Vacation Part 4: Boating at Lake Mead

We left for Lake Mead in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, as in 4:00 a.m. Yes, my family is crazy. Or maybe just hardcore. Maybe both. Although now that I think about it, we're not the only crazy/hardcore ones because the Simmons were the ones who suggested this insane departure time. So I would venture to say that they are just as much if not more crazy/hardcore than our family. We were at the Lake by 9:30 a.m. I was the one driving in our car because Chad is an unsafe driver when he's tired, and so to amuse myself while Chad and Luke slept, I took pictures of the boats... while I was driving and listening to my book on CD. It was entirely safe, I promise.Once we got the boats launched and scouted out our campsite, shade was created immediately and everyone took cover. Unfortunately, it was a little bit too windy for much water sporting, so we reverted to entertaining each other with witty jokes and story telling.

My cousin Ila decided to hit the water instead... another great way to maintain sanity and a normal body temperature in the extreme heat.

Luke decided to pretend that the sun wasn't there and used his free time to attempt fishing. He's so cute to watch when he fishes, he's just so determined that it's going to happen someday.

My mom built a rock tower,

all of the girls decided to hit the water,

and we all enjoyed each other's company.

Dad decided to sneak in a nap on the floor of the boat.

Around dinner time, the wind started to pick up. Fortunately, the direction of the wind hadn't caused sand to be blown up everywhere. Unfortunately, just as we were finishing dinner, our huge shade canopy took flight. Rather than suffer through a miserable night of wind/sand blasting, the Simmons family scouted out another campsite and we relocated. It's crazy how fast an entire campsite can be packed up, moved, and set up again. It's practically an art form.

The moon was beautiful and full.

I call this one, "The Thinker".

A night at the lake would not be complete without the ritual, "drive the boat out into the middle of the cove, turn the music up real loud, and everyone take a shower". A lake shower is unique and quite the show for anyone watching. It basically consists of everyone on the boat jumping into the lake, climbing out, lathering up with shampoo, jumping in, climbing out, lathering up with conditioner, jumping in, climbing out, soaping up, jumping in, swimming a bit, climbing out, and then drying off and heading back to camp. It is mucho refreshing after a long day at the lake.

The next morning, we were up with the sun at 5:45 a.m. (crazy) and out on the lake for all manner of water sporting. Luke was not psyched about this whole "5:45 a.m." deal.

I had fun using my camera to take some sweet pictures of everyone taking their turn at wakeboarding or wake surfing.

Riley

she always looks so determined!

The sunrise was beautiful!

Chad

"Hey guys, could you tell that I was leaning too far back on my back foot?"

Alyse

Apparently Riley isn't the only one who does the tongue-sticking-out thing while she wakeboards.

McKenna

What a stud.

Cutie.

Luke

Dad (kind of awesome)

Ouch.

Swim break!

Riley again, this time wakesurfing.

After a long morning of watersports, we decided on an afternoon boat ride to the Hoover Dam complete with cliff jumping.

Because it was Chaddy's birthday, we stopped by the marina on our way back and indulged in frozen treats of all kinds: ice cream bars, frozen fruit sorbet cups, and popsicles!

Hanging out back at camp...

There were some guys at our old campsite who had set up an enormous water slide and so when we went back to pick up our trash, they let the boys try it out!

Nighttime dance party on the boat.

Riley also invented the first boogie-surfing known to both the Myer and Simmons' families. Hilarious.

Family lake picture.

I sure do miss them. Until our next vacation, whenever that may be... we're back in Utah.