Pirates of Lake Koocanusa

For my parents 30th wedding anniversary, my parents, all my siblings, their spouses (and soon to be spouse) ;), and all the kids spent a week together in a houseboat at Lake Koocanusa. I must say that it was one of the BEST holidays I have EVER been on. It has been YEARS since my family has gone on vacation together... in fact, I think the last time was when we took Russell to the mission home. So it was just a lot of fun spending time together, not only as our original family but also with all our loved ones that have joined our family over the last 5 years.

The houseboat was (I believe) a 15 passenger boat, we had 10 adults and 5 kids, 2 of which were babies. Each family got their own room which was soooo nice, and then there was a fair size kitchen/living room area, 2 bathrooms, and an upstairs deck that even had a hottub which was used quite a bit.

The first day we got there we unloaded the vehicles, loaded the boat, picked our rooms, Dad was taught how to drive and then we were off. We found a GREAT beach, docked the boat in the sand (it was fun watching our big tough husbands anchor the boat to the beach) and then we started our week of fun.

We spent a lot of time playing on the beach, floating in the cool water, cooling off in the houseboat, watching movies, napping, eating (oh the food was SOOOOO good), and just having a grand ol' time.

We had a few accidents, Steven tried to kill Beth but Beth won (FYI, Steven is probably double the size of Beth, but Beth is FEISTY) Because of this altercation a hospital was visited which was good 'cause Lisa and Mom learned how to do stitches. Then Eli decided to prove that the fireplace hearth was not a good place to fall, but all in all, everyone came home in one piece probably a lot fatter but in one piece. :)

I took some pictures with my camera but I used Lisa's and Dad's (aka, spoiled brats...j/k) new cameras to take most of the pictures of the week. So until I get a cd of the pics...hint hint Dad... I can only post the ones I have from my camera. Probably the best part of the week (other than being with family) was when the kids found a TREASURE MAP... but stayed tuned.... that story and pictures will have to wait... again until I get the cd... :)

I should add the theme of the week was PIRATES... Beth and I made an AWESOME pirate flag, Mom and Dad(mostly Dad) went overboard on the pirate gear (swords, hooks, eyepatches, etc. etc.) and the kids went CRAZY!!!! Seriously, they all LOVED playing pirates, well I guess the big kids did, the little guys were happy eating sand, right Ethan. :)

Pirate Grandma on the prowl:


AHHH Protect your fort (I love Nate's look in this pic)!!!:


ATTACK!!!:


What a cutie, seriously, this kid is such a poser, everytime I would pull out the camera he'd give me this face.... such a sweetie:


The whole family (minus Dennis, Karalee's fiance) on our last day, right before heading back to reality:


We also stopped in Sparwood to take pictures by the world's biggest truck, Nathan thought it was a big Tonka truck.


Again, what's with this cute kid popping up in all my pics?!?:


The 3 cousins (we were missing Destiny and Ethan, they were party poopers... or at least their parents were):


Seriously, stay tuned... we had a lot of fun that week, and there are TONS more pictures and stories that I would LOVE to post.