4th of July 2010

At the last minute, our family of 5 and our travel buddies with their family of 4 decided to spend the 4th at Silver Lake. I have spent many a 4th at Silver Lake and it just so happened the stars aligned this year for our family to have the house. We have taken 2 other adult trips with Jordan and Harrison, but this was the first one with kids. We got down there early Friday afternoon and got some beach like swimming in. The wind was howling from hurricane Alex and the lake was "white-capping". It was actually cold when you got out of the water. This first picture is terrible, but check out Jordan's hair. It shows how hard the wind was blowing.

On Saturday, we had 3 other couples come down with their kids. I think there were 10 adults and 11 kids. It was real fun. All of the kids got along real well. They all took turns jumping of the dock or, in some of the little kids case, being dropped of the dock to the waiting arms of a trusted parent. We swam hard for a good 2 and half hours before heading up for lunch. Jennie and I had purchased Dobb's BBQ on the way down and I threw some hot dogs on the grill for the kids that didn't want that. We let the food digest for a few minutes and after the paparazzi left, we headed back down to the water.

Everyone started heading home around 4 and I think all kids were asleep by the time they hit the main road. I know by the time we got our kids in, fed and bathed, they were ready for bed. So were the 4 remaining adults. However, after a dinner of leftovers, there was a game of Mexican Train to be continued...a grudge match if you will, from the previous night.

The next day, we got a slower start. Harrison and Jordan headed over to Compass Lake for a little QT with his family and our family unit just stayed inside and rested until Uncle Tom's family arrived for the day. When they got there, we headed down to the water for day 3. Kids were yawning before we even got swimsuits on. So, we knew a nap would be required for the ones that hadn't taken one the previous two days.

Lunch that day was my favorite meal of the trip. Jordan brought down pimento cheese from Birmingham and we had BLT Pimento sandwiches. They were spectacular. After lunch, it was time to put the 4 little ones down for a nap and head back to the water. We swam for a while, got rained on for a while and then swam some more. Before too long, it was time for the cousins to leave and it was about time for us to get ready for dinner which consisted of leftovers again.

After dinner, as it got a little dark, it was time for fireworks. We started off with some sparklers while it was still a little light and the kids could see well enough not to accidentally burn the house down. Then, Harrison, Tucker and I headed to the beach to shoot the real stuff off. Harrison bought a good stash and we had some leftover for previous 4th's as well. Our show lasted about 10 minutes and the kids loved it. However, the folks across the lake took it a little further than we did. There is no telling what they spent, but Jennie let David stay up until 9:45 watching if that tells you anything. It was really good. If the mosquitos hadn't been so bad, we might have stayed out there longer. But, it was time. The kids and parents were exhausted from a long weekend and everyone was ready for bed.

Another great 4th of July at Silver Lake.