Lake Cumberland 2008.

Each year (for the last 6 or so years) my family (which in the last 3 years has grown to add Ryan, then Trisha, and then Kylan) makes the 8-hour trek down to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky for a week of boating fun. We get a room in the lodge that overlooks the lake and spend all day, every day, boating. That means- swimming, skiing, tubing, kneeboarding, wakeboarding, playing, eating, hanging out, soaking up the southern warmth, etc. We go with the Annis family (Rich and Michele and their 4 kids- Amanda, Brittany, Chelsea, and Logan who range in age from Junior in college to Junior in high school) and the Mauser family (Ed and Wendy and their 3 kids- Tesha (22), Nicholas(15), and Eddie(11)- (along with Tesha's husband Shawn and their new baby Kana). Sadly, this year Tesha, Shawn and Kana did not make the trip with us since Kana is just now 3 months old. And Brittany did not make it due to Rascal Flats concert tickets for back home that she had previously bought. But the boys brought a friend of theirs, Michael, to join, and we also had a canine addition from the Annis' this year (the most adorably puppy that Amanda got a day before she came and has yet to name). As you can imagine, we have 3 boats, 3 rooms, and lots of people, which makes it like one big family vacation. Dinners at the marina's cafe included at least 4 tables pushed together,17 chairs and a highchair, and 5 separate checks with individuals from each party scattered throughout the seats- which I'm sure all the waitresses couldn't wait to tackle each night. After coming in off the lake around 8, eating a late dinner on the dock at the cafe, the nights would then turn into either Euchre tournaments or movie nights until we'd crash for the night so as to get up and do it all over again. Kylan did AMAZINGLY well with all of this. She hated the travel (who doesn't), but LOVED the boating and all the friends/family around 24/7. She was immensely more flexible than I ever could have imagined. Each day she missed out on at least 3 or 4 hours of the time she normally sleeps in a 24 hour period, she had to wear a confining life jacket a lot of the time, she only had the space of the boat (occupied by 7 adults along with her) to run and play, it was hot and sticky, etc... but she was so happy and so much fun. We rarely had a sour moment with her for any reason. It far surpassed my expectations for how I anticipated her to be with and react to everything. Normally, she likes to have her space, do her own thing, and I can barely take her to the mall for an hour without her having some sort of meltdown and wanting to go home to take a nap. I don't know what was different about this, but it was a great week. And for Ryan and I, we had a million hands wanting to help Kylan, play with Kylan, feed Kylan, watch Kylan, etc that we felt like we got to relax and have fun ourselves instead of just always parenting a crazy toddler.

Holding hands with Grandpa.

Cutie.

With Aunt Rachy.

Splashing around with Uncle Nate.

Kylan between Mommy and Grandpa.

Part of our nightly table at the marina's cafe.

Rockin' out to Aunt Rachy's iPod.

Me and Mom on the tubes.

Lunchtime ritual of tying up all 3 boats together.

Nate, Kylan, Grandma, Grandpa on rafts.

Rowing with Uncle Nate.

Uncle Nate helping with bath time.

Our little family.

Catching some wind with Daddy.

Laying down with Mommy.

Amanda, Rich, and the puppy on a raft.

Resting.

Kylan and Mommy.