Little Sahara

Last weekend we wanted to go boating so bad. About a month ago I "saved the date" on my father-in-laws calender so that we would go....but the weather just hasn't been good enough, and I didn't want to drag everybody along to be freezing cold just so I could get me fat butt in the water. So we went to plan B. What is plan B? Plan B is Marks favorite thing to do in the Spring and Fall....the SAND DUNES! Okay, really...we haven't been for about two years. Life changes when you have kids and have to sell all of your toys. Kip & Sier are the lucky ones who have a four wheeler at this house.
We drove down Friday night and came home Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect...even though I was freezing when I woke up on Saturday morning. It was really everything you'd expect the Sand Dunes to be....hot, sandy, dusty, and fun. The kids had a fun time at Camp, but they loved riding around in the Ranger. We White Trashed it up a little bit, and zip-tied the big Hawaiian vinyl table cloth to the top of it to provide a little shade..... we got a lot of people looking at us, but don't knock it tell ya try it people, it was a huge lifesaver!
We made the best fire pit ever. We drove everywhere in search of just the right rocks...really it was just another excuse to go cruz around and waste a few hours. We also played "Name who Sings it". The first person who names who sings the song gets a point. It's a game Mark started playing a few years ago with some guys at work while they'd be listening to the radio. But, we forgot our radio, so we made up a different version of it (which I thought was a ton of fun, and I hope to play it more often while we're camping). So we had an ipod that we passed around, and the person had to sing along with the song, and the other people had to guess who sung it. Let me tell you it's nice that none of us could really sing! I'll never forget Jamie singing the Aerosmith song, or Jesse singing "I started these gangster hits". I think Jesse ended up winning.
Needless to say we had a good time, and everybody was safe. The four-wheelers ran, and the 5th wheel is the only way to go...I could live the rest of my life without sleeping in another tent at the Sand Dunes. Some other things I learned this weekend are....little boys don't mind putting their faces in the sand.... picnic tablecloths make great shades....pipes on a four wheeler can still burn your leg even if it doesn't actually touch you...."virgin" margaritas taste great....I have a very patient husband....Steven and Jamie actually do fight....you can make "sand angels" that look just as good as "snow angels"....we'll always have to wait for Kurt....and I have the most patient husband in the world. Thanks Jesse, Kurt, Jamie, Steven, Mark, Kip, and Sier for such a great time!

Yuba

When I look back on the fun times that I've had in my life, most of them involve a boat and a lake. My little family has such a fun time when we put the both of those together.....the kids love to play in the sand and on the tubes, and Mark and I love to just be there with them. Kip and Sier are so great because they are always up for a boat ride and don't complain when we've been on it for hours on end! Sier just usually climbs underneith the drivers chair and falls asleep, and Kip could sit in the bow of the boat all day long if you let him.
Mark has great parents who took us out for the day. We weren't the only ones who got to go though....Joni & Kary with their kids were there, Kurt & Jesse got there pretty late in the afternoon, Steven came to hang out, and our friends Ashley & Dave came with us too.
Ashley and I were able to keep Sier on the tube...which he really wasn't sure about, but I'm pretty sure he liked it. Their daughter Rhyen got on the tube as well. I think the kids had a hard time getting on the tube because they saw Mark give Ashley and me a really good ride, and that probably scared them just a LITTLE bit. Kip skied again, and that gave our nephew Kayden motivation he needed to finally give it a try. He did great, he can get the ski's on by himself, get started by himself, and get back to the boat by himself. Kayden did awesome!!! Dave got up on one ski too!!! He was pretty excited, and so were we. Ashley gave my ski a good try.....next time I know she'll beable to get up!
The fun ended on the last run of the night, which we didn't know would be the last run! A HUGE wind storm came in! I'm not talking about the usual Yuba wind, it was AMAZING. There were canopies and tarps breaking, tubes and boogie boards flying away in the wind, a beached boat was half way sunk. Kip was terrified! He hates wind and storms and when we got back to the beach he was on the brink of a complete meltdown, so I got him in the truck, out of the wind. He did save Marks favorite hat from blowing away! What an adventure- the waves were just like the ocean....and 30 minutes before I was yelling at Mark to take me out because the water was soo smooth! We had to waite to load the boat until the water died down a little bit, wich was quite a while. When they were finally able too, Mark got the truck stuck up to his axels-Way to go Mark!
Thanks Phisters for letting us enjoy your boat, and inviting us to go with you. We have made so many fun memories because of you willingness to share your boat with us!! I'm sure glad you got it.