Fathers Day

June 21, 2009

Fathers Day only comes once a year. I dont know if Hunter has ever been here for fathers day. I was so happy to finally share a fathers day with him and Caden this year. Although the absence of our youngest son was felt that day, we know that we had him here with us in our hearts.

I love holidays! I have never spent a holiday here in Saint Johns, and this was sure to be the best! I honestly didnt know what to expect, I thought maybe after church we would just go home and rest or something like that. We were supposed to go to the Lake the day before that, and it just ended up not working out. So we got home, and everyone started getting their swimsuit on.. Now wait a second, where are we going that we have to wear a swimsuit? The Lake?! Yes!

At that moment, I was excited to go to the Lake. I took one look at the medium size boat that was parked in the driveway, and counted all the people that we had in our house. "Dad, Diana, Hunter, Me, Caden, Trysten, Nathan, Mckenzie" is who I listed in my head. There was 8 people, but I didnt think that we could all fit into the boat. It didnt matter to me because I knew I was going to ride in it no matter what :)

We were on our way to the lake. It was a comfortable ride in the Suburban, laughing and talking on the way there. Looking outside my window I saw nothing but hills and ugly brown dirt.. Where was a lake to be found?! I kept asking questions about this so called lake, and thought maybe its just a mere swimming hole, just big enough for a small boat. My in laws assured me that this was a good size lake, but that the water is not very pretty. I can deal with a not so good looking lake, as long as I got to go in the water.

We finally got to the lake and as I looked around me, I noticed that this lake was HUGE! A lot bigger than what I had expected! We started to put our boat in the water, and we all piled in the boat. Getting on my life jacket was making me happy becaues I knew I was going to go in the water. We started to ride out into the middle of the lake.. "I could get used to this sun and this breeze from the water" is what ran through my mind.. I just wanted to relax and enjoy myself and take a break from all the stress around me.

They asked for volunteers to go in the innertube first. "STEPH! You should go first!" They all knew I had never innertubed before. I said "NO WAY!" I dont want to be laughed at right away. I figured I'd let someone else fall out of the tube and have a good laugh before I fall in myself. Nathan went first, and didnt fall out. Then went Trysten. She didnt fall out. I thought since they didnt fall out maybe it wont be so bad! So I hopped in the tube...... The boat started leavign and my rope started tugging and I started following them... It was actually okay! The water was cold, but I could deal with that because it was hot outside!

I waved my finger in circles to signal them to go in circles so I could have some fun. I raised up my thumb to go faster. I was having a blast! Well, water started coming at me, and coming in my tube. I had to hold my breath and wipe my eyes every half a second. One minute Im cruising along in a tube having fun, and the next im being pulled under water and hardly catching my breath. Fun time is over!!! After I finally came above the water (still stuck in my tube) I signaled for them to stop. I thought I was going to cry! I never wanted to do that a gain! I think I saw my life flash before me.

It was time to get out for me and have a good laugh at someone else. I loved riding on that, but I wasnt about to go again anytime soon. Although for my first time, I do have to say I had fun. Then Hunters turn came up. Les started chuckling as Hunter got on the tube. He looked at me and said "Want a good Fathers Day present?" I said "sure!" Les took off speeding with the boat and Hunter went flying around on the innertube. We must have hit full speed! A couple of minutes went by as hunter was riding aorund and then we took a sharp turn and off he went! Hunter rolled at least twice and then fell in the water.

I started laughing so hard, but Caden started crying "DADDY! Daddy okay mommy?! Daddy!" He was so torn that his dad was one minute on the tube and the next in the water. We all started laughing as Les made him fall over two more times. That was payback for giving me hard times last year! We went around a couple more times with others in the tube, andthen decided to head back to the car.

All in all, it was a GRAND Fathers day, and having it be my first time out on the lake with a boat and innertube just made it all worthwhile. So Happy Fathers day to all you dads out there. Go. Have some fun.