july 4th boat outing (xtra long post)

yesterday we were invited out on matt's boat. (it was really the 3rd of july, but the july 4th weekend.)it was so much fun. matt has a speed boat and a wave runner. we were on those pretty much all day, then around 7 p.m., we had a bonfire. the boys took a while to warm up to the boat (almost the entire day), but eventually cole got comfortable with the boat. mason took a while longer. in fact, when we were getting ready to leave, chris asked him what his favorite part of the day was, and he replied, "riding on matt's boat". he was scared and whined about the boat going too fast all day! who knew?!



right off the bat, matt had chris sit in the driver's seat. chris was like, "are you sure?" and matt was completely cool with it. he taught chris how to drive the boat.



mason was scared when the engines turned on. he was holding his hands out to matt asking matt to hold him. :)

























haha! i crack up every time i see this picture! his hair and facial expressions were so funny!







bwahahaha! look at mason's face! he is so scared and the wind is blowing straight in his face! his hair is so hilarious!



oh my! i die laughing every time i look at his face!





mason is holding onto cole. awwh!



it was a chilly out on the water, so we used a beach towel to keep him warm.















time to break out the wave runner!







i think i know where mason got his funny facial expressions from. look at chris's face in the above picture. haha



















we found a really shallow part in the lake where other boats were anchoring at and getting out to swim. cole asked matt to get him out of the boat so he could walk in the water. it was so shallow that it only came up to matt's hips.



cole's turn for a ride.









he loved it!



now it's the guys' turn to go out. matt wanted to show chris what the wave runner could really do! chris asked him if he's ever tipped it over and matt said, "no. i'm sure it could do it, but i don't get that crazy on it." i think chris was thinking of his roll over accident with the go kart he had a little over a week ago.



and they're off!





matt did donuts in the lake to get some big waves going, then they jumped over the waves.





they were so far out in the lake that it was hard to see them real close up. even using my huge zoom lens. at one point i couldn't find them. i just figured there was a separate cove or something that i couldn't see in the lake and they went in there. so the boys and i just chilled in the boat and ate snacks and watched all the other boaters and jet skiers. i finally saw them heading back to the boat and snapped some pictures. chris was giving me a thumbs up. he obviously had fun. when they got closer to the boat he yelled, "did you get that on camera?" i said, "get what?" he said, "we flipped it!" i just smiled and said, "yeah right!" he said, "look at us! we're soaked! i'm telling you the truth! we flipped it all the way over!" i look at matt who is shaking his head in agreement. i realize they are telling the truth. i am in shock but just laugh about it because they are obviously not hurt. they said they were so close to the water that when they hit it didn't hurt at all. the water was soft. the only thing that chris complained about was not having enough time to think and close his mouth or his nose, so he got a ton of water up his nose and in his mouth.



they're checking over the wave runner to make sure everything is okay.











that's pretty much how mason stayed all day. he just sat in the boat, covered up, eating. he was good as long as he had pop to drink and snacks to eat.



my turn to have a ride. i have to say, i was very nervous about it tipping over, since it was proven that it could flip over. so i kept telling chris he's in big trouble if he flips it over with me on the back!







we stopped so i could take a turn driving it.















we went into this one little lake (there were seven lakes all connected - it was not seven lakes in fenton) and there was a spot you could pull up to and get out so the kids could play at the beach and swim in this little area.













surprisingly, mason went out into the water and liked it. he wouldn't go out past his hips, but he had a blast! he ran all over the place, splashing water everywhere! and, of course, he had to keep stopping to pull up his shorts. :)









the boys were racing into the water. i was just waiting for mason to trip and fall flat on his face in the water. he never did. he tripped alot when he was walking out of the water and onto the beach though.

















he was just teasing cole. he didn't actually throw him in the water.







it was a lot of fun. thanks again, matt, for inviting us out! we'll have to try out the big tube next time when it's a little bit warmer out!