Little Brower Men: Fourth of July at Pickwick

Long time no blog.

My hard drive crashed in my laptop. Thank goodness we have an Apple store and they could help. Somehow, we had JUST backed it up the day before on an external hard drive. We have had it for six months and never used it. That kind of stuff never happens to me. I am usually the one who is lucky enough to lose everything. So happy to have my 9,000 pictures back!

I have been dying to blog our Fourth of July pictures. We rented a cabin in Pickwick and left Thursday night. It was just our family and Robert, Becca, and their kids. The week leading up, I was wondering what we had gotten ourselves into bringing five kids (3 under the age of 2) to the lake.

But we had a great time and have tons of pictures to prove it. This post will have way too many pictures, but I don't care. I want to always look back and see the first annual Brower lake trip. (I think we should do it every year!)

The boys and I on our way. John had to meet us there after work. Mason was too excited to sleep. Brody on the other hand...

The house was great. There were three floors and two patios/decks. Brody immediately put his little OCD mind to work with these peebles.

Mason got the water balloon kit out. Apparently he didn't realize you weren't supposed to bite them...

The next morning was the Fourth (hence the bathing suits) and we were ready to take on the beach.

It was definitely a campground. It was very rocky (no sand) so we all wore shoes, but it was perfect with the little ones. I couldn't believe people actually slept out there all weekend! I told John I never wanted to do that. He immediately replied, "good, me either!" But everyone was super nice and friendly.

Ready to boogie board.

The twins getting in the water.

Mason trying to catch a wave.

Yes we had American flag aviator sunglasses.

Reese found a fish.

These two had the best time together.

Brody just loves the water. Got so mad every time we had to get him out.

I mean, how cute are they?!

The other Brower kids and their Momma.

Snack time.

We had them all siting still for a minute. =)

Trouble.

'merica.

Little Rednecks. =)

Brody just loved throwing rocks into the water. He would've sat here for hours if we let him.

This kid makes this face at least 50 times a day.

Grabbing her bro in for a picture. Ha.

We came back home, put the little guys down for naps, and started making water balloons.

So excited.

Robert was down there having a peaceful moment blowing up the pool for the kids. Next thing he knew, he had water balloons coming from all directions.

Reese and Mason put on a "marching band parade" for us later that night. They took a bow at the end.

And John grilled some burgers.

The weather was so amazing. We were able to eat outside every night. Crazy for the month of July.

Griffin was even practicing for his upcoming corn eating contest.

Cutest thing ever.

The Eastport Marina fireworks weren't actually until the 5th. We didn't realize that until after we told the kids there would be fireworks that night. But no worries, we had our own show.

Mason shot that popper at me right as this picture was taken.

I was surprised these two worry-warts wanted to mess with fireworks!

Getting nervous for the finale.

The next morning, we were able to play around the cabin before our day really started. These three are all little, but they have some lungs on them.

Drinking their "coffee" a.k.a. milk at the breakfast bar.

Saturday, Dave and Jenna came and picked us up on their boat. Turns out, their lake house was directly across the lake from us. We were so thankful we were able to hang out with them, and that they wanted to hang with all NINE of us. =)

Going fast and loving it.

Mason had never tubed before so I wasn't sure how he would do, but he LOVED it. All he kept saying was "go faster". Uncle Robert rode with them first.

MC was cheering them on.

John and Mason.

Getting some air.

We all jumped in the water and Brody went straight for the tube. His brother was on there, why not him?!?!?

Mr. Dave let Brody "drive" the boat for a minute. Made his day.

We were all pooped when we got home.

We let the little ones nap, Reese and Mason were doing their thing, and the adults hung out on the deck. Once everyone was up, we got our fishing gear and headed back down to the beach.

Reese did really good fishing.

I thought these pictures turned out great.

John ~~getting frustrated~~ helping Mason. He was a little wild and crazy casting the reel but finally figured it out...for the most part. He may have caught Reese's hair at one point.

Becca got a great shot of him fishing.

Dads and kiddos.

The little ones just threw rocks all afternoon. Rocks are great toys.

And stuffed them into their life jackets.

We headed home for dinner and the marina's fireworks....and there is always time for a family photo.

Reese may have given a silly face. =)

My kids were in a daze. I think we were all pretty worn out by this point, but everyone pushed on!

We roasted s'mores in the fire pit during the firework show. We didn't have the best view of them because of some trees; but when you are tired and have chocolate, it doesn't matter.

Becca and John.

Reese and Mason may have had a few s'mores.

We came home Sunday but not before a big day on the lake. When we originally booked the cabin, we called that day to rent a pontoon boat, but they were already sold out for Friday and Saturday! We were only able to get one for Sunday. The boat turned out to be so much fun, and we were so glad we rented one.

We packed a cooler of all the essential snacks. These boys love some watermelon.

Ready to ride.

Brody was trying to escape.

Such a cute picture.

All five of the kiddos.

The twins get very relaxed on a boat...

Captain Mason.

Robert and the boys.

Reese jumping in.

John ~~flipping~~ jumping in.

Mason doing his signature cannon ball.

Becca jumping right on in with one of the boys.

Look at those little feet kicking. We have a fish on our hands.

Such a fun weekend.

Those glasses kill me.

Look how long that thing is!!!

All that hard work...and we still didn't catch a thing. I had to tell Mason there just weren't any fish in this lake. It could've had something to do with the fact that we had five loud children on the boat...

Taking a little joy ride on the boat to find a place to tube.

First up, Becca, Reese, and Mason.

Getting crazy out there.

Then Becca got her big lens out and caught some awesome shots of John and Mason. I defiantly need to print some of these off.

I LOVE this one.

And they fell off.

But he didn't care. Cheesin' it up in the water.

Robert out there all alone.

Who was asking to get thrown off...

And Becca did a great job of getting him off. =) The kids were so excited...Robert was quite sore. Ha.

Brody had been wanting on that tube all weekend and loves the water, so we gave it a shot. I told them to go in a straight line and once he started crying (assuming he would), to just stop and he could get off.

But as you can see here...he was having the time of his life. Couldn't stop squealing. Of course, I was basically laying on him, so he wasn't going anywhere.

We even got a group shot.

John's "crazy" face is just way too crazy.

And then he was out. Just too much fun.

We tried to take a picture of all the kids right in front of the cabin before we left. It is hilarious. After three full days in the sun...I think they were pooped.