Stormy Lake--Part V

We have been talking about it for years, but the kids finally took the plunge and decided to learn how to ski (it helps that we now have the boom). Wyatt went first...

He got up the first time and stayed up for awhile....you can see in the next picture that once we got into deeper water and he had to start again, not even his hair had gotten wet yet!!

Big Smiles!!! Lovin' it

Sadie was up next and the pictures tell most of the story...

She did awesome for her first time and stayed up for quite a while. She wanted me to be in the boat so Auntie Cam and Papa helped her out in the water. And let me just say that I don't think there is a more encouraging family when it comes to trying something new. No matter who it is, Matt's family makes everyone feel so great about themselves and so excited about their own accomplishments, which makes it that much more fun to try new things with everyone there. And it was special to have not only Matt's parents but also his grandparents be able to witness the kids' first time.

I think she loved swimming her skis back to the boat just like all the big people do just as much as she liked the actual skiing! 

Sweet pictures of Daddy telling her how proud he was!

Next was Chris's turn (Cammie's boyfriend)...he had only ever skied once in his life and he got up on his first try and did great!! But this picture was hilarious....both Sadie and Cammie were telling him to straighten his arms! (Sadie, clearly the expert, after skiing once off the boom!)

Best Boat Crew

Ready for the short rope!!!

Again, he got up the first time! And even got 'dropped off' back at home, which he also loved!!

The rest of us skied also but I only have this picture of Matt's Dad....we had to take it because it was just hilarious...skiing with his baseball cap on!

It was such a great day and a monumental one!! Learning how to ski up at Stormy is a family tradition and something Matt helped all of his siblings do. In fact, as we were reminiscing about everyone's first attempts, Matt said that when Mollie was learning how to ski, Matt stood on the back of her skis to help her get up. What fun memories and now my kids will have their own memories to add! (We went back up this past weekend and I have more pictures to add--Sadie was an absolute pro off the boom and Wyatt got up behind the boat!! Matt and Ty barefooted for the first time behind the boat as well and of course, I didn't bring my camera up because I didn't think I would need more pictures!! We all used our phones but now I am KICKING myself!!) 

Back to Stormy....our last night there we headed to Kartway for the annual Go Kart races!!

Blake is Matt's constant buddy

The kids watching Matt, Cammie and Chris on the Nascart cars....those things go really fast!!

Back to the go-carts....this was Blake's first year getting to ride along and he couldn't get enough of them. He kept asking to go again as soon as we got done!

AND...this was also the first year Wyatt was tall enough to drive his own!

..talking smack to the rest of us!!!

So excited.....

Matt was saying, as we were leaving that night, that he distinctly remembers the first year he was able to drive his own go-cart at Kartway with that big pad behind him...and now Wyatt is doing the same. 

Guess who else thought he was big enough to drive his own car??

The girls....

The family race!!

I think Sadie and I actually won the race....but I could be wrong. It was such a blast! I love getting to do  stuff like this as an entire family now. Although the baby stage and early years are fun, I always felt like I was missing out on fun with Wyatt and even Sadie at times. But now we can all be together and enjoy it all as a family!!! Love it!

One thing I forgot to put on my first post from Stormy Lake.....one our first day in the water, when it was just the kids and I, Wyatt and Sadie were pretending to baptize each other. I took video on my phone and need to figure out how to upload it onto here. But we recently had an outdoor baptism service that our church did in the St. Croix River, so it was fresh in my kids' minds. PLUS, Wyatt has been asking lots of questions about baptism lately and told us he didn't want to do it (mostly because it's  in front of people). Of course told him that he doesn't have to until he wants to, but God does command us to do it AND the purpose is a public declaration of your faith. So the kids started baptizing each other up at Stormy and Wyatt came up out of the water and exclaimed, "I'M BAPTIZED". I had to kindly explain that his younger sister baptizing him isn't the same thing, but at least they are getting lots of practice!! The videos I took capture it much better than I can explain it, especially since they didn't see me taking the video for quite awhile. If anyone knows how to get video from an iPhone to YouTube, let me know!!!

This summer at Stormy was a great year of firsts....first time Wyatt and Sadie skied, first time Matt and Tyler barefooted behind the boat (not just off the boom), first time Blake got to go to KartWay and first time Wyatt drove his own go-cart....Great Times!!!