Closing Weekend.

It is always bittersweet to close down Lakeview Cottages for the winter. I love to spend time up there and enjoy the post-season quiet of the mountain, but dang is it a lot of work! This closing weekend, due to a rainy weekend a few weeks ago, we were still painting the two cabins slated to be painted this season. Dad painted Cabin G (he was a professional painter ;-) and thus has an airless sprayer which means he does all the "whole-cabin-at-a-time" painting.)

Tyler, Mom and I painted the trim on Cabin E (that one was sprayed a few weekends ago)

Duane and Uncle George got some amazing log splitting done with the help of some Keola teens raising money for a missions trip.

Cindy and Cheri painted trim on some of the one bedroom cabins and Mark, Dad, George and Duane worked on getting things ready for winter. It's a big task to maintain these cabins, but really...if you've got to be working--That's the place to be doing it!!!

Lakeview update

So, I really thought that I'd have a lot more time to blog this week, but it seems that I haven't had a moment to sit down to update this...so, here it is! We had fun this week exploring dam #'s 2 and 3. Tyler loved to walk on the concrete ledge, but after walking all the way down and part of the way back, he was a bit fatigued... Tyler learned how to ski. I think his creativity should get a sticker because he came up with this all on his own:
Due to one of the row boats having a small "imperfection", one of our daily outdoor tasks was to remove the water from the bottom of the boat...Please do not call the child labour board because he asked to do it!
We rowed from Lakeview over to Home Creek this week too! (and when I say rowed, I really mean I rowed part of the way there and none of the way back...I told mom that I don't think she's a team player when it comes to rowing, but it turns out we made much better time when I just sat in the front of the boat and kept my hands off the oars...I like to think that it's because I'm such a "Strong" rower, but it's also possible that I am just better as a mascot)

I finally got the chance to try out the snazzy red kayak that Aunt Sue got for her birthday. I must say, I totally rocked!!

And here's a picture I took from the kayak as Ty was getting ready to squirt his poor old mother with his new super squirter (is it me or does he look way too excited?)

One exciting bit of news associated with the purchase of and subsequent obsession with this new super squirter...here's the teaser, what's-different-between-these-pictures clue...

Now, if you are super observant, or if you were there, you will have noticed that in this second picture where Tyler is "reloading" his clothes and hair are soaking wet. Yes folks! My child fell in the water...umm...twice...All I can say is "Thank God that we a)purchased a lifejacket that is super secure and b)he was wearing it when he fell in." It did my little mommy heart proud to see Tyler (me sitting in the kayak remember) kicking his little legs and just hanging out waiting for a hand out. He didn't really panic (other than that the water was cold so he kinda lost his breath) and as you can see in this picture, he didn't let the fall get the better of him...He went right back for more!

Also, while making dinner tonight, I discovered the ONLY way to cook bacon...

The only thing that could have made this dangerous task less risky is if I could have gotten my hands on a beekeepers suit that would have allowed me total protection!

We're baaaaaaaack...

We are back at Lakeview this week and so far it's been fun...
So far, we have:
--- roasted some more marshmellows(if you look very closely you will notice that there is no need to be alarmed that this campfire is in the middle of the road because there is also no fire)

---taken the Paddle Boat out for a spin around the lake
---and gotten a biology lesson on the reproductive and life cycles of earth worms
Look in the days ahead for thrilling updates on our time spent at 7,000 feet!

Was it worth it?

On our second to last day at Lakeview, I was Inspired with a capital "I". Every year we have a group of campers that goes swimming every day. Tyler noticed this and thought that jumping off the end of the dock just like them would be a FANTASTIC idea. So, we had the bright idea to have me stand on the dock, my mom paddle out in a canoe and between the two of us, Tyler could jump off the dock and we would be able to remain dry. It worked!

So then strikes the inspiration...I thought, OK, if Tyler can do it, maybe I should do it (I've never been one to let a 2 year old show me up). So in I jumped...

Unfortunately, while I was preparing to jump in and handing things to my mom, my sunglasses fell in (thank goodness it wasn't my camera!). Now, were they expensive sunglasses? NO, they were free since I found them at Disneyland. However, they were my favorite! So, since I had already gotten wet and I really like the sunglasses, I decided to stage a rescue. But first I had to ponder the best strategy.

Then, the DARING RESCUE!!!

And SUCCESS!!!

Tyler helped me celebrate by jumping on me...

Later we celebrated again with 2 of my favorite things...Coffee and Ice Cream!

So, was it worth it? I had an adventure, I proved to myself that I can still tread water like back in my waterpolo/swim team days, I got my sunglasses back and I had fun. I'd say it was worth it!

It's a tough job, but...

I know that it seems like all I do is work up here, but you'll be pleased to know I've also had a few opportunities for relaxation also!

Hmmm...Why does it seem like all my relaxation time is near the water? I must spend too much time there.

We also had a "Whole Camp" Campfire tonight and were lucky enough to have two very talented musicians in our group. Granted, most of the songs they sang were ones I didn't know (Beatles, James Taylor, various other old songs, etc.), but they also sang a few that I did know. I LOVE to sing! I'm not sure I'm any good, but so far I've never had anyone ask me to stop, so I'm going to take it as a good sign. Tyler also LOVES music (hmm, I wonder where he got that?) so he planted his chair in front of the guitar player and swayed...

Here is my favorite part of tonight's activity...What is it about a fire that is soooo mesmerizing? It makes me feel like sitting back, sipping a glass of fine (insert drink of choice) and thinking deep thoughts. But it also makes me want to tell jokes and funny stories...Guess I'm going to need more wood; this could take a while.

Happy Feet!

I have to say that there is nothing better than getting the best of both worlds. I am in the mountains...and there's a beach. So not only do I get to enjoy the beauty of our forest, I also get to stick my bare feet in the sand. Now, I know there are some out there who say, um...So? To me, this is just awesome! So, in honor of this I present:

My Happy Feet! (it's not just a movie anymore)

Also, for those of you who have never seen a frog water skiing behind his motor boat, may I provide you with this educational opportunity?

Week 2, Day 2...

This is the start of our second week up at Lakeview...So far, it's been mostly work, with very little play. We cleaned several cabins that had an "off" turnover (meaning they missed the housekeepers' normal rounds so we got to do the cleaning) and we got guests checked out and in. Today was our pancake breakfast and we had a great time getting to know our new campers! There are a ton of kids for Tyler to play with, which is great for me!

I was the "head chef" for our pancake breakfast!

Unfortunately, I think this is going to be our last year of sink baths since he's getting too big for it


We also have a budding photographer on our hands. Now, if anyone has ever handed a camera to a 2 year old, you know that the typical range of vision is between the knees and the armpits of an adult. (Thank heavens for digital so we don't have to develop all these pictures!) Since I didn't want all the pictures of me to look like this:

I decided to scrunch down to actually make it into the picture...

Just One of the Guys...

Not me...Man Cub...He met two boys this week who are 8 and whatever they do, he wants to do. We made s'mores (again) last night and he wanted to stand exactly like his new friend, Nick. I've discovered that Tyler doesn't really care for the marshmellows, he just likes the excuse to eat the chocolate that goes with s'mores.

He saw Nick and his dad playing baseball and somehow convinced Nick to play catch with him.

The "Big Boys" also built a small "campfire" on top of the huge rock in the campground and were "camping marshmellows" together.

Adventures at 7000 feet!

We have been having great adventures up here at Lakeview and though there are too many to document, I wanted to share a few of them so that people don't think I'm on vacation here...

One very exciting (read: scary, potential for danger, funny-after-the-fact) thing that happened yesterday is one of our campers had some boat problems. Now, if you remember that I am in charge of the boats, you get a prize. Being in charge of the boats means that if something bad happens with the boats, I am expected to fix it...Luckily for me (and for Tom, our poor camper who walked a really long way after beaching his motor boat) Uncle George told me about the extra fuel lines for the boats so when Tom told me that there was a problem with the line, it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to take a spare along just in case. We hoped in The LOVE Boat to speed to the rescue...turns out the poor boat was beached in a cove down the lake a ways and it was simply a problem with the fuel line not being connected all the way. We arrived at the cove and I was REALLY glad that I'm more comfortable driving the boat (do you drive a boat? Captain a boat? anyway...I digress...) than my mom because there were several really big rocks that prevented us from "smooth sailing" right up to the beached motor boat. The reason I am so glad I am a better captain is this:

That lady in blue in the freezing water? Yeah...MOM...If she had been a better captain--It would have been ME! So when it was time to go home after we "rescued" Tom, this is the ordeal we went through to complete our mission...

We still had to get Mom back into the boat and out past the rocks...Have you ever tried to get into a boat from a place where you can't touch the bottom but the boat sticks WAY out of the water in the front? We did it, but it was a challenge. Once we were back on our way, it was pretty funny and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves.

Another part of our "job" here as "THE Management" is to clean cabins for people coming in mid-week...Mom and I are excellent bed makers! Tyler helped (sorta...)

Tyler also provided his services as the life guard on duty...

However...the person he was mostly "rescuing" was himself. He practiced kicking in the water and I could only envy the thermal resistance layer of protection that God gives to children...

We also got to "rescue" my shoe that was tossed into the water like yesterday's garbage...we got to take the row boat...that thing is T-R-I-C-K-Y...

We also went on an Osprey Nest Sighting trip on The LOVE Boat...

Stay tuned for more adventures (and if you made it this far, you get a cookie!)

Two weeks of bliss!

Through a stroke of someone else's bad fortune, but my good fortune, I will be spending two whole (consecutive) weeks up at Lakeview Cottages with my mom managing the camp. I know...you're thinking, "Umm...they put her in charge of boats???" But really I'm quite good at it (if I do say so my self) and so far the only bad thing about the boats is that someone re-claimed their super cool kayak before I had a chance to test drive it. The first day here (Saturday) was spent reacquainting ourselves with the wonderful things we had missed in the three weeks since we were here last. Tyler found tree trunks to walk on...

We threw sticks into the lake...(please note the red kayak that I almost got to use)

We made S'Mores...(everyone knows the chocolate goes on the outside of the cracker and then you squish the marshmellow, right?)

Look for more updates on our adventures and also photographic evidence that Kim and I were canoe-ers...(is that a word?)...