TN Visit

Ben's last day of kindergarten (sniff, sniff) was Wednesday, so we decided to kick off summer with a quick trip down to Tennessee to visit Mama Kay and Papa and hang out at the lake. Paul had to work, but luckily we were able to go down with Aunt Domi, Caroline, and Hunter. So early Thursday morning, we loaded the kids up and drove down to TN. The trip went relatively smoothly (considering we had 5 kids with us) and we got there in plenty of time for a nice afternoon swim, some delicious bbq, and then a PJ cruise on the boat! I think the kids are excited about the PJ cruise...

My cuties... 

They each got to take a turn driving the boat!

And they loved riding in the front of the boat and watching everything! 

Someone had to keep a hold of Juju though as she leaned so far over the boat that she could have fallen in!   

This was also Belle's first trip to the lake.  She was pretty excited to be there, although I don't think she was thrilled when we threw her in the lake.  It was pretty amazing to watch though - she just instantly knew how to swim.  At first she was a little clumsy at it making big splashes, but before long she was gliding gracefully through the water.  She didn't love it the way Chien did, but I seem to remember having to throw Chien in a lot when he was a puppy too so I am holding out hope that next summer (or maybe the summer after that) she will be jumping in herself the way Chien did. 

The kids also love going out on Mama Kay's boat! 

These two loved being on the motor boat...

And this is Caroline using the beginning water skiing float behind the boat!

This is what Ben thought about that float though... 

We went to the beach/playground they have that the kids really enjoy!  I helped Ben make a moat around his castle. 

Juliette loved the water a bit too much.  She would go deeper and deeper and thankfully I kept a very close eye on her and only had to sprint across the beach once to pull her up from under the water - yikes!  It was scary for me, but she was only under a second or two before I got to her.   She is fearless when it comes to the water.

The kids buried Abbey in the sand. 

Good dog! 

On Friday night, Paul flew in and early the next morning, the kids were anxious to go fishing with him off the dock.  Here are Abbey and Juliette checking out the fishing equipment. 

Daddy helping Ben fish... 

Yay!  They caught one!  The best thing about fishing off the dock is that you usually catch something pretty quickly, so the kids love it and don't lose interest (which can happen when you fish for hours without catching anything). 

Ben and his fish. 

Daddy had a rule that whoever caught the fish had to kiss it, but he was the only one who actually adhered to that rule! 

This is what Caroline thought about Paul's rule...