Boating Trips

Summertime means boating time!  We love to go with Papa and ride in the boat, water-ski, tube, ride the wave runners, and last week at PineView we tried wakeboarding.  I've done it before and didn't really like it; my worst wipeout ever (that jacked up my back so bad that I still have lower back pain frequently) was on a wakeboard.  So I'm pretty wary of them.  I've never snowboarded, but I've heard that if you're a snowboarder you'll be a good wakeboarder.  Anyway, my niece Bayli is a snowboarder and wanted to try wakeboarding, so she brought up a board and we all tried it.  I still feel super nervous on it.  I can pop right up pretty easily...but then once I'm up I don't know how to maneuver or control the board at all.  Bayli did really well and she did say it's a lot like snowboarding.  I guess I'm just old school, but give me snow SKIS and water skis any day! :)  (Bryan felt the same way; he was better than me but he said he still prefers skiing over boarding.)

Bree had her first wave runner rides on this trip.  From that grin, I think she thinks they're great!

We also spent July 5th and 6th in Delta.  When you live in Tooele, Delta is the place to go for boating because, unfortunately, there are very few close lakes around.  Willard Bay and PineView might be the closest (at about 90 minutes away), but for only about 15 minutes more you can get to Delta, which is MUCH better.  People always ask us why would we go to Delta of all places?  Isn't it in the middle of nowhere?  Well, here's why...it's free to get in, the water is very warm, you don't get attacked by massive swarms of bugs like at Willard, the beach is sandy and not rocky, there are big trees for shade, and the best reason of all--the water is awesome for skiing!  It's not too crowded with boat traffic and the shape of the lake is such that the water is almost never choppy.  So that's our favorite spot for skiing, by far.  We grew up going there several times each summer.

Well, when we went down on the 5th, we were surprised by how full the beach was.  Hmmm.  We still got a spot, but as the day went on we were just amazed by the amount of people who kept coming, and kept coming, and kept coming!  It's hard to tell in the picture, but all the umbrellas and easy-ups were practically touching each other!  Blech.  (However, I think most of the people were just playing on the beach and by the shore; the boat traffic still was not horrendous, although it was certainly busier than usual.)

 We were worried about what it would be like on the 6th (a Saturday), but thankfully it was about normal.  I guess Friday was just a fluke.  Here we are in our shadier, less crowded spot, playing in the sand on Saturday...

 Bree needed a nap after not having one the day before so we went for a long boat ride, which usually does the trick.  She zonked out and I was even able to get out of the boat with her still asleep, which is quite unusual for my kids.  Ahh...naptime.

This July 6th trip is always done in honor and celebration of my mama, who died on July 6th, 1999.  It's surreal to think it's been 14 years.  I still think about her and miss her desperately every single day.  I wonder about what advice she'd give me as a mom.  (She'd probably tell me to chill the heck out about a lot of things.  I know I need to.  I'm too uptight about too much.)  I'd like to go shopping with her (and I don't even like shopping, but I'd like to go shopping with her.)  I'd like to go out to lunch and just visit.  I wonder what she'd think of me as an adult friend.  What would we talk about?  What would she be like with my kiddos?  (Awesome, that's what.)

Crap.  I need to stop writing the post now.  I can't see the computer screen anymore.