For some much needed R & R from the summer, we headed back to our favorite spot in the mountains. I have a dozen photos of this spot but one day I will put them all together to see how my family has grown through the years while the lake seems to stay wrapped in a time warp. I can remember the first time we came and Eva dared jump off the second story of the deck, this year Gigi joined her and Golden in the daredevil club and from the deck they carried on jumping off of most everything in the surrounding area.
For a few moments we took them out to see the other sites, as you can see by their faces they just wanted to get back in the water.
The traveling here is a chore, I'll admit as is the packing. They complain and demand things for the trip that make my head want to fall off but in the end, it is all worth it and one day very soon, they will not be so cuddly, so needy, so, so very close and I will miss it. So I take it all in stride and savor the in between moments that make life worthwhile such as all the time spent on the water.
 |
| A new captain at the wheel this year |
 |
| Captain Awesome and his sidekick Mr. Ham |
 |
| I couldn't have said it better Nico |
A few new faces made it out to the floats this year. Eva was so patient with Nico who didn't really feel quite at home yet in the vessel of death.
She helped the trips have a blast and especially with Gigi who likes to ski very slow and smooth almost like driving Miss Daisy slow.
Watching Carlos with Gigi was the best. He, a daredevil, would put a thumbs up for us to go faster while he stood up on the float and bounced over the waves. Simultaneously, Gigi would have her thumb down and frown whenever the lake would even ripple. The true odd couple.
 |
| The original duo of this family |
No matter what the combination, the views couldn't have been better.
I forced my family to leave the comfort of the lake for a day to cruise through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We started at Mingo Falls, the went through the park with its winding roads that made me feel like I was filming one of those fancy car commercials,finally landing us in Pigeon Forge for some serious race car racing.
 |
| Mike left me a love note. |
We made it to the Appalachian Trail and for the recored we were just 1971.5 miles from our goal of Katahdin, Maine. The natives were restless and slowed down my progress.
 |
| Guess who slowed us down on the trail? Wrong, all of them. |
Our car hit a milestone in the Park, 100,000 miles. I'd like to say my family got out in the drizzle to take this picture because they love me so much and know I'm a sucker for documenting milestones OR they feared my wrath if they didn't. You decide. I cling to the former but fear it's the latter.
 |
| Just feel the BMW commercial here |
As we exited the park, a gang of elks just thought they'd give me a photo op. Look at that five point buck just hanging out on the side of the road. What an amazing world Heavenly Father has made for us.
When we went go karting, I realized we have raised some really spectacular and thoughtful children. Whenever we would pass people, Carlos would say things like, "In your face loser." and "Eat my dust." Nico would stick to the more simple, "I'm a winner." and "Faster."
 |
| Just look at Nico's face. So excited to be a real man with his dad. |
We stopped at REI and tried our hand at rock climbing. I will say this, we are definitely not billy goats.
On another day, Mike and I went mountain biking at Tsali Trail. I have come to see the differences between us clearly on this trek. Mike said in mountain biking you have to pay to play. As we peddled up the first hill I couldn't believe how beautiful this all was and knew that this must be the play portion of the trip. Sure enough the down hill came, full of rocks, sharp turns and ditches bigger than my tire. I was petrified but kept thinking how up ahead would be another hill that would take my breath away. The one thing about those downhills though was that as I applied the breaks to get around the treacherous areas and went from side to side to avoid the cliffs that would surely end my life, my husband would race down with abandon reaching speeds that would make your clothes burn off. I lost sight of him because he went so fast and I found myself looking over the cliffs to see if he had fallen. I was angry he didn't drop something to let me know he had died at a certain spot for me to search. When we hit the first viewing section, overlooking the lake, he reminded me that we had to pay going up the hills in order to race down them. I was shocked how we viewed the same trip completely backwards. He was kind enough as we rode to scream warnings at me as we went downhill. To him, he would scream, "ditch, root, turn." Unfortunately, all I would here was "blah. blah. blah" because I was too busy not letting myself die!
On a certain turn I saw a small orange flag sticking out of the ground, I screamed up to Mike, "Does this flag mark where someone died." Just as I swerved to hit the flag and go around a sharp turn, I met up with a very large, hard and very sedentary tree. I fell on my butt very ladylike and decided I needed to recreate this moment in a picture for you. Now I know that the flag was a distraction from the forest in order to maim and even kill the people who dare roam in it.
From our rest stop I got to appreciate the gorgeous view, and the lake was nice too.
I guess when Mike sees the downhills in life he says, "Wee!!" Now I find myself saying, "The kids need me, who will clean the laundry if I break my arm? Who will drive them to school and ballet if my hip is ripped out of its socket? How will Mike ever feed them appropriately if I am in a coma?
He summarized it like this. "Sylvia, I am comfortable in physical crisis. You, on the other hand, our comfortable in an emotional one. It's how we were raised. I was a trick bike rider and exceptional football and baseball player, you were a shilock and part time mobster in grade school. Its what we know."
I suppose that's why we complement each other so well.
 |
| The forest trail before it tried to kill me |
And speaking of physical crisis, for his early birthday present, I got Mike kayaking lessons. As we drove there he seemed a bit nervous and asked me if he would be okay. As a joke I told him his instructor would likely be some kid with long hair named Eli who would say stuff like "sweet" and "awesome". As we arrived to the NOC we were greeted by the guy below.
"Hi, what's your name?" he asked Mike. When Mike introduced himself, Eli said, "sweet, awesome." I turned to Mike and whispered, "you're a goner." I kissed him goodbye as if it was our last and in true Mike form, six hours later I met up with him at the river where he had mastered the kayak. We have never been married long enough for him to stop surprising me.
As we waited for Mike, we did the nets, some zip lining and swimming in the river at the NOC.
 |
| How I climbed to the river's edge to photograph Mike |
I love the mountain house. I miss summer but most of all I miss making summer memories.
A week later, we started school. Here are the trips with their first grade teacher Mrs. Proctor.
 |
| My eigth grader without braces. |
 |
My 10th grader, 1st graders, and Nico who is sad he is not going to school.
Until next time summer!
|
