Last Hoorah

Some very good friends of ours invited us (me and my side of the family) for a couple of days on their houseboat for the last getaway of summer.  It was such a blast.  They are such fabulous hosts and work hard to make sure everyone is having fun and enjoying every moment.  I want to be like them when I grow up.  And Lake Powell is stunning.

We hiked some cool steps carved into the rock long ago...then jumped in the fabulous blue water after.  That's my kind of hike.  The kind with pretty, cool water at the end, a floating device and friends to chat with as you float.  (That's me on the top left.)

The three little boys played around in the sand and got rides on canoes or the paddle boat, and went on excursions to a small outcropping of crocks, dubbed "Michamis Island"...for whatever reason.  

At one point my brother gave all three a paddle boat ride over to the great Michamis and they played around for a fair amount of time...wading in the shallow water surrounding it, throwing rocks in the water, finding buried treasure (aka sea shells planted by my brother), admiring helicopters flying over and watching for lizards....then I paddled them back to the big boat.   And it was a WORKOUT I tell you.  Sheesh.  I am out of shape apparently.  I was quite sore the next morning...from paddling a small boat with three little boys.  Goodness, that's embarrassing.

(I love how the boat is totally lopsided.)

 

We took a quick boat ride to climb Sand Hill.  And I forgot just how hard it is to climb.  Gah!  I thought the paddle boat was hard.  Climbing an ever increasingly steep hill full of ankle-deep sand, is less than easy.

And on our very fine boat ride, we saw a most amazing phenomenon in the sky.  I cannot figure out how it happened...but can you see the little dark streaks with a cloud at the end of each one?  Crazy cool. 

My dad and hubby got some coveted fly fishing time in, and even caught a catfish right off the deck of the houseboat.  I must say that it creeped me out a tad since I don't relish the idea of knowing just what kinds of fish are swimming around my very vulnerable-feeling toes.  (If you must know...I have a very irrational fear of some sort of Loch Ness monster attacking me in lakes.  I get nervous about what's lurking in the depths below.  But I try not to think about it and dive in anyway....keeping my toes/legs/appendages as close to the surface as possible and my eyes on the beautiful sky.)

 The three big kids skied...a first for Dennis, and he did awesome.  He literally popped right up.

Apparently Miss B has abs and biceps of steel because the initial force knocked her flat on her back but she hung on and pulled herself to a standing position whilst skimming across the water.  Amazing.  (And even more amazing... my sister was right there and caught the whole series on film.)

It was beautiful and delightful.