Skip to main content

A peek at our Fourth of July break

By July 6, 2011Camping, Floating, Travel

Neilyo

Our Fourth of July weekend was a whirlwind of travel and food. Looking back, it’s almost impossible to recount all the stuff we did! The main event was our two night trip to Table Rock Lake near the Arkansas border to stay at our friend’s lake house with a slew of our other friends.

DSC_0705

We arrived Saturday morning, a bit later than the rest of the crew who had arrived the night before. It was the cutest little a-frame, and with nearly twenty of us, it was PACKED! Upon arriving, we noticed immediately that Neil’s brother Ben was missing. Turns out he’d had a little “oops” the night before. He jumped off a moving golf cart and broke his wrist. Yay for urgent care!

DSC_0706

You know you’re having a good time when finding broken bones on your x-rays becomes a game. They also ended up as window decorations later in the weekend…

DSC_0701

We decided to make his arm festive too. I have no idea why I had Mardi Gras beads in my bag, but they looked good wrapped around part of a beer box. After adorning Ben’s arm, we made an awesome dinner of bbq burgers, jerky and dessert (recipe coming soon!).

DSC_0784

Huge yummy burgers, mixed with bread crumbs, onions and seasoning.

DSC_0781

Cooking with cheese and one lonely veggie burger for Kaycia…

DSC_0763

DSC_0790

Yummy deer jerky from Matt and Katie. So good! Yes that’s yours truly, a rare sight on this blog. After dinner, it was time to make our way to the lake to watch the fireworks from the boats. However we were slightly delayed by the boys. Somewhere in the planning stages of the weekend, they had decided they were all going to make and wear jorts (jeans + shorts).

DSC_0797

DSC_0802

It was definitely a competition to see who could have the shortest jorts. Poor Nathan (far right) cut his so short they ended up being a skirt. And after looking at tags, we realized Matt (in overalls) was wearing Rue 21 — a girls clothing brand. A total Michael Scott moment if you’re a fan of The Office. And yes — that is the start of a beer-amid on the table.

I opted not to take the camera on the boat to see the fireworks or swimming, a decision I was sad about at the time, but grateful for now, as our group did lose some valuables to the lake over the weekend. And really, it was nice to totally de-tech and enjoy not feeling the need to document everything. We had a crazy fun time, with lots of good food and relaxation. Neil took one picture that I think sums it all up:

DSC_0807

Kaycia on the couch-mobile Sunday morning. She’s so cute, this was the perfect picture to encompass how tired we all were at the end. I always feel that weekends like these come fewer and far between the older we get, and although I’m always happy to return to the sanity of our house and routine, it’s still fun to party and play hard when we’re able.

Speaking of getting older, in two weeks Neil is turning 30! He’s requested a float trip, and plans have been well underway for the past few months. Now I just have to figure out how to make sure there is birthday cake — any ideas?

How did you spend your holiday break?