Lake Day!

We decided to brave the crowds of tourists and head 'up north' last weekend for a Brainerd 4th of July. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so on Friday we headed to Tim & Heidi's (Chris's brother) for a day on the lake. Everyone strapped on their life jackets and we set off on the pontoon.

Alex wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing and not surprisingly, stayed pretty close to an adult lap the whole time.

Maguire, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of it! He roamed all around the pontoon, stood by the railing, and let the wind blow through his long, lovely locks.

{A Moment of Digression: Chris thinks Maguire's hair is getting a little too "business in the front, party in the back" and that he needs a haircut. What say you, our little handful of readers? Does our littlest boy need to trim his mini-mullet? Please let us know.}

Anyway, back to Lake Day. Of course, after the past few summers, Ellie was old hat at riding the pontoon and spent most of her time acquiring this lovely Crystal Light mustache.

If you can look past the three chins I seem to have suddenly sprouted in this picture, take a moment and marvel at the fact that both boys are sitting still! At the same time! They might not be looking at the camera, but you know. Maybe someday. A mom can dream.

Maguire and Uncle Tim, co-captains of the pontoon, deep in conversation about steering wheels, buttons, and flashing lights.

Alex was far more interested in available snacks than anything to do with the boat.

Ellie and Chris on the Jet Ski -- she was not convinced about riding, but we were very proud of how brave she was. At first, all you could hear was "GO SLOW, DADDY!!!" but soon she was laughing and asking him to go faster and "GET ME WET! SPLASH ME!"

When Ellie and Chris drove away on the Jet Ski, Maguire started crying. At first, I though he was just thinking Chris was leaving (both of the boys have been having separation anxiety at some really weird times lately), so we all tried to console him that Daddy would be right back. But after a minute, we realized that he was crying because he wanted to be riding with them.

And when I say crying, I mean hysterically sobbing.

And attempting to crawl up over the back of the pontoon to get to the water.

I would have taken a picture of that, but I was too busy trying to restrain him. So we buckled him back into a life jacket and he took a turn on the Jet Ski. Well, mostly he just sat on it with Daddy. This is the smaller and more tip-prone (is that a word?) of Tim & Heidi's two Jet Skis, and it didn't seem quite safe enough for him to take an actual ride. But he was happy as a clam to hold the handlebars and float along next to the pontoon for a few minutes.

Then it was up to the house to celebrate Chris's upcoming (on the 15th!) 30th birthday!

This amazing sunset was in our rearview mirror all the way back to Brainerd. A perfect way to end a great day, spent with family in the seems-like-it-took-forever-to-get-here beautiful summer weather.