Everyone packed their scurvy scumbags and shipwrecked at a family member's lakehouse in Hayden, ID. Shauna and Aaron brought hand-drawn pirate flags for each family member's door and a gigantic treasure map to hang off the balcony. Adrienne brought books. Mom brought costumes (of course!) and decorations. I brought food. Shaun brought boats. And the Ketchies brought the entertainment.
The pirate theme was perfect. Everyone had a blast dressing in pirate gear. Matt wins the scariest pirate award. At one point I had a shovel strapped to my leg and went by Captain "shovel-leg" Sorensen. Here's Captain Grumps, First Mate Marmie, Argghh! Adrienne and Swashbuckling Shaun.
The kids loved the treasure hunt and spent a long afternoon enjoying their spoils. Although I think Emma, in the true pirate spirit, pilfered most of everyone else's precious gems and moneys. 
The boats were in ship-shape (guffaw!) and we spent most of our time on the water. Shauna wins the award for bravery as she was thoroughly bounced, dumped and pummeled on the tube with her pregnant belly. Aaron impressed us all by becoming an instant surf pro. Matt and Justine gave surfing a try- Justine got up and Matt. . . .well he gave surfing a try.
The boats were in ship-shape (guffaw!) and we spent most of our time on the water. Shauna wins the award for bravery as she was thoroughly bounced, dumped and pummeled on the tube with her pregnant belly. Aaron impressed us all by becoming an instant surf pro. Matt and Justine gave surfing a try- Justine got up and Matt. . . .well he gave surfing a try.
Dad's emails included some great descriptions of the trip. So, in his words:
"""The sun rises over the lake directly into those large picture windows and it starts about 4:45 in the AM so I was wide awake and ready to go early in the morning but had to stay put until the crowd awoke and breakfast was history. Aaron and I took off in the two man kayak and paddled near a mile before turning back.
Later in the day we found ourselves on the tube behind the boat with Shaun driving – that is a fun workout. On the outside of the wake around a turn, over the wake, over more wakes, getting a bit of air, splashing. Aaron and I also did some surfing – surfing the wake on a surfboard. Aaron progressed rapidly and really got to be quite good. I had my ups and downs. I like this water challenge the best, and feel Shaun and Aaron do also. Beth put on quite show for us doing this. She is so expressive and cute. On one particular run she was a bit heavy on her front foot and ran the surfboard right up onto the back swim deck, then stepped off onto it, grabbed her board and took a bow with the boat still moving.
My best surfing took place near sundown on that first night when Shaun introduced us to the dry suit – keeps you completely dry except for feet hands and head. The cold zaps your strength and after a day of tubing and in and out of the water, this helped and I stayed up without the rope surfing for the longest time ever for me.
The Ketchies arrived late on Wed and we had them out early Thursday. The older kids were fearless in getting on the tube but a couple of dunks and breaths of lake water cured them of that, partially. Still they hung in there and participated. Shaun and Aaron were able to get up and surf with both Brayden and Abigail on the board with the
m, and even let go of the rope and continue which was quite impressive.
When it came to skiing, Brayden volunteered to go first on the kids skis (tied together). He said he knew what he was doing and seeme
d attentive to the instruction. Aaron got in with him and got him all situated but when the throttle was pushed, the skis went to the rear and Brayden's head went forward and he hung on. That was it, he had enough but Abigail still wanted to try – though similar results were experienced.
As for the highlights in tubing, probably the most unique was when Aaron was on one tube and Matt on the other. Aarons tube came across and hit Matts then got caught by the wake which added upward momentum and flipped Aaron over on top of Matt so that the tubes sandwiched them together. On other occasions, Shaun did some tube hopping. Great fun !!! """
Thanks Dad for the emails and thanks Mom for all your hard work. We had such a great time playing (swashbuckling) and relaxing (bucaneering) while you swabbed the deck. The grub was great- including the "
One-Eyed Jack Sparrows." Joseph discovered a love for watermelon and went berserk everytime he saw some. Perhaps we have damaged our oldest child as she will no longer enter the lake (maybe it was that 60 degree dip in June?), but she enjoyed playing on the beach and greeting the boats with "Ahoy Mateys!"
"""The sun rises over the lake directly into those large picture windows and it starts about 4:45 in the AM so I was wide awake and ready to go early in the morning but had to stay put until the crowd awoke and breakfast was history. Aaron and I took off in the two man kayak and paddled near a mile before turning back.
Later in the day we found ourselves on the tube behind the boat with Shaun driving – that is a fun workout. On the outside of the wake around a turn, over the wake, over more wakes, getting a bit of air, splashing. Aaron and I also did some surfing – surfing the wake on a surfboard. Aaron progressed rapidly and really got to be quite good. I had my ups and downs. I like this water challenge the best, and feel Shaun and Aaron do also. Beth put on quite show for us doing this. She is so expressive and cute. On one particular run she was a bit heavy on her front foot and ran the surfboard right up onto the back swim deck, then stepped off onto it, grabbed her board and took a bow with the boat still moving.
My best surfing took place near sundown on that first night when Shaun introduced us to the dry suit – keeps you completely dry except for feet hands and head. The cold zaps your strength and after a day of tubing and in and out of the water, this helped and I stayed up without the rope surfing for the longest time ever for me.
The Ketchies arrived late on Wed and we had them out early Thursday. The older kids were fearless in getting on the tube but a couple of dunks and breaths of lake water cured them of that, partially. Still they hung in there and participated. Shaun and Aaron were able to get up and surf with both Brayden and Abigail on the board with the
m, and even let go of the rope and continue which was quite impressive.When it came to skiing, Brayden volunteered to go first on the kids skis (tied together). He said he knew what he was doing and seeme
d attentive to the instruction. Aaron got in with him and got him all situated but when the throttle was pushed, the skis went to the rear and Brayden's head went forward and he hung on. That was it, he had enough but Abigail still wanted to try – though similar results were experienced.As for the highlights in tubing, probably the most unique was when Aaron was on one tube and Matt on the other. Aarons tube came across and hit Matts then got caught by the wake which added upward momentum and flipped Aaron over on top of Matt so that the tubes sandwiched them together. On other occasions, Shaun did some tube hopping. Great fun !!! """
Thanks Dad for the emails and thanks Mom for all your hard work. We had such a great time playing (swashbuckling) and relaxing (bucaneering) while you swabbed the deck. The grub was great- including the "
One-Eyed Jack Sparrows." Joseph discovered a love for watermelon and went berserk everytime he saw some. Perhaps we have damaged our oldest child as she will no longer enter the lake (maybe it was that 60 degree dip in June?), but she enjoyed playing on the beach and greeting the boats with "Ahoy Mateys!"I think I will miss talking to everyone in pirate, but we have plans for a repeat next year. Arghh, see you on the lake you bilge rats!
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