July Visit to Hartfield

It was a girls’ trip to Hartfield.  Me and my girls arrived on Monday, and Shen and her girls arrived the same day.  Mouse and Pops were already there, so Pops was the lone male in the bunch until Garland arrived on Wednesday.  When we arrived on Monday afternoon, the weather was pretty cloudy, and it looked a little too suspect to get out on the boat, so Mouse offered to hang with the girls while Shen and I got in an exercise walk.  When we returned, this is what we found – what happens when Mouse is left in charge (she was equally as muddy)!

   

On Tuesday, the weather was clear and sunny, so we got out on the boat before lunch.  All the girls were so happy to be on the water and were ready for dancing on the boat, swimming, eating lunch out on the water, and trying out the Relaxation Station.

  

The Relaxation Station proved to be only slightly relaxing.  With adults, it would be very relaxing.  With kids, it’s kind of crazy!  They were sliding off the side head first, splashing, climbing, etc.  It may not have been exactly relaxing, but it definitely was fun!

We spent the next morning taking the girls fishing.  We didn’t catch anything, and the only fish even remotely part of our experience were the Goldfish that were being consumed, but thankfully fun on the boat again followed fishing.

   

This time, tubing was the main attraction.  The current in the water was a little too strong for swimming, so the girls took turns tubing for the afternoon and had a great time.  Apparently, it was the day for crazy antics in the tube.

 

These girls are made for speed.  They kept screaming, “Faster, Poppy!” and did a great job hanging on despite some choppy waters.

   

After watching the two “big girls” have their turns, Lyla was ready to go. 

We knew we were in trouble when she started out like this…

After about two minutes of watching her go crazy in the tube, I put on my life vest and put down my camera – preparing at any point to jump over the side of the moving boat to go in after Lyla.  She came so close to flying out of the tube on quite a few occasions.  She was jumping, riding with no hands, riding backwards, and trying to get her feet in the air (all while going at top speed).

Amazingly, she didn’t fly out of the tube, and I didn’t have to jump in after her, but she had a great time!!

By the morning of the 4th, it was time for us to hit the road.  We really enjoyed our time at the river house, but we were getting an early start back to spend the day with Mark and enjoy a cookout with our neighbors.  As always, Hartfield was great for time with family and some more fun memories. I’m sure we’ll be back again soon!