Mostly we just laughed– over silly puns, goofy faces, made-up games and all the inside jokes a family accumulates over the years– in fact, we laughed so loudly and so late into the night, I was afraid the sorority/fraternity group across the bay would scold us for disturbing their sleep.
Nearly a year had passed since out last family vacation and I realized over and over— this is why people go away, to leave the schedule and lessons and ringing phone.
Ben’s name was spoken over and over and I looked for memories of him around every corner– he’s never been on the houseboat with us, but his jokes and nicknames cover every inch of the boat. Above are the tube cushions he named the pirates— inspiring us to use pirate talk whenever we play on the tube.
And all our lame card games were taught us by Ben.
You’ll be impressed to see, Ben, Stef is getting good on the ski.
But no one can pull the water out of the lake like Dad.
Mary and Gabe made the switch from “little kid” rides to joining the big boys on tube rides. Screaming and yelling, they begged Erik to go faster and wilder and kicked me off when I got scared.
Erik and Mary played round after round of “I’m two.”– the challenge is to make the other person laugh first.
Throwing Erik’s sleeping cushion in the lake, Xander came up with a new game, “Disco Dancing Floor of Doom”– you have to sing and dance while balancing on the slippery air cushion. I never made it past “Disco Dancing” but I’m sure I developed better ab muscles from laughing and pulling myself up over and over.
Of course we jumped off the houseboat.
Lake Powell makes our hair crazy
and burns our skin.
But the view couldn’t be lovelier.
I scared everyone by taking photos while driving the boat– how could I resist? (you can see Stefan’s right eye is nearly swollen shut. Note to little boys with wrist rockets– shooting carrots is NOT a good idea)
Baby Bear avoids the water.
We felt like we were watching Hans grow before our eyes. Smiley one minute,
suave the next.
Everyone has their spot on the boat. Mary on Stefan’s lap,
Gabe on the floor.
Xander hides in the storage cupboard.
Swimming with a diaper lifejacket is surprisingly fun. We all tried it, but only Gabe was willing to be photographed (and it was his idea so he deserves credit).
More than anything, the lake is about time, time, time
to be ourselves
act a little crazy
Goodbye until next year, our darling lake.
Hildie
Not sure if we’re going to get excommunicated for this or not, but nobody in our family has ever been to Lake Powell.
It looks super fun.
Cath
I can almost taste the lake water, feel the sun. I could comment on almost every line. But the diaper life jacket made me laugh OUT. LOUD. Love that Gabe! And the jumping off the boat, the contrasting photos of Hans, your Lake Powell hair. It looks like it was glorious. And, as usual, you captured it brilliantly. xoxo
Lisa
Lake Powell is the quintessential Utah vacation…the perfect place to soak up your family. I vividly remember every one of my trips to Powell as a child. And diaper life jackets were our favorite way to go too. What a lovely post of a lovely vaycay!
Tracy
Captured so perfectly! So beautiful – all of you. xo
Kristin
Looks SO MUCH FUN! I haven’t been to Lake Powell in over a decade. One of these years we’ll take our kids and do a houseboat. Such a blast. In the meantime, we’ve been finding vacation fun in the lake and river cottages of Michigan. (Much shorter drive for us too.) Thanks for sharing!
Mormon Women: Who We Are
Simply. Awesome.
Lizzy
Beautiful!
Rachelle
Wonderful photos!
kanab zipline
I’ve never been to Lake Powell but those pictures sure make me want to visit someday! Thanks for sharing!
Click Here