Weekend at Inks Lake

We went away for a fun family getaway last weekend to Inks Lake. Friends of ours rent a lake house here for a weekend in June every summer, and this is the second year they have invited us to join them. Inks lake is about 3 1/2 hours southwest of Dallas and about an hour northeast outside of Austin. Inks Lake is located in Texas hill country, which is a popular vacation destination around Texas. 

We have known our friends, the Schultz Family, for about six or seven years. Amelia and the Schultz's oldest daughter Gretchen, and John and their younger daughter Courtney, were all in preschool together for several years. John and Courtney started together before they were two, and Amelia and Gretchen first met in the 3/4 year-old classroom. We only get to see each other a few times a year, but the kids (and adults) easily click and have fun whenever we get together.

Texas lake house living involves spending lots of time outside - either on the porch, the expansive lawn that leads from the house to the lake, or in the water. It's a win-for-all situation with our children's ages right now (ages ranged from 7 to 10). The kids easily entertain themselves, they are all strong swimmers (so the adults can supervise with minimal intervention), and the adults get lots of time for visiting and hanging out. 

View from the grass looking out towards the docks. This year we were lucky to have both a boat dock and a floating dock, and the kids jumped off both for hours each day.

View looking left down the lake. It doesn't look very picturesque in this photo because of the cloud cover, but it was pretty in person.

View looking back towards the house from the fishing dock. Notice the girls ready to jump off the floating dock. The white chairs on the lawn were perfect for lounging in the breeze.

 The hand signals never stop. John is his father's son in this regard.

Jumping off the dock never got old!

 
Saturday afternoon we all had fun with the (rented) jet ski! Below John is riding with Mr. Schultz.

And Scott is in the photo below, taking off as fast as possible once he was by himself.

We had a great weekend! We are fortunate that we got to enjoy this beautiful location in good weather with fun company. Hope we can do it again next summer!

Gaylord Father's Day - year 2

Our family's Father's Day trip to the Gaylord Texan last year proved so popular that Amelia and John wanted to replicate it again this year as their gift to Scott. Of course they did! I mean, who doesn't want to spend two days and one night at a nice resort with a fantastic water park that is close to home? Good thing we have Scott to thank for being a dad, as the celebratory excuse (Father's Day!) for a family trip to the Gaylord.

We were blessed again this year with amazing weather. I'll bet the temperature didn't get above 95 degrees, which is fantastic for June in Texas. We drove out to the Gaylord late afternoon on a Friday, and then we enjoyed the water park Friday evening, had dinner and slept in the hotel, and then we stayed at the water park until almost 4:00 Saturday. What a fantastic 24 hours!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I will say that a good time was had by all.

Posing for a family photo in the atrium Friday night after dinner was not so successful. These are the best of the bunch (not great), but at least the boys weren't making obnoxious hand symbols in the photos for a change.

Exploring the atrium Saturday morning. Amelia and I enjoyed the games and art that were scattered throughout the area.

Giraffes!

A caterpillar and sunflower. The caption from the artist read on the description read, "I just want to make you smile!"

The water park!

They think they can hide from my camera.

John was so excited that he snagged a (rare!) double raft!

John was so happy that (finally!) this year he was tall enough for the zip line!

Scott is trying to make crazy hand gestures for the photos but Amelia won't let him. Smart girl.

My favorite photo from the Gaylord trip, crazy hand gestures and all!

Market Days & a party

University Park Elementary School holds an event called Market Days at the end of second grade. Each child comes up with a business plan for an item or service that they want to sell. If the kids choose to sell a product, they can create their own items or resell something made elsewhere. Examples of items for sale include homemade jewelry, hair bows, stickers, bookmarks, and notebooks. Examples of services can be telling a fortune or providing a massage. One group of classes sells to three other second grade classes for one hour, then the second group of classes sells to the first group of classes for one hour. Thus all the kids get to experience the roles of seller and buyer during the event. 

John decided to make rainbow loom bracelets for his Market Days product. He diligently created about 30 bracelets, all of which were different designs and colors. He called his booth "Rainbow Sport O' Loom" because each bracelet came with a free sports card. John declared that the free sports card was his competitive angle compared to the other two students in the class that were selling rainbow loom bracelets. It was fun to watch John devise his marketing strategy and make the bracelets, but I think he had more fun as a consumer. John proudly came home with two bags of junk products on Market Days, with items ranging from jewelry, sports cards, homemade silly putty to a bunch of other items that eight year-olds think are cool.

The day after Market Days was John's end of year class party. The entire class spent lunch and recess time outdoors at the park across the street. The kids enjoyed a pizza picnic lunch, snow cones from the Kona Ice truck, and games including the sack race and kickball. John is pictured second from the left in the back row in the photo below.

And finally, an end of the year picture of John with his beloved teacher, Mrs. Chabot. Mrs. Chabot was the perfect match for John this year, and he completely blossomed under her teaching and classroom management style.