Our Day On The Lake

I love summer, especially in Florida! Yeah, it gets ridiculously hot and sometimes I just want to stay inside, but when we do go out, we always have so much fun! Yesterday was no exception. We spent the day out on the lake with the family of one of Rylie's best friends.

Emma's birthday was last weekend and rather than having a big party, her parents allowed her to pick a friend to come spend the day at their lakefront condo with them. Emma wanted that friend to be Rylie. Rylie and Emma have been best buds since Rylie started at her current school almost two years ago, and Rylie was so excited to spend the day with them! Early yesterday morning we packed up and headed over to the condo for some fun on the boat and swimming in the pool.

Would you believe that I forgot my camera? Yep, a blogger with no camera. Crazy! Luckily, Emma's dad had his Blackberry, so I was able to get a few pictures of our fun day.

I am not a fan of lakes. I don't want to swim where gators live. Nope, no thanks. Besides the gators, there are other deadly organisms in warm Florida lakes. Kids die every summer from amoeba infections, and I don't want my kids ending up as part of that statistic. I had decided that my kids would not be going in the lake water, and I explained that to them before we got there. When I mentioned it to Emma's parents, they told me that I didn't have to worry about gators in that lake because it was very heavily traveled, and that the water wasn't warm enough for amoebas to live in. Still, I had no intentions of allowing my kids in that water. And even though Emma's parents allow Emma and her brother jump off the dock and swim around in that nasty lake, they understood.

When we started out, Emma jumped in the tube and we pulled her behind the boat. As Rylie was watching her friend, I knew she wanted to get in the tube with her, and after a few minutes of convincing by the other adults in the boat, I reluctantly allowed her. After all, we would be in deep water, so the amoebas wouldn't be a concern. She was so excited to try it out!

Once we got going, the girls were having such a great time. Emma's dad kept increasing the boat's speed and it was so fun to watch the girls bouncing over the waves. I don't think we could go fast enough for those two daredevils.

After watching Rylie in the tube, Bryce wanted a turn. Obviously he couldn't ride by himself, so Brian volunteered to ride with him. They got in the tube at the dock, which was in shallow water (and in my mind, full of the deadly, brain-eating amoebas) and the worst possible thing happened. The tube flipped over. I was not witness to this since I was in the front of the boat trying to keep my crazy daughter out of the water, but from what I was told, Brian held Bryce up out of the water, even though he was totally submerged. Of course I freaked out, but I was told that Bryce didn't go under. Still, panic ensued.

Once I got over my little freak out, Brian and Bryce got into the tube without incident. They were ready to go.

The boat speed for this ride went a little slower, and at first, Bryce seemed to enjoy it. After a minute or two, I noticed that he kept moving around, and Brian finally gave us the signal to stop. Apparently he didn't want to sit still. They had fun while it lasted, though.

After everyone had a chance to go out in the tube, we headed in for lunch by the pool. The kids devoured Uncrustables, Goldfish, fruit and applesauce, and then went swimming. The men headed back out on the lake for some water skiing, which Brian had never done before. Oh how I wish I could have been witness to his first few tries. The bruises on his legs say enough, though. He finally got up on the skis and had a great time. Afterwards, he had to learn how to drive the boat to pull Emma's dad around the lake. Hmmmm. I wonder if he had enough fun to want to invest in a boat? Doubtful.

The kids had a great time swimming, and then the birthday girl remembered that we had brought cupcakes for her. Rylie picked out everything for her cupcakes and we ended up with Hello Kitty cupcakes made with strawberry cake and chocolate icing. They turned out so cute!

Emma was so excited when we arrived with the cupcakes and told me that I make the "best cupcakes ever". Awwww.

As we were eating our cupcakes, the skies started to get really dark, and just as we finished, the clouds opened up. We quickly gathered everything up and got inside the condo. We all changed and the kids played while the adults chatted.

We had such an awesome day!!! Everyone had such a great time, and we will definitely do it again! Well, if I can get through the next two weeks without worrying too much that an amoeba is eating my kid's brain...