Tuesday, August 11

backyard animals and another trip to the lake

 

most mornings and evenings we find plenty of wildlife action, which is evidenced by all the piles of doo doo we have to dodge while playing and adventuring. I've lost track of all the woodchucks we've shot this summer. they tore up the yard and when we realized the babies had grown and were beginning their own holes and underground network we decided it was time for them to go. 

we also see a ton of deer. it never gets old seeing these beauties. especially the sweetly spotted fawns! 
one of our neighbor's yards (two houses to the west) is a deer's dream destination. year round she goes out every night around sunset and shakes her bucket of corn and the deer come out of the trees, where they've been waiting. plus, she has apple trees. 







jack is bound a determined to get a buck this fall in our backyard with his bow. so he's been sprinkling corn. he's also come up with a need to plant a food plot, hoping that it will entice the deer to spend a little more time in our yard. although we aren't going full force with the food plot, he has cleared a large section and sprinkled some clover seeds, covered them with grass clippings and now he's waiting for rain. the forecast last weekend showed rain all this week... but each day the chance is getting slimmer and slimmer. 
pray for rain!

last night our neighbors took us out on their boat again! we picked up jack at work and headed straight for the reservoir and set out on the water at about 6. the air was warm and thick, and the water was refreshingly cool. it was perfection!

chris decided to take the big camera this time to get some better pictures of the tubers and skiers.


checking his settings and he caught these creepy pictures!




Owen decided this time around that going fast or wild wasn't really his jam... he wanted to relax and get pulled along with the minnows leaping out of the water in his wake.






Charlie lives for speed!
he kept going over waves and bumps and gliding out on the glassy surface... nothing could tip or throw him off.





jack and Ellie decided that they wanted to focus on water skiing this time. they have talked about it constantly since our last trip so they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity... and they did! they both popped right up after only one or two tries (ok, Ellie was up on her second and jack was up on his 4th).




















char wanted to try skiing. he knew it was tough, but wanted to try anyway. well, he couldn't even keep his legs together and tips up out of the water to even get started, so Mark decided he better wait until he's a little stronger. Charlie said, "can I just say Hit It one time?" so he did. and Mark hit it. and Charlie didn't let go, so he was drug through the water for about 5 seconds. but, he popped up with a big smile!


chris wanted to try slalom. 
we'll just say, its harder than it looks... and it looks hard haha.



after several attempts, Mark showed us how its done. he is a PRO!









Mark and Leslie brought their traditional boating treat: hostess cupcakes. we snacked on cupcakes and watched the sunset behind the trees. it was the sweetest ending to our evening on the lake.

chris skied the ride back to the boat ramp and made us laugh... his sleeves kept filling with the breeze, which made him look super macho! 









No comments: