Lake Powell 2013 (long post!)

Just one more long post from this summer (I know it's lengthy but it's so hard to narrow down pics with our new camera). Our second vacation this summer was our annual trip out to Lake Powell with Sam's family. We actually made the 28hr+ drive all the way out to AZ because we are crazy. And well, lets face it, Lake Powell is pretty much worth it. :) It actually wasn't that bad. Ivy was a champion traveler and thanks to our trusty Ipad for when she got bored, she stayed pretty happy for most of the drive. Because Sam's family is so big, his dad usually splits us up and we can either choose to go the first week or the second week. This time around, we were on the second week so we took the ski boat from the marina out to the already camped houseboat. Ivy had a pretty rough day at the marina with all the hustle and bustle of getting out to our camp but once we were there, she was happy to be with cousins and warmed up pretty quick to being out on the lake.. This week was with Amy/Matt and kids, Dan/Richelle and kids, Dad/Trish (of course), and some family friends Robyn/Dave and kids. It was such a fun group! It had been a while since we've seen everyone so it was nice to catch up.... Now for pictures...

Our view from the houseboat, we stayed in the cove next to Cookie Jar Rock this time around, loved the views:

 

On Wednesday, we went with Dan's family up to Hole in the Rock. Once we were up there, Ivy, Richelle, and I stayed back to hang out on the sand and boat while the boys hiked to the top. It really was the perfect day to go- smooth water, nice breeze while we were waiting, great company... very fun day:

(the boys are actually only a about a quarter of the way up in these pics, especially with the water so low this year.. to see a better pic of how crazy this hike is, click here)

I know it's probably picture overload on this post of my sweet girl but she's just so cute.

Pictured on the left is Sam's nephew Paul, Sam is on the right:

 Wakesurfing:

Love this pic of Ivy... Oh and just one pic of mabling this year:

 

Trip up to Rainbow Bridge:

Ivy did awesome for most of the time (just got pretty hot towards the end). She loved hanging with her cousin Paul..

 

Sam decided to run the trail a couple times.. 

 

Sam and I love Lake Powell and look forward to this trip every year. We could never get sick of it. Thanks Dad and Trish for an amazing week every time!! 

July 4th in Harrogate

We had a great 4th of July here in Harrogate. Sam, of course had the day off from work so we went to a wonderful brunch at some friends' house then later on took miss Ivy to the park. It was a little rainy but that didn't stop her from having fun. Later on we had a yummy bbq dinner at home along with our annual fruit pizza.. I guess the town of Harrogate doesn't do a fireworks display (although they do have a big carnival and show for Labor Day) so we hit up the local fireworks tent just next to our neighborhood for a few fun items for our evening. We got a couple roman candles to see what Ivy would think of fireworks and just as we thought, she was not fond of them AT ALL. It's a good thing we put her to bed before doing the big ones, lol. A couple of Sam's friends came over and along with our neighbor Pat, and we celebrated the Independence Day evening in the drizzling rain with our own fun little fireworks display. It was perfect. :)

Sam's good friend Jason.. couldn't miss out on dessert and fireworks:

Brown Family Pics

After the birthday celebrations on Friday evening, we all ran back to the beach to snap some quick family pics, courtesy of my sis Kristin and her awesome camera/tripod abilities. Least amount of planning possible and I think they turned out pretty awesome! 

 

Such a fun week! We are already missing everyone!