Miss Molly

I love this pic of her....had to share!

Are you ready for some....ice hockey?

It's so hard to believe that it's the end of July already! We've been having a lot of fun spending time on the river...I'm going to miss it when fall comes! But what I haven't shared is that each Wednesday for the past 7 weeks, Jon has traveled to New Jersey to play summer college hockey. Tonight was his last game. And for the record, Julieanne gets the prize...for what you wonder? For making the most trips with Jonathan! What a dedicated sister!

Even harder to believe is that Jon will be heading off to college in just a few short weeks! (sniff, sniff) I know he won't be that far away but it seems like a few days ago we were at his high school graduation! Oh well...pressing on....I'm excited for some....

Who'd a thunk it?!

So this morning started out like every other morning we plan to go to the river. Up really early and on the road. No problem. The time we spent there was great!

Duffy found a slalom course down the river where we rarely go...needless to say he was excited!

Julie tried to ski after years of being off the water

and Jake skied and did a little wakeboarding. All of that followed by some fun at the ropes

and then...we headed to the dock to drop Duffy off. The kids, puppies and I waited like we always do for our turn to put the boat on the trailer. I watched as Duffy drove past the ramp...hmmmm wonder why? Then I hear him calling my name for the shore..we made our way down for him to announce we had a flat tire. Oh no! Truck or trailer....trailer. And no, we didn't have a spare, I know, I know, but we didn't! So after some quick discussion, we decided that he and Julie would take Mason and Titan and go to the house to get the pump. Yep - so off they went while Jake and I headed back to the tree with the ropes to wait for a text to say they were back. A little more than an hour went by and they were back. Tire inflated and we were ready to roll! As Duffy pulled the truck out of the water, people were pointing and yelling...your tire's flat! Great! Of course it was....urgh! By this time, the dock area was PACKED with boats. But because we have favor =) there was one spot left.

So, to work we went! Digging out the jack and getting the tire off. Have I mentioned how hot it was? HOT...no joke!

Finally....off to figure out the next step. (condensing the story for lots of reasons but mostly my sanity :)) we bought a new tire and back to the boat. New tire on and we're back in business.

So, picture this, windows down, music playing, rolling back to the boat garage and Duffy casually mentions that we should've bought two new tires...he thinks the other one looks, well, wobally. Yeah, yeah....but not today! So a little further down the road and POP...yep, the other tire blew! So after a few words that aren't fit for blogging ;) we had no choice but to drive about a 1/2 mile because there was no shoulder to pull off. This time we're in a parking lot with zippy shade! Not a drop. We unhook the boat, dig all of our tools back out and Jake and Duffy go back to work. Julie and I were off to buy one more tire! We hurried back with cold drinks in hand. So very L O N G story short, after the purchase of another jack and a call to a towing company, we finally got the other tire replaced!

We backed the boat into the garage 7 hours after the first attempt at getting it out of the water...let me help put that into perspective. It's a 10 mile trip!

It was a day...just let me tell you. Lots of sweat and work and brainstorming...but no tears and no melt downs. (ok...maybe a 30 second one. But, really can you blame us?!)

Just a swingin'

When all of the morning 'glass' has been broken up by wakes from skiers and wake boarders, the old routine was to head for the dock. But no more! Not since we found the ropes! Jake's had his eye on them for a while now and convinced us to stop by a couple of weeks ago. And we've been stopping ever since.

Depending on what time you get there, there's usually a few others there partaking in a little fun!

The kids have a blast climbing up and swinging down...

I even gave it a try....let's just say that I didn't hold on long enough for Duffy to get a picture. But this is the splash! :) Oh and did I ever have the blisters to prove it! My poor hands! LOL

Oh how I love summer!