Pinecrest Lake

We went up to Steve's  parent's cabin this last weekend.  His brother, John, and his family were down visiting from Idaho and we wanted to get a chance to spend a little time with them.  They've got 5 kids from 16 down to 3 with another on the way.

On Friday, we decided to head to Pinecrest Lake and spend some time out on the water.  Apparently, it is a Wheeler tradition to rent one of the party boats and spend a couple hours riding around the lake, so that's what we did.  We also rented a 2-person kayak.  Steve's been interested in doing a little kayaking and this was the perfect opportunity.

Anna was really good about keeping her life jacket on (rules require kids under 13 to have them on), but Matthew wasn't having it.  He was so uncomfortable.  Maybe if he knew how to sit up on his own it would have been easier.

Steve and the oldest nephew, Nathan, headed out in the kayak and everyone else piled onto the party boat.  We spent the first hour or so driving around the lake, visiting the dam, and looking for some elusive rocks that are close to the surface of the water.  We finally found those rocks, but Steve and Nathan couldn't find us.  They spent most of the time going from party boat to party boat looking for us.  Steve really enjoyed rowing even though he ended up with a funny sunburn on the inside of his knees where the sun reached in the kayak.

The really brave ones jumped in and swam to the rocks.  Tiffany and I stayed on board with the little kids and Grandma and Grandpa.  Tiffany and cousin Josh were good enough to dangle Anna off the side of the boat so she could get her feet and legs wet.  Steve and Nathan finally found us, so we had a quick picnic lunch.

Nathan and Josh bravely announced that they were going to paddle the kayak back to the dock in the 20 remaining minutes of our time.  We decided to follow in the boat just in case.  Lucky for them we did.  They both tired out quickly so we tied the kayak to the side of the boat and towed them most of the way in.

After returning the boats, we found a spot on the beach.  Steve took Anna to the lake and she could get in and splash around.  She had so much fun.