Go out with a Bang(tson)

Our last weekend at Stormy Lake for the summer was over Labor Day weekend. I love that my kids don't start school until after Labor Day, giving us one last long weekend to enjoy the summer. And oddly enough, it almost always seems to be the last warm weekend of the season here in the northwoods! The weather honestly could not have been better--and it rained on the day we left, which always makes leaving a bit easier.

It was just our family for much of the weekend, but our friends, the Bangtsons, came up from their cabin for the day on Saturday and we had an absolute blast. They were in our small group at church for the last year and just moved to Wausau, which is about an hour and half south of Stormy Lake (we drive right through Wausau on our way). Their cabin is about an hour away from both Wausau and Stormy, so while they were in between houses and living at their cabin for a bit, it worked out great for them to come up and to spend the day together. They have 3 boys, all the same ages as our kids, and equally as interested in water sports!

Sadie, myself, Kim and Alicia 

(Kim's parent's cabin is 2 doors down from us--her and her husband are also in our small group at church and she grew up coming to Stormy Lake as a little girl--I know, crazy small world!)

Alicia's son Blake--he is the same age as Sadie (6)

The Bangtson boys are primarily wakeboarders and Blake (Sorensen) felt right at home with them. But he was still a bit unsure about trying to wakeboard behind the boat, so he convinced Matt to be his boat

After trying that and seeing that he could indeed get up, we convinced him to try it off the boom. (Thanks to the Bangstons for bringing along their smaller wakeboards and letting the kids try them)

I drove the boat, Alicia took pics and Matt hung onto the boom to help Blake get the feel for guiding the board (because on a wakeboard, if you dip the front edge into the water, it smacks you down into the water pretty hard--AND we weren't sure Blake knew how to rotate the board around in the water if he did fall down and didn't want him to be face down in the water and unable to rotate himself---yeah, not a good idea!)

He was absolutely loving it!!! But once I picked up the speed a bit to keep him on top of the water, Matt had a hard time holding on (you can imagine--with just one hand on the boom!)

(I included these pics just to show Matt's face--it was hilarious!)

One happy boy! (He's been asking for a wakeboard for Christmas ever since!)

(unfortunately this pic is out of focus, but it was too cute not to include)

showing off the board

After that, the kids wanted to give barefooting a try. I think Blake Bangtson is the only one who would have wanted to do this on his own and has tried a few times previously, but with all the kids together, they were easily egged on by one another! So Sharon came over and offered to ride along to give the boys some tips...and she even brought along a kid's barefooting suit for them to use

Blake was the first willing participant

The kids are so light that it's nowhere near as difficult as if you wait to learn until you are an adult (like anything else in life)...although it's still quite challenging for the kids and a bit scary at the same time.

Cayden was next and he did great as well...the kids end up holding themselves up by their arms quite a bit and the spray gets quite distracting!

The cheering crew--Andrew and Blake

Wyatt was up next and although he did give it a try (I think mostly due to the peer pressure), he felt more comfortable trying a step-out from the slalom ski

These pictures show a bit of what happens when you catch a toe---Wyatt's foot got kicked back pretty quick (which is why using the boom is so great because he can still hang on)

..trying to regain his composure and actually see amidst the spray

..and listening intently to instructions

...then trying again..

After watching everyone try something new, Sadie was up for trying the wakeboard....Justin hung onto the boom for a bit to help her get the feel of it, but once I started to pick up the speed, he had to let go.

...then Matt helped her out as well

....here he was saying goodbye to her as he went down!

She was pretty determined and did awesome!!

The Bangtson boys heard about our skiing adventures this summer, so they gave it a shot on their wakeboards....next summer we'll have to get all the wakeboarders and skiers up together!

Our attempt at a group pic with exhausted kids after a long day on the water...

What a great weekend we had with friends and also some time just the five of us---it was a great summer in the books and we are even more excited for next summer!!