Lake Mead

This past weekend my sweet husband Spencer stayed at home with the twins while I went to Lake Mead (outside Las Vegas) with the older three kids for some boating fun with the Mason family. We stayed on a houseboat and boated our guts out for three days, which was a total blast for the kids and a good break from the routine for me. But...any mother of newborns can relate to how hard it was for me to be away from my babies! Cort, Macy and Caleb did surprisingly well on the drive down there (6 1/2 hours) considering it was their first real road trip. All I can say is: Three cheers for the new DVD player we had installed in the car 2 weeks ago! What an awesome little invention! :) Once we got there, the kids had a great time riding the wave runners, riding on the tube behind the boat, jumping off the top of the houseboat and swimming nonstop 24/7 in the lake with their cousins (the water was incredibly warm!). I got to try wakeboarding for the first time, skiied a bit, and took some awesome rides on the tube with my sister Jocee. All in all, it was a great trip. Thanks to my Mom for all of her hard work in organizing and planning everything for us! I did, however, learn something about myself and that is this: I am no longer a houseboating kind of gal. Bummer. I'm not sure when I crossed over from a carefree child to a stick-in-the-mud adult who painfully longs for her pillowtop mattress when forced to sleep on a bench cushion that is about as comfortable as "sleeping on an airport floor," as my sister so aptly put it. But, nonetheless, it happened. This is a painful realization for me because I pride myself on being relatively "low maintenance" but I realized on this trip that the whole port-a-potty deal, flies everywhere, 115 degree heat with no A/C deal doesn't really bring out the best in me! If I'm going to pay roughly $1500/day for accomodations, I'd prefer they have a few more amenities. :) Sigh. But, the boating, on the other hand, was the BEST! No complaints at all, just longing for more! It had been way too long since we'd been out boating (this was our first time on the water since before we were pregnant with Cort--six years ago almost!) and I loved every second of it. Anyone with a boat can feel free to extend the Richards clan an invitation to hit the water (hint hint)! I just want to be able to go home to a hot shower and a good night's sleep at the end of the day...

On another note, althougth I missed Spencer and the twins terribly, it was nice to be able to have Caleb be the "baby" again for the weekend and to dote on his every whim and whimper. Which, for those of you who know Caleb well know, can be a full-time job! :) It was also nice to come home to a new, fresh coat of paint in a FABULOUS color in our great room and kitchen area. Props to Spencer who did the work himself while we were gone. What a husband! I'm a lucky gal.

Now, it's back to the routine. The twins are falling into a more predictable routine and Caleb is napping like a dream (again, thanks to the gypsies threat!). We are happy and well and ready for school to start. Kindergarten, here we come!!!