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!