Lake Chelan, June 10th-12th

Samantha was so excited to play at Lake Chelan, even though it was really dark outside, she couldn't even hold still for a picture.

Here she is being a little bit too cute. The older she gets, the more silly faces I get from her. She especially likes to use them when she knows that she is in trouble. It's way too hard not to laugh sometimes.

Penelope did not like her life jacket at first. She cried pretty hard, but she eventually got used to it.

When we went to get her life jacket at the store, she wouldn't put it on unless I tried one on with her. She loved it! And then after a few minutes of play she realized that it was hindering her ability to explore and splash in the water. It was too late by then though, she was stuck wearing it.

Penelope was having a lot of fun. It was hard to get her to stay in my arms though. I was worried that she would fall right off the edge of the patio and fall several feet onto the rocky shore below. She is at the age where she loves to explore but has no concept of danger.

Samantha absolutely enjoyed herself in the water. The dog, Peyton, equally loved going into the water. Samantha would occasionally mimic Cam and throw sticks into the water and watch Peyton bring them back to her (which wasn't always successful). I tried to get Samantha to go further into the water with me, but her life jacket made it hard for her to keep her feet on the ground.

My two favorite girls in the whole world. They made the trip exhausting, but it made me extremely happy to provide them with an exciting vacation. We all needed some fresh air.

There were two ducks that had claimed this part of the shoreline as their own territory. They probably did that because we were feeding them bread. I think Ben had more fun doing it, to be honest. He would hand Samantha bread to feed to the ducks, but she kept every other piece for herself.

Happy baby!

Warms my heart and soul. Nothing could make this mamma happier than smiling children.

It took several attempts, but she finally decided that it was "okay" to splash her feet in the water a little bit. It is really fun to see the differences in my kiddos. Samantha was not this particular nor was she careful at this age.

She screamed her head off until we got in the boat and headed out into the lake. The rhythmic motions of the boat eventually put her to sleep. I love this picture because she was trying so hard to stay awake.

I was trying to get rid of my farmers tan by putting sunscreen on the parts of me that already had some color. My shoulders are still itching...

Not sure if she was getting bored, or if she liked the boat ride.

She was out pretty hard. The boat was going through the wakes and making us jump up and down in our seats, and here she is sleeping through it all. What a trooper.

At this point, my hair would not have been wet if I hadn't accidentally catapulted myself and Samantha out into the water right before we were going to go tubing. Samantha had no interest in the water or the boat ride after that. Penelope sure looks comfortable though, regardless of how annoying a life jacket like that one might be.

Glad to be back in the boat, but even more glad to be heading back to shore.