Lake Powell 2011

For Fourth of July weekend, we joined our family (Winterhollers) on their houseboat. Ella counted the days to this trip and couldn't wait to be with her cousins! It was a fun reunion on the Staples side of our family. We had Katie, Natalie, Patrice and I there with our families. For me, the trip can be summed up in this one picture that made it all worth it: That's pure joy on Dylan's face! He rode on that raft as long as he could each day. His arms never seemed to tire. He'd wake up, eat something quick, get his life jacket on and be on the raft waiting for someone to pull him. For all the can't-dos in Dylan's life, this is one thing he found that he loves to do!So, what were we doing when we were not pulling Dylan around? Ella loved playing on the beach with Ryan, Beth Henry and Kate, swimming, going down the slide and playing inside the AC. Ella and Beth hiked around and found us the perfect picnic spot. It was a flat rock that looked like a table. We ate dinner there and even had s'mores.
We had lots of fun with Nana's bingo game (and the fun prizes). Ok, the best prize had to be that she got the Staples girls butter mints. Ha ha, our main food staple! We ate really healthy, thanks to Nana and Patrice.Nana also gave the kids fun Fourth of July gifts that they played with before crashing in their beds atop the houseboat. Great memories!