Lake Lida 2013

 There were no plans for Lake Lida this year, however, my uncle Jeff wasn't coming home until last Tuesday he called my Grandpa from a plane and said, "pick me up at 5, I'll be landing in Fargo"!  My Mom was coming for Kieran's birthday party so we had the party on Saturday morning instead of the afternoon and then headed to the lake. Another great part is I got a Mommy morning on Friday and then a date afternoon with Dan!  We had lunch, shopped together, and took our time!  We haven't "shopped" together (something we enjoy doing) since 2011! It was great...thank you Mom! Then we rushed home, ate supper, and got ready for Kieran's party.

 I digress...So, I texted my best friend Pam since her parents live on Lake Ida (right next door) and she was going to be there that weekend!  Woo hoo...she came over Saturday afternoon and stayed until 1:00! It was so good to see her and she has known my whole family for years and they love her! It was the first lake experience for both kids (two years ago it was too cold to take Svea outside) and they both loved it!

 My crazy uncles!  I love them so much! This is a picture of John checking his facebook messages because it was his birthday. 

 Dance party! Awesome...I love my family! Pam dj'd for us:)

 So back to the lake and kid stuff:)  Kieran had instant smiles as his feet touched the water!  He giggled the whole time.  His new hat is from Jackie for his birthday!  He looked like a little man!

 Kieran also enjoyed playing in the sand.  I had to watch him close as rocks were appealing to him:)

 Svea put her suit on Sunday morning and didn't take it off until bed.  Like literally because even when she peed she did so either in the grass or off the boat:)  Funny girl! Don't worry...I always rinsed her in the lake afterwards and a bath at the end of the night.  She liked her life jacket and didn't have a problem with it.

This is Sunday afternoon and Kieran was laughing away at the scenery.  Svea came up to him and gave him a big squeeze, told him she loved him, and gave him a big kiss.  It was super sweet!  I had a life jacket for him, but he couldn't breathe with it on...it's so stinking tight.  So I held onto him with a vice grip! We learned many new vocabulary words this past weekend like pontoon, weeds, loon, etc.  Svea was absorbing all of it and was full of questions. On the first day she had to pee on the boat and I thought she would freak out about peeing in the water, but she handled it like a champ.  She hung onto the ladder and I held her and she went.  She was only on the first rung, but still!  

So happy we were able to sneak this trip in and see my uncle Jeff from New York!  We only see him usually one a year and sometimes not even that.  This year we get to see him twice though.  He'll be back in September for my cousin Eric's wedding!  Dan had funeral prep, church, and then a funeral so we didn't miss too much time from him either. We have now been home three days and will head up north again tomorrow for a Carter family reunion!!!  Dan will join us for one night and day.  Then we come home and head to Wisconsin to see Dan's family!  I love all of the things we are getting to do this summer!