Boating

The day after my sister's birthday celebration we went out on Jason's boat.  The weather wasn't super warm, but it was a good time to do it because Joshua was in town so her kids were otherwise occupied.  I really had no idea what to expect because this wasn't something I've ever done, but the kids LOVED it.  I am always such a worry wart about kids and water, but since they had their life jackets on and 2/3 of them know how to swim pretty well, my nerves were a little bit at ease.













































We started out at Lake Macatawa, which is a smaller lake that feeds into Lake Michigan.  Then, he took us out on the big lake and we boated over to this private beach.  The nice part of about this beach is that nobody can access it from the public so its only the boaters there!  There was his HUGE dune there as well that the kids of course wanted to climb up.  Dude was up the hill first because he was off the boat first.  We had to anchor a little bit off the shore and then swim in, which they thought was great!  They didn't mind that it was a bit chilly!  They just loved that they were on the beach and in the water.  Lucy and Holly made it up the hill next and then Norah and I followed.  Jason and Holly were so impressed that Norah made it up the dune, and honestly, I am too.  It was so steep that you couldn't stand up vertical!  Holly said that Eli is the only one that has been up to the top, if that gives you any indication!  The kiddos played for a little while longer and then we grilled dinner on the beach.  I think the kids really liked that.  Jason has this nice little grill that he has on his boat and then we just used his huge tube to bring everything to shore.  After our nice little beach dinner we headed back to Lake Mac to do some tubing!































Now, I have only tubed a handful of times in my life and it was very fun and stressful for me at the same time.  G seems to love doing it so he went with the kids in Big Bertha.  Norah was the first to go and she LOVED it.  She kept giving the thumbs up to go faster, but Jason is a kind man, and he only took her as fast as it was fun before it would hurt if she ever flipped out of the tube. Then, Dude went, and he was a bit reluctant about it at first, but man was he glad that he went!  He had so much fun!  Lucy went next and she had fun as well, but I think that she liked it the least.. which isn't to say that she didn't love it.





Papa even got a chance to go tubing by himself and get a little crazy.  He did really well, but he did end up flipping out.  It was impressive.  The whole day was absolutely amazing and they all passed out in the car.  A lot of fun in the sun, water and activity is the recipe for success!  :)

Thanks so much Jason for taking us out on your boat.  My kids LOVED it.

JVG