June 12 - 17, 2007

LAKE OCONEE

NORTH SHORE RESORT

JUNE 12 - 17, 2007

WOW - what a great time we had on this camping trip. Who would have thought that camping would have been so much fun. Of course it helps when you have a wonderful camper with bathroom facilities including a shower - HAHAHA!!!! Who would have thought that I would have been doing this 20 years ago.

We got to the resort on Tuesday and set everything up. Rusty had to finish a job over there but by the time we got the camper set-up, went to the store, it was already after 2pm so he decided to just finish it the next day. Tuesday night was a little bit rocky. A big (huge in my opinion) thunderstorm came through and boy was I a little scared. At one point while it was lightning I could see the huge pine trees swaying so much they looked like they were going to break in two. There was one point during the storm that I thought it was hailing because it sounded like it was hitting the top of the camper but Rusty figured it was just pine cones. He was right but it sure didn't sound very good. Kati if your reading this - weathering a storm in a camper is so much better than weathering a storm in a tent. I will never forget that camping trip to Lake Knotley (not quite sure if I have the spelling right on that one).

Here is a picture of the camper once we got it set-up.

Here is Princess. She wasn't real happy being on a leash but she soon got use to it.

Rusty went to the job Wednesday morning and I took the kids to the pool. The resort had 2 pools and on this day one of them were closed due to chemical treating. This pool was really nice. We actually had it all to ourselves while we were there.

Carrigan was doing so well swimming. She would actually take off her life jacket while she was in the part that she could stand up in. She has really improved since last summer.

Alan didn't mind the water as long as we let him do his own thing. If you tried to hold him and take him in - he would throw a fit so I basically just let him do whatever he wanted. He was getting kinda brave going off the side of the pool. He never actually got all the way in though.

Thursday morning Rusty woke up real early and went fishing. If I remember correctly he caught something but I was not there to take a picture of it. He said that he enjoyed just being out there. When he was finished we headed out to find a Wal-Mart. We headed the wrong direction on 20 and ended up going 40+ miles out of our way. We at least found one somewhere in a town called Thomson I think. We later found out that if we had headed the other way on 20 - we would have found one in Madison. We know now for the next time. Later that afternoon we took the kids down to the dock and let them try fishing. We stopped by a store earlier in the day and bought some crickets and that seemed to do the trick for Carrigan. Alan was acting up so we (me and him) went back to the camper so we missed Carrigan catching her fish :-( We had another storm that night but not as bad as the night before.

Friday - Rusty took Carrigan fishing that morning. Carrigan had a ball. Of course - she and Rusty caught something. I think this time it was a small catfish. Again - I wasn't down there to see. Instead me and Alan stayed at the camper and we watched TV. Yeap - we had TV down there. It was even digital TV. Alan was just as happy watching TV then he would have been down by the lake.

Kristi and Hunter came!!! A BIG HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Jan and Larry (Kristi's in-law's) for letting Kristi and Hunter go to your lake house and for allowing us to see it and enjoy it. What a beautiful home. It is absolutely amazing - the house, the decorating, the view of the lake, etc.... Thank you, thank you!!!! All Carrigan has talked about since we have been back is how much fun she had at Grandma Jan's house with Hunter.

Here is a picture of Princess with Jan and Larry's next door neighbor's Great Dane - Stella. Princess was so small compared to Stella but Stella was such a good dog around her. they played well together until Stella would pounce on her trying to play. That's when Princess would start whimpering. She never got hurt. I think it was good for her since Dixie was back at home and Princess missed her. Thank you Grace for watching Dixie for us!!!! Dixie appreciated it!

Who would have thought that Carrigan would be jumping off of docks. At Lake Lanier she would not jump off of Josh's boat but she had no problem jumping off of the dock. She and Hunter even swam under it. Not me - I would have been chicken. No dark places for me in the water!

Here is a picture of Rusty fishing in Jan and Larry's back yard. I love this picture! They have a beautiful view and nobody will ever build behind them across the lake. WOW!

Alan was having fun trying to fish. I would cast it out and he would sit and reel it in. At one point I cast it and his SpongeBob bobber feel off. Kristi and I kept trying to hook it and bring it in. Finally Kristi was able to get it close enough to the dock and Rusty grabbed it. Alan was very excited to get his SpongeBob back.

"When the sun goes down...."

Here is a picture of the 3 of them. Trying to get Alan to sit still was a little tough but I got a picture. It was pretty neat - you can see the steps in this picture that go down into the lake.

It took me forever to get this action shot of Hunter. It's a little blurry but it shows how much fun he was having.

Carrigan being just like her cousin. Now if we could only get her to stop holding her nose. She would start way back in the yard holding her nose and run to the end of the dock and jump. She had a ball!

Kristi and I were sitting on the dock and all of a sudden Alan decided he was going to be like his sister and cousin. He went running to the end of the dock. We thought for sure he was going to go in but....

he decided to go to the end and stop, turn around and kick his feet in the water. He would them get up and start all over. Rusty at this time took his watch off, his wallet out of his pocket and got ready for the one time Alan would slip and Rusty would have to go in after him. It didn't happen but Alan came pretty close one time. Instead of him turning around when he got to the end - he decided to go straight and poor little thing was holding on for dear life. He was barely hanging on. We couldn't help but laugh.

Carrigan and Hunter were swimming at night. Here's a picture of Carrigan floating. She can't stop talking about it.

Saturday - Tim and Barb came to visit us. Thanks for coming!!!! The resort had a cookout with hamburgers and hot dogs so we got lunch and then headed to the pool.

Here's a picture of Carrigan and one of the little girls that she met at the park hanging on Rusty's legs. Carrigan had alot of fun playing with her. Come to find out that Carrigan was only a couple of weeks older than her.

Again we had to let Alan do his own thing. Here he is braving it in the deep end. He never went further than the first step.

That afternoon Carrigan and I took Barb over to Jan and Larry's to let her see the house and let Carrigan swim a little more with Hunter.

Another action shot of Hunter jumping in!!

Carrigan did so much better on Saturday. She was alot more confident and ran alot faster. Kristi even joined them in the lake but I promised her I would not take a picture. Kristi was just like one of the kids. She jumped just as far as they did. Plus - she helped Carrigan get up on the dock so she wouldn't have to swim around. Thanks!

After they swam - we (me, Barb and Carrigan) went to the store to get dinner. Kristi and Hunter met us back at the resort for dinner. Rusty cooked an awesome dinner (he always does) and then Tim and Barb left and went back home.

After dinner Kristi and I took the kids to the pool while Rusty cleaned up. Hunter is one hilarious kid. He told Kristi and I to pretend like we did not know him because there were girls there. He gave Kristi the name of Victoria and he gave me the name of Lilly. Hunter was Tom and Carrigan was Jerri. It was so funny. That kid can come of with some of the funniest things!

Here is Carrigan and Hunter swimming on the last night. Alan was actually there also but he didn't care too much about going in. At one point he actually fell into the water (he had a life jacket on) and then he didn't want much more to do with the water.

We had an awesome time and can't wait to go back. Thank you Tim and Barb for coming to visit while we were there. A big thank you to Kristi and Hunter for coming and a big thank you to Jan and Larry for letting us enjoy your home.

I just want to say thank you to everyone that emails me and comments about my BLOG. It takes me a long time to do this and it is my way of keeping in touch with so many of you. Thanks again !!

Kim