Dastel.com

We all got up early to get to the lake to beat the rush since the lake is about 30 miles from the house.  Once we got to the barn, we loaded the pontoon and got the Waverunners (WRs) ready to go.  I took the pontoon with the little kids, Vic and Vanessa.  Trae wanted to drive so I let him drive half the way to Budweiser Beach.  In the meantime, Neil, Sonny and Tara launched the WRs.  They passed us half way to the beach and went ahead to pick out a place to beach the boats.  Ben wanted to drive the pontoon so I let him have the wheel in Big Sandy.  He drove us around in circles for awhile until I kept him aimed toward the beach.  He was having a great time.  We beached the boats, put out the plastic chairs, and got out the beach toys.  Sam and Ben played in the sand while the rest of us tanned, swam and rode the WRs.  I took Trae out and let him drive.  He was hesitant at first but got the hang of it pretty quick.  Then I took Savanna for a ride.  Neil was out with Trae at the same time.  Savanna and I turned around at one point and all we could see was the other WR but no Neil or Trae.  They had flipped it over.  Savanna and I went back to see if they were OK but they were already getting back on.  They both blamed each other for the flip but it made for an exciting story.  On the way back to the beach, I let Savanna drive.  Tara was wondering at that point if Papa and G (Neil and I) had lost their marbles.  Neil had flipped Trae and I was letting a five-year-old drive.  What are grandparents for anyway?  Around noon, we headed back to the barn.  We stopped in a cove on the way to ride Mable but no one was much interested in riding.  Vic rode a little while with Sam (after she flipped over on it when it was just sitting quietly in the water) but mostly all the little kids wanted to ride the WR with Nene (Vanessa).  Since only one could ride at once, it was a little dicey for awhile.  Eventually, we headed for the barn, unloaded everything, talked to Dexter, played with Aladdin (Dexter’s new dog), and then headed home.  Vic had put beans on to cook so we had beans and cornbread for supper.  (I think it’s really cool when the kids want to cook for us!!)  Trae finally got his Monopoly game finished.  Sonny whipped up on everyone.  Then we lazed around the rest of the night and watched the kids play.  The next day, Sonny’s family left first for GA after lunch.  Trae stayed behind to spend a week at Camp Nene.  Vic, Vanessa, Trae, Ben and Sam left about an hour later for KY and IN.  The car was so full that Vanessa and Trae barely fit in.  Everyone got home safely.  Neil and I did some cleanup and then collapsed for the rest of the day.  It was a fun fun weekend and we missed everyone as soon as they left.

Vickki, Vanessa, Ben and Sam arrived on the afternoon of the 20th.  Soon, the boys were out playing in the water toy on the back patio.  They were having a great time pouring the water on themselves and on the patio.  The toy was just a means to get to the water.  Ben would pour a glassful over his head.  The water was cold so he’d squeak and jump up and down.  Then he’d do it again.  It was pretty funny to watch.  Before bedtime, the boys played on our hassock/coffee table.  It’s their trampoline and diving platform.  Sonny’s family arrived the next day.  We went back outside to make play-doh art and then to the water toy to get wet again.  Trae got a game of Sponge Bob Squarepants Monopoly going with Sonny, Vanessa and I.  I was having a bad game so I made an excuse that I had to do something else and ditched it on Tara.  Meanwhile, Vic was making us a huge supper of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole and macaroni and cheese.  I also picked up three slabs of BBQ ribs at Trolinger’s (a BBQ, gas station, meat market, deli, convenience store in Paris).  We enjoyed an awesome meal and then kicked back for the evening.

I’ve figured out how to add videos to my site.  If you look at the column on the right, you see a section called “Pages”.  Underneath that is a link to videos.  Click on that and you should be able to see links to my videos.

Click here for pics from New York, KY and the lake.

We got another early start for the lake.  The boat crew was well trained by now so we got in the water quickly.  Matt and Al launched with the Waverunners (WRs) first.  Their mission was to go straight to Bud Beach and save us a good spot.  That turned out not to be necessary since the day was overcast and cooler than normal and not many people got to the beach until after noon.  The rest of us followed in the pontoon.  Dexter had loaned us a couple float chairs and we’d brought a couple plastic chairs so we were set for lounging.  We had a couple floats for Layne to play on too.  We lazed around at the beach while everyone took turns riding the WRs and Layne waded and played in the sand.  When the beach started to get a little crowded we headed back for the barn.  Again, we had sandwiches in the breezeway and talked with Dexter.  Matt and Angela took a quick ride in the Kubota.  When we got back to the condo, the kids decided to make a Father’s Day meal for Papa.  They took over my kitchen and yelled at me every time I got near it.  Yeesh!  We had country ham, corn casserole, fried potatoes, biscuits, and scrambled eggs.  Everything was real good and I really enjoyed having someone cook for us.  Afterward, we were too stuffed and tired to do much.  We dug out some old picture albums and grandmother books.  Those brought up some good memories.

The next day, everyone got up pretty early again because they all wanted to get home early.  I made everyone eat leftovers for breakfast so Papa and I wouldn’t have to eat too much all week.  We made official bench pictures (on the bench in our entrance way) and sent everyone off with a little goody bag.  They’d already eaten most of the cookies and brownies I’d made so there weren’t too many to send!  After everyone left we did a little cleaning and then had to rest the remainder of the day.  Phew - these weekends are tiring for the old folks but were really enjoy every minute of them.  It’s so fun to have the kids around.

Vanessa, Al, Valerie and Layne arrived just after noon on the 12th.  We’d bought a little kids water fun toy and put it up for Layne.  He had a great time playing in the water and getting wet.  A couple hours later, we heard a knock at the door.  Matt and Angela had arrived a day early.  What a good surprise!  We played some more, talked and had paninis for supper.  Everyone had to get to bed early because we wanted to be up and heading for the lake by 0830 the next day.  Surprisingly, we met our target time.

We got to the lake and I put my boat crew to work.  Everyone had a job to do to get us ready to launch - cleaning the pontoon; gassing up pontoon and waverunners; packing coolers; loading towels, snacks, PFDs, etc.; hooking up the truck to the pontoon and the Kubota to the Waverunners (WRs); and driving them across the road to Dexter’s ramp.  Dexter was around and helped us get launched.  Matt and Al got on the WRs while the rest of us took out the pontoon.  We found a little cove and anchored the pontoon for awhile.  We swam and the kids took turns riding the WRs.  Layne went swimming for the first time and did real good.  He liked sitting in a tube and playing splash.  After that, we headed to Budweiser Beach.  It’s down Big Sandy (a creek feeding into the lake) near the powerlines.  It used to be a big party place (thus the name) but the TVA decided to outlaw alcohol there.  Now it’s a family area.  It’s about the only place on the lake that has a sandy shore - perfect for little kids to play on.  Everywhere else has sharp rocks.  We found a nice place and beached the WRs and pontoon.  A little bit later, Vanessa launched a sand throwing war involving her, Al, Matt and Angela.  They were covered in sand and had welts on their skin.  Silly kids.  We old folks and Valerie stayed out of it.  A storm was brewing to our west so we had to head back to the barn early.  Dexter was waiting for us when we returned and had  the trailers in the water.  We quickly loaded the boats and retired to the barn.  I’d brought sandwich makings so we had sandwiches for lunch.  We headed to Dexter’s house just before the storm hit so lightning wouldn’t get anyone.  He gave all the girls magnetic necklaces and they enjoyed playing with them.  Once the storm passed, we packed up and headed home.  That night, Papa (Neil/Dastel) broke out his new Margarita machine.  We had Margaritas, super nachos and other snacks.  After some TV viewing, talking and relaxing we all went to bed early.

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