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. 

Lake Weekend Plus Birthday

 The weekend before my birthday, we planned a trip to go out on Lake Wawasee.  We packed up Friday morning and headed out. 

 The kids decided they wanted to dress themselves that day. Charlotte chose to turn my High School State Champs t-shirt into a dress.  Nice work, Char! Project Runway, here you come!

 Tommy decided to don his Captain America costume.  Yep, we took him to lunch at Sonic wearing that.  He was a big hit!

We arrived in Syracuse and hit the beach.  This is the best little beach and they have paddleboards and kayaks available for anyone staying there to use.

 We had both kids out on the boards/kayaks.  They loved it. 

 Don't fall!

 Tommy made some sand angels.  He was a sandy mess!

 We got the boat in the water and took it to the Channel Marker for dinner.  Late night boat cruises are the best.  Oh wait, I forgot about the bugs.  Blech.  But other than that, they are great. :)

 The next morning, this was my lake view.  Hello, cutie! Hello, lake!

 My parents, Adam, and Emily took the boat out early in the morning for smooth wakeboarding water.  We joined them later.  My boat selfies are not on point.  ;-)

 Charlotte took a turn driving.

 Tommy floated on the tube at the sandbar.

 So did Grandma and Charlotte.  Sun queens!

 Tommy rode behind the boat on the tube.

 He hated it.  Andrew loved it! Just kidding.  He was just glad it was over.

However, it was not over.  Adam and Andrew rode the tube all the way back to the hotel.  Boy, was he sore!
Not quite the spring chicken he used to be. :)

 Charlotte was ready for a boat break at that point so she went up to the room with Tommy, Gaga, and Pop, and they had naptime. 

 We continued boating and saw a dude on a water jet pack or aqua flyer or whatever it might be called.  For a cool $100 grand, you can do this too!!

 Instead we surfed behind the boat and drank beer.  I also surfed but I don't have any pictures.  Waaahh waaahhh. :)

Here's a video of Uncle Adam's beer roll that Andrew caught on camera. 

@keip3r doing a BeerRoll on a wake surf board. The foam was shredded brah! #wawaseelake #brah #badass

A video posted by Andrew (@athornburg462) on Aug 15, 2015 at 2:25pm PDT

Later that night, we went to the bar and I somehow ended up with this picture on my phone the next day.  In fact, there were about 20 of them.  Thanks, guys! ;)

On Monday, after we got back, it was officially my birthday.  I got to hit up my favorite places, Target, the mall, 9 Irish Brothers and Red Lobster.  At Red Lobster, we took selfies. 

 I had to get a pic of the boys too!

 Then it was time for a mom/kids selfie.  Looks about right...

 Nope, that's more like it!

Even my car wished me happy birthday!

It was a wonderful birthday weekend.  Lots of fun and celebration!

Lake Wawasee Trip 2014

Way back in September of last year, you might remember another event where a lot of Thornburgs were able to get together.  That's where the planning for this trip began! 

 These are the people who put this all together.  Andrew's dad and his siblings wanted to get the whole family together like they did back in the day and enjoy time on the lake.  Andrew found the house and the rest is history.

 So a family reunion was planned! Andrew's Aunt Jenny made shirts for everyone and we got a family picture.

 We had a full house! 

 Here's the full house we stayed in for the week.  We moved in on the 4th of July.

 We started swimming right away.  Oh no! Don't squirt Pop!!

 Andrew did his best dolphin impression.

 We were able to watch Andrew's friends in their sailboat race.

 Tommy loved the sun and water.

 So did Charlotte but she got a lot less of it.

 Andrew's parents rented a pontoon boat and we took it out every day.  We did canon balls and flips off the boat.  Andrew's an expert. :)

 I jumped off too but you don't need to see a picture of that.

 Sunset family pictures!!

 The sunsets were pretty incredible over the lake.

Baby kiss pose!

 Another one!

 Family picture.  Thank you, Charlotte, for throwing the bird for everyone.  She is OBSESSED with her middle finger.  What a stinker.

Here's another family picture in front of the house.

 These pictures are a bit out of order so just bear with me.  Here's Charlotte looking adorable in her 4th of July outfit.

We had beautiful views out of the windows of our bedroom.  Check out the beautiful sky and lovely lake.

 Here's the view at sunset.  Love it!

 But not so great for sleeping.  There were no curtains in the whole room.  Tons of windows.  Plus it didn't get dark until 10ish.  So this is what bedtime looked like through the monitor for us.  It didn't go well, as you can tell.

 Tommy and Charlotte loved, loved, LOVED spending time with their cousins. :)

 They are too cute!

 Hey a picture of just the two of us! Nice! :) And right before the fireworks.

 BOOM! Oooooohhh aaaahhh! Not bad for iPhone pictures!

 Another picture from our 3rd floor view over the lake. Awesome.

 One day we did the limbo with a pool noodle! Ha!

We're on a BOAT! :)

 This is one of our attempts to get a grandkid picture.  Some ran upstairs.  Two were trying to turn on the light.  One was crying.  One was trying to stop the crying.  One was smiling politely.  Too funny.

Charlotte did some stretching to relax.

 Tommy loved the star shaped light up shades that Pop found.

Check out that awesome sky again. (Yep these pictures are way out of order.  But hey, they're still cool! :)

Seriously, we had amazing weather for this trip.  We were so lucky.

 Check out our Tommy-friendly tie-dye cupcakes! Just get a box cake mix (one without milk), add a can of sprite, and viola! Best tasting cupcakes so far! (So far, the other recipes I've tried tasted like corn bread, vinegar, or were soupy so this is a HUGE improvement)

 Charlotte really wanted to get back out on that boat, I think.

 I have a lot of these pictures.  Tommy LOVED driving the boat.

 This picture cracks me up.  Tommy was marching out of the Oakwood.  Too funny.

 Did I mention our house had an elevator?? #elevatorselfie

 Andrew's Aunt Jill took this picture of Tommy.  What a look.  Love it.

 She also took this picture which I love.  Charlotte was super excited about the week on the lake.

I took just shy of 400 pictures from this trip.  There were so many good ones but I had to cut somewhere.  We had SUCH a great trip.  So many memories.  Thanks, Thornburgs, for a great family reunion!