hello, again! i am back to continue my family vacation recap (which i started in my last post.)
thursday was my mom’s 60th birthday, and all she wanted to do was wakeboard. she grew up on the lake, water skiing and boating her childhood away. however, my dad is not too into boats, so i didn’t get to participate in water sports too often. any time a friend asked me to go boating, though, i would jump at the chance! my mom does the same thing. she owns her own wakeboard and life jacket, just no boat. so, we rented a boat and two wave runners and headed to lake mead for her birthday! we had lots of snacks, sunscreen, and a couple of cute dogs in tow. we sort of expected there to be a sandy beach, but soon discovered it was more like a bunch of rocks on the shore. we made the most of things, though, and set up our shade tents with smiling faces.
my sister, suni & my sister in law, lindsay
our boat rental came with a boat captain, eric, which made it so stress free and easy to enjoy the day. i was among the first group to hit the lake. naturally, momma b was the first to wakeboard. it was her birthday, after all!
my mom’s still got it! she wakeboards like a champ. i am so proud of her athletic ability. you’re only as old as you feel, right??
i was next up and then my brother, doug, had a turn. after the three of us went, we decided to head back to the beach so the boat could pick up some other family members. when we pulled up to the shore, i had a HUGE, SHOCKING SURPRISE waiting for me…
yep. penny.. on the wave runner.. which is shocking. but what was even more shocking was that penny actually was wet, meaning she got in the water. my dogs HATE water. they aren’t swimmers. or so i thought… this was a first for them both!
i CANNOT believe randy was swimming! he swam all the way to marshall’s arms.
it was so fun to see those two play in the water and roll around on the rocky beach.
i stayed back on the beach and ate lots of snacks while hanging with the pups and fam. when it was time to go out on the boat again, we were surprised that penny wanted to go with us!
boat dog! who knew?!
before wakeboarding again, my brother convinced me to try wakesurfing, which is much closer to the boat. you use a board that doesn’t have bindings and eventually you let go of the rope and surf right behind the boat, like doug’s doing here.
i didn’t quite get to the point of letting go, but it was super fun to learn a new water sport!
after everyone took their turn with the surfboard, we all did some more wakeboarding. i was SUPER stoked when marshall decided to try it out for his first time ever.
after a little instruction from the boat captain and a few tries, he made it up! he’s a natural.. i was proud.
and penny was concerned, haha.. every time marshall or i was in the water, she’d watch us closely and cry.
my mom had another turn and she figured out how to go in and out of the wake toe-side. it was a day for learning new things and she was so happy to have accomplished this!
i have to say that one of the best parts of the day was watching my brother, doug, out on that board. he can flip, twist, and spin like no other. it was so entertaining!
i had another turn on the wakeboard and, thanks to a few pointers from the boat captain, i managed to get more air than before. i am so used to snowboarding, so i try to treat the wake as i would a snow jump, but it’s such a different skill so i had to tweak a few things i was doing wrong.
i also learned a new trick–a surface 180! this is where you turn the board 180 degrees and switch from regular to goofy (left foot forward to right foot forward.) after a couple tries, i got it!
learning new things is fun.
we boated the day away until 5:30–here are (a WHOLE BUNCH) more random shots from the lake. no words required :)
okay, maybe a few words: do you see penny’s nose?!
THANK YOU, mom, for treating your family to a day on the lake on YOUR 60th birthday. this was more fun than i could ever have hoped for.. i think we need to buy a boat!
Qs~
1. what is the last new thing you learned?
2. what would YOUR dream birthday activity be?
xo. janetha g.
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{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I brewed my own beer on my birthday this year- and went hiking in the snow the year before. Both were awesome! My dream would be to do an African Safari. Maybe some year…
Your mom (and you!) is such a badass. Holy cow. I could never DREAM of my mom being that adventurous!!
And the photos of the doggies melted my heart- especially of Randy swimming!!
the dog pictures killed me! so adorable. looks like a blast.
Oh boy I just keep rewinding that day over and over!!! We really should have bought a boat years ago…
Loved our little boat dog…penny had a lot of fun too!
I learned again family is where it’s at!
I just had my dream vacation, only the boating would go on for a couple of days ….maybe even a week at a wakeboard camp!
Seriously. Hands down. Best vacation ever!!
I love you.
xoxo
I learn new things everyday while teaching third grade… like Justin Bieber’s favorite color. haha Love that your mom wanted an adventurous birthday!
I am in the process of learning how to do a yoga headstand – I know for some people that sounds incredibly easy, but at some point in my life I became a pretty nervous scaredy-cat so getting over my fear of breaking my neck is a big deal to me!!
OMG Penny is such a cute boat doggie! Can I have one??
aaaaah swimming hound!! I think my heart just melted a little.
LOVED your moms’ birthday pictures!!
I’m 55 and try on every ‘milestone’ b’day to do something different with either my daughter or son. So, THIS year, it was ziplining in the Great Smokey Mountains with my daughter (who was in on leave..YAY!!)
Like you said, you’re only as old as you think/believe you are.
Congrats to your mom and I must say, she looks FAB for 60!
I really need to get my butt in gear so I can have those smokin’ hot guns like your mom! She is truly inspiring.
Looks like a fun vacation.
Oh my goodness. That picture of Randy, with his soulful eyes and floppy basset ears floating in the water, just melted my heart. What a sweetie.
You have the coolest mom around. Seriously. My new life goal is to wakeboard at age 60.
The last new thing I learned was some basic computer programming in C#. I also just re-learned how to belay, since we’ve been doing a lot of outdoor climbing lately.
Dream birthday activity? A long hike to the top of a mountain with great views!
Momma b is so amazing and gorg!! Randy looks like he was sticking his tounge out at u!! Loved all these photos!!
Can we look at the view!!!! Beautiful! My view when water skiing is flat pancake with some trees thrown in. I’d love to water ski with those mountains behind be, I feel I would be better. Right? ;)
I actually went wake boarding for the first time ever a few weekends ago. I got up, stayed up, and that’s about it. Couldn’t really maneuver and didn’t try to get any air but was happy nonetheless.
The only thing more adorable than Penny and Randy is Penny and Randy SWIMMING!
And Momma B looks AMAZING – as do you. And Marshall! You can totally tell he’s been hitting the weights :)
These are incredible photos! What a blast. I’ve only ever been jet skiing but loved it!
Wow–all of that looks like so much fun!!! I can’t believe the flips your brother can do. And your Mom!?!? She rocks. I want to be her someday. What an awesome family vacation!
Looks like SO much fun – I was too chicken try wakeboarding early this summer, but definitely want to give it a shot next time. Your mom sounds like an amazing lady!
Looks like you guys had a blast! I love seeing your Mom so happy & healthy. Side note…I went to Costco & they didn’t have your pancake skillet. Boo! You must have a better Costco…lucky! ;)
oh my gosh i thought that was momma B doing flips for a second there. I bet she could do that though, cause she’s bad ass. I guess it runs in the family.
My dream birthday activity would be lazer tag! how long has it been since you’ve been? No I am not 10 but seriously running around in a dark room with random glow in the dark rocks shooting lazers sounds like my dream birthday haha
Oh my gosh, you are such a babe. Look at you dominating that wake board?! Oh and Momma B? Uuuhhm…I want to be like her when I’m 60.
you KNOW they only did it because marshall was doing it. :)
your nieces are so cute. and your mom’s a pretty hot 60 too.
Oh man, your mom is awesome! Sounds like it was a really fun weekend trip! I’ve never wakeboarded, but this really makes me want to try it.
Your family looks so fun! :) Happy Birthday to Momma B! The last new thing I learned was probably CrossFit. I have been learning so much in the past few week! I love it! My dream birthday would probably involve a trip to the ocean since I’ve never been there. I would love to experience it with all of my family!
puppy do’s ears were floating. that.is.awesome.
your mom is such a rockstar! leisure wise i cant remember the last thing i ‘learned’ but at work i have recently learned how to do transient transfection.
my ideal bday would be jetting off to a beach!
Randy is so freakin’ cute when he’s swimming!
OH MY GAAH the water pups! so dang cute. Basil loved our old pool, as long as we were in there too…
Love that Marshall and Penny and Randy all tried new things, that your mom is rockin’ and a great example of living well and going for life, love all the shots of your fam (and sleepy kids! aww!), love that you nailed a few new tricks yourself, and just love good snacks and family time together. ;) Most of all, I love and appreciate YOU! Thanks for the trip recap – great to see and fun to be a part of that weekend! :D
I am seriously freaking out about how cool that lake looks with the mountains all around it – our lakes are just completely surrounded by trees and are NOT that pretty colour!
SO COOL! Happy belated to your mom – she looks great!
I tried wakeboarding… once… I sucked! I am so glad you had fun, but we sure missed you and are glad you are back with us :) Your mom is freaking RIPPED. Her body is just amazing!
can I send Jax next time? he loves to swim!!
Looked like an amazing day on the water!! Your mom is amazing! love her (and you)
Your family is too fun!!! I have never been wake boarding! My ideal b-day would be spent hiking in the Smokies. :)
Learning new things is such a great feeling and wakeboarding looks like fantastic fun! Might have to give it a try…
OMG SWIMMING DOGS. so cute.
I would probably not have the guts to do that. I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m a giant klutz. I can’t even RUN without spraining something. ;)
i love this post! Good job, Marshall! Also, I love that penny is a boat dog. I love her. And Randy. Your mom looks so damn good. Your family is cute. Good job on the 180.
omg.. i could squeal at how cute those dogs are in the water. i always wondered if scout would like it.
you guys look like you had some fun in the sun! penny and randy will never regret their decision to go swimming. i bet they’ll be asking you to go swimming again before summer is over ;-)
marshall looks like he put some weight and muscle on. yay marshall!