 2 sandbars near our site.

 

 Last time my Luke came to LP he was a tiny babe so this year he was in heaven! This boy has a pure love of water and jumping and "diving" and just playing his little heart out all day. I loved catching him enjoying the lake so fully!

Paddle boards were a big hit again this year. 

These 2 have mastered them and used them to explore all over our bay.

 Please pardon those amazing white thighs in this picture of our great little beach :)

 Mermaid Caroline

 And merman Luke (of course he begged for a tail once Cares got one)

 His hair this summer was the best down there! It dried amazingly fast in that desert heat and would fluff right up as it did so. So cute!

 View from the houseboat looking back at Gunsight. We usually camp on the other side of that butte but this year Padre offered the better beaches.

 Livs and my dad taking a quick swim together

Getting in an evening swim before bed one night. This year I mostly hung out with Luke a ton since he was so eager to play and be swimming but not as eager to do stuff like cliff jump or knee-board or paddle board. I sent Joseph off with the bigs on lots of adventures and had great toddler time with my baby boy.

We always plan a day for packing up lunch, sunblock and tons of drinks and taking off in the speedboat on a good long excursion.

 Livs and Luke all ready to go.

 This crew likes to sit up front and snuggle up as we go.

 Marsh and Tye brought the wave runners along too for more canyon exploring.

Stacey and her cute boys.

We lucked out finding the best shady spot in this rock arch up Labyrinth Canyon. In the heat of July the sunshine feels awesome for playing in the water but it's too hot for eating lunch, so shade is a must. 

 Joseph nabbed this cool shot looking up from our shady alcove.

Lots of water play on our adventure

 

And jumping and diving. All that time spent on dives last summer has totally paid off! My olders are getting so good at it and they still love doing it over and over.

Baby Stanford even got in a for a few minutes to cool off. He's so tiny and cute all bundled up!

Straight across from our shady spot we found a great little rocky ledge...perfect for family jumping of course!

 Snuggliest boys on our drive back to the houseboat. Mason has given Joseph the affectionate nickname of Papa Joe which we think is super sweet and kind of perfect. I love how lulling the boat can be for small kids—it took about 3 minutes for Luke to fall asleep and he wasn't kidding about that nap that day. He slept for 2 more hours even after we unloaded him and took of his life jacket and got him into a real bed. LP wears that baby out!