Lake trip with friends

Sometimes I have good ideas that are exhausting to execute.  This past weekend is a perfect example.  I thought it would be fun for the kids to invite friends to the Lake House.  Serafina's first choice was Sunny, of course, but she had multiple sports to compete in over the weekend.  Leo invited his friend Hadley, who had to miss a day of camp to come, but was willing to do that to join us.  I was worried about the dynamic if Serafina didn't have a friend, so she asked Arya to come along. I was excited about how fun it would be for the kids to have company other than their boring parents at the lake.  Then we had to think about the logistics, and honestly, it wasn't pretty.  In fact, I considered backing out of bringing along extra people.  But Tom and I knew the kids would have a super fun time with their friends so we needed to figure it out.   

The first "challenge" was getting the little cart, affectionately named the "cool rider", back up to the lake house.  We brought it down to Sunnyvale for the winter so it didn't get crushed by snow.  The method of transportation is towing it in a rented trailer.  I do not enjoy driving like this.  Not at all.  

But inside the car would prove to be even trickier.  With my back row of seats up to accommodate our extra passengers, we have very limited trunk space.  I mentioned this to a new friend I met through the middle school and she offered up a roof bag to borrow.  Well this is what made it possible.  Sure, we did tie down some duffle bags in the trailer, but we also filled up the roof bag and our little trunk, and made it work.  It helped that Hadley was a very light packer and only brought a backpack for herself.  

Here she is...trailer in back, roof bag up top.  

Trailer, "cool rider", four kids, two adults and one dog all headed up to the mountains.  

Loaded up! 

We got there late on Friday night since the driving was slow with the trailer.  Arya asked how long we had been driving before we even got on the freeway.  Leo and Hadley watched a movie in the way back and laughed through the whole thing.  When we finally got to the house a little after midnight, Arya announced it was way past her bedtime.  

The next day, everyone woke up and had some breakfast.  Tom and I had a lot to figure out to maximize the fun on the lake.  Well, Tom did almost all of it while I walked the dog and rallied the troops. 

It was an absolutely beautiful day.  Perfect lake day.  We got to experience the private beach club that we joined for the first time and I was really happy with it.  Less crowded than the public beach with tons of tables and umbrellas.  

Here's Hadley and Leo ready to conquer the water.  Leo wore his contacts so he could use his cool sunglasses.  

Hadley headed out in the kayak. 

Leo was on a standup paddle board. He really liked paddle boarding in Michigan a few summers ago, so he was excited to do it again.  

Arya and Serafina had a ton of fun on the water.  

Here's Arya and Tom in kayaks with Serafina on the paddle board.  

Paddle board queen. 

Serafina and Arya head out in the kayaks. 

Tom tried out the paddle board.  He thought it was a bit trickier than it looks. 

Such a warm, beautiful day on the lake. 

Everyone was out and about.  When they weren't on the water, they were wandering the shoreline or playing on the playground.  

Eventually they were ready to end the water fun and walk to the ice cream shop.  We sent them off, and Tom and I finally got a chance to kayak together.  Then it was time to pack up the gear. The beach is just a block and a half from our house.  The perfect distance to walk with the wagon full of towels and snacks, but when you need a big water toy, the "cool rider" is the perfect solution. 

Tom got the little paddle board, apparently.  Thankfully, it's inflatable and we were able to deflate it and fit it in the shed behind him.  

While we were working on getting things put away, the ice cream gang returned.  

That evening Tom and I socialized a little with our neighbors and then fed the kids dinner at home.  We watched Little Shop of Horrors, and all the kids were in bed by 10:30 without me telling them to go to bed.  They were exhausted.  

We woke up to rain on Sunday.  It rained pretty much the whole day.  After a slow morning, we went to town for some shopping.  We didn't last long in town because of the weather, so we headed home for a lazy afternoon around the cabin.  

Here's Tom stretching on the exercise ball while reading a magazine, Hadley doing a puzzle while listening to a podcast, and Serafina watching TV on my laptop.  

Hadley worked on that puzzle for hours and hours.  It was kind of amazing to watch. 

The rain finally cleared up before dinner so it was time for some whiffle ball to work up an appetite.  Here's Hadley up to bat.  

Mousse was convinced this game was for him. 

Arya's turn.  

We headed back into town to our favorite pizza spot.  We ate a ton of pizza and laughed about all kinds of things.  

We watched another movie that night while Hadley did more puzzling.  Monday morning, everyone pitched in to get us packed up and on the road before 10am.  I was so impressed with us.  Driving home with an empty trailer is easier, but still not fun.  What was fun?  Our crazy weekend with two extra kids!  I'm proud of Tom and I for being brave and taking on all this.  We made memories and proved to ourselves we can do it.  But we won't be in any rush to do it again.