Cinco de Mayo Boat Trip

With the weather forecast showing temps for the first weekend of May to be in the 80's, the Rileys took proactive efforts the weekend prior to get the garage and boat (finally) cleaned out.  Because the boat gets used as a giant "Santa's Workshop Sleigh" for Christmas, and then the catch-all for every bit of spring cleaning post-Christmas, it's quite a task.  Proud of our family for getting this annual chore taken care of so we can actually embrace the coming fun of summer weather.

On Saturday, John pulled the boat out and "fake-lake" started it (ran a hose through it) - what a faithful boat, it started up faster than ever before.  It's official - we would be lake bound after church on Sunday!

After determining that the Whites wouldn't be able to join us (insert sad face...."it's been TOOO long"), we put out a few texts to folks we didn't expect to actually be spending a lot of time "in the lake".  We expected the water to be very cold and given it was our maiden run of the year, things were a little unpredictable to take out a crew that would be trying to get up on the wakeboard for the first time.   So, it turned out that Heather and the Harris' (Christi and Tyler) were the folks that came with us.  We've never actually had any one on one time with Tyler, so it was very cool to get to spend an afternoon with him after getting to know his beautiful wife so well over the last several years.  

I actually jumped in the lake first (shocker, huh?!) - but not before putting on my full wet suit purchased last summer.  It was worth every penny, because I've never felt Cottage Grove Lake colder than it was on Sunday.   I told everyone I didn't need pics taken, so they weren't...in fact we didn't get the big camera out until it was Tyler's turn.  Just like riding a bike, it was so much fun to pop right up on the board, zoom out to the glassy water, cross the wake, and do a few hops.  I'm such a daredevil....

Surprisingly, Brayden went next - without a wetsuit.  That kid has zero bodyfat (unlike his mama) - I can't believe he did what he did.  But, he was impressive - and made his run worth it - doing his typical "kareoke boarding" (singing and dancing while on the board) and almost successfully jumping the wake. 

Yeah Heather for being the one willing to take pictures!  She's one hot photographer!

Look at that smile on Tylers face....that's because he is out of the frigid icy water temps and into the 85 degree air temperature.....and especially because he was able to get up and board after only three tries.  Impressive!!

And, quite the spectacular fall too!

You probably won't be seeing these pics on Facebook as technically Heather probably shouldn't be boarding.  As a semi-professional runner in the midst of her season, her coach frowns upon such activities.  However, Heather couldn't resist and was very smart about being responsible in not doing things on the board to injure herself.  (We both agreed that the board is actually better for us than the tube...you can control a lot more - and decide for yourself when to call it quits if it gets too dicey).

Heather was definitely in her "happy place"....and definitely impressed Christi with her boarding skills.

Not going to add a caption to this pic...

Mikayla was so excited to hear that Christi only wanted to go on the tube if "John went slow".  Heather joined in the party.

Kind of equivalent to the "Dumbo Ride" at Disneyland....

vs. "California Screamin" with these two....

Yes, everyone was okay - Tyler found his tumbles off the tube to be very amusing.  He flew off like a "Crash Test Dummy" -  it was crazy.

Such a beauty!

This ride would be more like "Thunder Mountain"...with the last jarring bump being a doozy.  We gave Brayden the "Ok" to tell John to speed it up a bit, and what do you know but we hit a wave hard and "crunch", that's the sound of my vertebrae compressing.....ugh.....(I spent Sunday night through Tuesday morning almost entirely in bed with ice, minus the time spent at Mom's trying to fix me.... - as I'm typing on Tuesday night, it's finally better - hallelujah!)

LOVE this picture of my kiddos...new Facebook Cover Photo...

Even Mikayla got a little more than she bargained for.  But, she had fun nonetheless.

Gotta get a pic of the faithful driver....

It wouldn't be the maiden boat voyage without a stop at DQ.  Check out that temperature....and on the 5th of May.  Summer's starting early in our neck of the woods!!