Labor Day at Lake Wawasee

 It was Uncle Adam's idea to go to a lake during Labor Day weekend.  My parents said Ok as long as you do the research.  So Adam found the place and we all showed up for Labor Day Laker Fun!

 This is the only picture you can see our house in the background.  It doesn't look big but it held all 15 of us!

 The first day we got there was a little chilly.

 Can you tell from all the sweatshirts?

 But Tommy didn't care!

The next morning the boys went for a bike ride. 

While the girls and Grandpa and Tommy went for a boat ride.  Our ride was much more fun according to Adam.  Heehee! 

Charlotte was just happy to drive the boat with Grandpa.  You can tell how happy she is but how many of her bottom teeth you can see. :) 

We came back to pick up the boys and make some sandwiches for the boat.  Charlotte was excited to make her own sandwich for once.  Mmm cheezit sandwiches! 

Time to head out on the water again! Uncle Adam was ready!

Sandbar time! Hey look that's me! I made it into a picture or two! :)

We met up with one of Adam's friends and his family and their little boy joined us on the tube.

 Tommy and Dada decided to take the tube for an actual ride at some point during the day.  He loved it! He was smart to wear those goggles.

 Charlotte was by Emily's side the entire weekend I think. :)

 Look at Charlotte's face.  She looks like she's actually riding the tube around.  Turns out, she's just floating gently in the water.  Ha!

The house had a beautiful deck where we spent most of our time.

Photo crew goes to Emily for this one.  So cute. 

 Not sure who took this one but I love it.  Isabel looks to the future of boating. 

Uncle Adam grabbed some GoPro Shots that turned out pretty great as always. 

 Charlotte took a good one too! ;)

This one is especially cute.  #topknot 

Our last night at the house, Brandon got out the karaoke machine.  Many of us sang a tune from Andrew's iPhone.  The kids' greatest hit was "HandClap" by Fitz and the Tantrums.  I was involved in that performance and we had the whole crowd going.  It was so much fun that no one got a video! Boo!! :(  But it was definitely awesome.  Charlotte was a dancing machine! 

 At 10 pm, it was sound DOWN.  No more karaoke.  The kids had to go to bed and everything fell silent.  All except for the game of spoons in the kitchen.  I didn't play this time.  It seemed VERY intense so I'm kind of glad I sat this one out.  I don't think there was any blood or biting so that's a plus.

 Awwww someone wrote Lake Keiper on the steps.  Cute!

 Awwww, someone decided to cross it out and write Thornburg instead.  I wonder who that was... ;)

 We picked up some sweet shirts for the whole family while we were in town.

The weekend getaway was a super success.  So much so that Charlotte crawled into my lap at 4:30 pm on Monday and fell asleep.  It was a big exciting and tiresome weekend.  Definitely a win!  Can't wait to do it again!

Keiper Family Getaway

 We started off the Keiper Family Getaway weekend with Dancing in the Streets.  My dad took his car because he's considering selling.  There's a story about who was interested in selling but I don't really want to put that on the internet.  I will just say that he is a local public figure and he said, "ALRIGHT BABY!" and we having been laughing about it ever since.

 The kids loved watching the cars do whole shots.  (Sarcasm font needed) In fact, the cars scared them so much, Charlotte (who had just officially started potty training) literally peed all over herself and the stroller.  It was dripping down the sidewalk.  Sheesh. What a mess.  She also did a major number two and I ended up throwing her third outfit from that night into the portojohn toilet.  Wowzers.  Not a good time to start potty training but we think putting stuff off is like super fun... haha!!

 The next day, we headed off for vacay.  Andrew brought his bike which is suction cupped to our roof.  Yikes! But it's a sweet temporary bike rack system.  Big fan of this thing!

 On our way down to Lake Monroe, we visited baby cousin Wyatt after his surgery.  Kiddo is doing so great!! We are so proud of how tough he is.  He's one resilient little guy.

 He just makes our kids so happy.  It's adorable. 

 They also loved to visit Wyatt's house because he likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too.

After a surprisingly long drive, we finally made it to the lake.  The kids got right on the boat. Hey look! Ducks!

 This picture would have been super amazing if I didn't look like a total dweeb and if you could actually SEE Emily.  But oh well, it's still kind cool and Charlotte looks totes adorbs.

 After some fun on the lake, we hung out in our hotel rooms and played spoons, a family favorite. 
It was down to the two Keiper boys in this pic. 

 Jack was victorious!

 We all crapped out from him one by one.  It might have had something to do with the drinks that the adults were participating in.  I can't say. 

 The next day we did some wakeboarding.  Way to go Lilli!

 So did I! I haven't wakeboarded in YEARS.  Pretty sure it was well before I was pregnant with Tommy.  So long ago.  But it was like riding a bike.  Sort of.  I was a little rusty.

 The kiddos loved playing on the beach.

 Jack loved playing Pokemon. ;-)

 As per usual, something went wrong with the boat.  The accelerator cable broke.  So we decided to rent a pontoon for the last day. 

 It was perfect! The weather, the boat, the people. A perfect end to our mini vacay.

 We did a whole lot of THIS.  Just floating around.

 But we did somehow manage to get a family picture.  iPhone cameras always coming through!

Then we did some more floating and a lot of jumping out of the boat. 

Then we made the kids do some dabbing.  It was a perfect summer vacation for the whole family.  A great time was had by all. 

Summer Vacation 2015 Day 5!

(Catch up here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4)

The morning we had to check out, Snoopy was in the lobby again! 

 Charlotte was once again terrified.  Tommy was cool as a cucumber.

 Stay away from me, bro!

 She truly loved the carousel horses in the lobby though.

 We took a family picture in front of the hotel.  We're all in it and no one is hiding! Yay! A second one!

 Brandon's family got a pic. They took serious ones but this one is way better.

 We also got a family pic.  Tommy was not very excited about it.

 We tried to get a grandkid picture but Tommy wasn't having it.  You could say he was vacationed out.

 But we did get some of the grandkids in a jumping photo.  Ha!

 Tommy took some time away from everyone after the dreadful experience of having his picture taken.  Charlotte was sure to check on him.  "You otay, Tommy?"

 We loaded up and headed out of the park.  We drove by all the coasters on our exit.  There's one of my top 3! The millennium at 300 feet! Love it!

 Here's the Blue Streak and the Gatekeeper at the same time!

 You're welcome for visiting! :-) We had a great time!

 We headed back to our Indiana home.


Here's a quick roundup of the GoPro pics that I haven't included yet...

The most serious high five you've ever seen on the Gemini.

A Gemini selfie!

Here's one with me on the Gemini too.  Great sunset!

 It's a long way up on the Magnum!

It's much longer going down though! Hands up!  

Great view of the go-cart track, er, I mean, sunset.  Of course. :-) Gemini to the left.

Adam and Brandon selfie on the Windseeker.  Great angle to see the Wicked Twister in the background. Man, that is high.

Did I mention that is high?

Here's an awesome shot of the hotel atrium.  Tres cool.

We were so sad to go home.  Tommy decided he didn't want to go to school anymore.  He didn't want to be at home anymore.  He only wanted to be on vacation from now on.  Me too, Tommy Hawk.  Me too.  

Wonderful vacation! Thank you to Mom and Dad for another wonderful family experience.  We are so lucky!