Lake Roosevelt

My side of the family gets together every summer for our annual Loon Lake trip. This year we tried Lake Roosevelt, still within a couple of hours of Loon Lake. I'd say the water temperature felt about the same; warm enough to spend your day in the water. So I have some pros and cons with this new location.

Pros: 1. The lake house was MUCH better. It fit all of our families and still had plenty of room for a ping-pong and pool table. 2. There were no cats! The Loon Lake house owner has a few cats and their hair is everywhere. Some family members are allergic to cat dander so they have been miserable with dealing with them in the past. 3. The larger lake allowed us to discover some really cool spots like a waterfall and caves.

Cons: 1. I do like how Loon Lake is literally the backyard of the house. We don't have to walk down a sandy path to get to the shore. 2. There is no dock. The kids like to jump and fish off of the dock. Instead there was what is called a "Lilly Pad" that floats on the water. But you still get very wet just trying to stay afloat on it. The kids had a blast playing "monster" on it though.

Something new this year were paddle boards and kayaks. I have been wanting to try out paddle boarding for a long time now. I thought the challenging part would be balancing, but instead it was learning how to turn exactly. For sure the kayaks were easier, but I still prefer the paddle board because of the extra challenge.

I loved the house we stayed in! It was big, decorated in beachy themes, and most importantly- clean! I wish I would have taken pictures of all the rooms because they were so cute with different beachy themes in each room. Our family had the "captain's room." My sister, Sanni probably had the most "questionable" room with it's dozen or so nude mermaids catching your eye no matter where you looked. We all had a good laugh with that room! The loft where the kids slept was cabin-themed, and the rec room was adorned in pirate-wear.

As the kids are getting older they are discovering the joy of game nights which we typically do after our days on the lake.

One of the highlights of the trip was Uncle Teem renting a party boat so everyone could enjoy the waterfall on the opposite side of Lake Roosevelt. It was a pretty little cove that even the wimpiest of cold-water swimmers enjoyed.

We made another stop at another waterfall to discover the hatching spot of THOUSANDS of tadpoles and frogs. The kids loved this. Paul and I were grossed out.

Another unique adventure was a challenging hike to a cave. The hike itself was rather short, but it was very steep. Luckily, we all made it up and down safely.

Before our vacation came to an end we took an extra day and went to Silverwood Theme Park just a short drive from my brother's home. It happened to be the one cool day there so we didn't go to the water park. Since I couldn't do any of the big rides, I took Baelor on all of the little rides while Paul went with Reina and the older kids on the big rides. I actually am not surprised Reina went on all the rides her height allowed. There were only two she wasn't quite tall enough for. She loves big rides like her parents! I think Baelor is following the same suit as he caught everyone's attention with his joy of being jostled.

Vacation with family is really the best!