Water Fun

In June, we traveled south to visit my mother. For the last 6 years, that meant traveling south all the way to Cape Coral, FL. In the fall of 1999, my mom and dad bought a second home in FL and were going to start wintering there. Alas, my dad died in the spring before coming home to IN, mom decided to sell the farm in IN and move permanently to Florida. We didn't mind the visit at all. Mom sold the house she and dad had bought and purchased one on a canal with a pool. It was such a nice place to relax and get away from the weather up north.

Our kids absolutely loved the pool and visiting the beach. Thanks, in part, to the many visits to mom's, my kids became water bugs, fearless of the water and enjoying all the fun one can have. Therefore when mom decided it was time to move back to Indiana, my kids were sad that there would no longer be a pool to spend playing in hours upon hours of the day. Ah, but my mom had a few tricks up her sleeve for our visit.

She purchased one of those wet slides for them to enjoy, which you can see they happily tried.

She also had my nephew put up a tire swing for them, something they simply loved.One day she took us to breakfast at my sister's restaurant. Here we all are together after filling our bellies:From left to right bottom to top: My sister Lynn, her granddaughter Sydney, Mom,
Nathan, Ellie, Abby, Sam
David, Hannah, My sister Margie, me

Margie, is the owner and cook of "The Corner Restaurant," and she does a very good job.

After our late breakfast we headed to a nearby campground and quarry to enjoy the afternoon in the lake. Boy was it fun! The water was cold, but with so many things to enjoy we stayed fairly warm. The lake is quite deep and we all wore life jackets (included with the price of admission). But others who were enjoying the lake didn't wear life jackets. To do so you would need to be a very confident swimmer and not mind having to tread water or swim all the time while not on a toy.
Here is Lynn with Sydney. For a reduced rate, those not swimming can sit on the dock and watch. Sydney enjoyed the lake although it was pretty cold for a little one.Here we all are enjoying the giant trampoline. The yellow thing (yes that is the technical term) jutting out provided lots of laughs. One of us would try to get to the end and wait for someone else to jump on and launch us into the water. The kids were definitely more coordinated than either David or me.Everyone but me made it to the top of the "Rock Slider." Here is Ellie with Sam not far behind.

But wait, my mom hadn't finished all her tricks yet. On the day we were heading to WI, to visit my younger sister and then to attend the CCA Symposium, she arranged for us to stop at my aunt's house in Indianapolis, who just happens to live on a lake.

After a delicious lunch, my cousin Kim took us out on the boat for a ride.
Here are the kids enjoying their first ever tube ride. Two of Kim's kids are showing mine how to enjoy the ride. They really liked this and didn't want to stop.


My aunt Phylis gave each of the kids a ride on her wave runner.
Here is Hannah and Sam showing how much fun it is.





And of course with all this fun surrounding us, David and I couldn't resist a turn on the tube. Thanks to mom's urging, Kim went a little crazy trying to make us lose control, but we didn't! We hung on the whole way! Of course, now David has been seeing the chiropractor trying to get his neck back in the right place after all that bouncing! :-)

Even though mom now lives in Indiana, my kids won't miss her pool in Florida. They had so much fun this vacation they keep talking about it and are looking forward to their next visit.