Lake Arrowhead

For our last weekend of summer, we packed up and headed to Lake Arrowhead! Bishop and Kathy are going to be selling their place so we knew this would be our last time to come up to the lake house, which made it an extra special getaway and we tried to enjoy every minute of our time there!

Gram and Papa flew into Burbank Thursday morning to join us for the weekend. We just picked them up on our way there - easy peasy.

We got there at noon on Thursday and didn't waste anytime  - we unpacked in a flash, made a quick lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the lake!

It was such a glorious afternoon spent kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, and jumping off the dock! We headed up late afternoon to get cleaned up and start dinner. The girls were especially excited about getting to take a bubble bath!!

Don't mind the blue paint on Elle's face - it's her leftover face painting from our ward picnic in the park Wednesday night that she didn't wash off because she wanted to show Gram and Papa!

Thursday evening dinner on the deck! We barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs. 

Scariest moment of our trip was when I went to wash my face Thursday evening and I realized my wedding ring was not on my finger - and I had no recollection of taking it off. At that moment I realized I had most likely lost it in the lake. I was devastated and didn't get much sleep Thursday night. After hours of praying, I was anxious to get down to the lake Friday and see if we could find it. I  did make the decision to not let it ruin our trip though.

Friday morning Dad and I were up early and went for a 3 mile hike while Spencer went for a bike ride. Mom was kind enough to stay home with the kids. 

We packed up pretty early and headed down to the lake by 9:30am. 

First thing Spencer did was get in and try looking for my ring. . . 

Long story short - we realized it was hopeless to find my ring at the bottom of a seaweed filled lake. Mom and dad went into town early Friday afternoon and ran into a guy who had an amazing metal detector and was willing to go looking for our ring come fall time when the water level came down a bit. I felt like that was the answer to our prayers. But amazingly enough, I ended up finding my ring Sunday afternoon while packing up my suitcase. It kind of just fell out of my jeans as I was folding clothes. What a blessing! Definitely a story to document from our Lake Arrowhead trip - it was a moment to celebrate!!

Now back to our Friday afternoon on the lake . . . 

I love Madi's confidence in the water. She's so willing to try everything! 

We stayed down at the lake until early afternoon before kids started having melt downs, needing the bathroom, and some quiet time.

The kids hide out:

And nap time:

Friday evening we headed into town to get some dinner, check out the shops, listen to some live music, and meet up with Bobby, Amy & Porter who had just arrived!

We were all tired Friday night and were in bed early - ready for an action packed Saturday. Bob and Spencer were up at 6am for their ride around the lake.

Then it was down to the lake! 

Elle finally got the courage to jump into the lake Saturday afternoon! Ya, it took a $5 bribe from her dad, but I'm still so proud of her! 

It was a great ending to our time at the lake!!

We barbecued chicken for dinner with homemade french fries, rice, and broccoli. Then we stayed up and played games after the kids were all in bed.

Sunday morning we went to church at 9am and then came home to enjoy a relaxing afternoon at the house before packing up. 

We played games - Amy's bananagrams game was a huge hit with my girls!

Read stories . . . 

Some dad/son bonding time. . . 

And spent a whole lot of time adoring sweet Porter!

 We went down to the lake one last time to say goodbye before packing up and heading home!

Thanks Gram, Papa, Bob, Amy, and Porter for joining us for a fabulous weekend! 

It really was a prefect ending to our summer of 2015!