Red, White, and Sunburned - Happy 4th!

The sunburn came out striped cuz of my swimsuit straps, so at least I was festive. I almost smacked my face when I slipped jumping off the back of the boat, which would have made my face blue with bruises, and I definitely would have seen stars.

I finally broke down and bought me a Digital Rebel, so here was my first try (YES I was nervous to NOT drop it overboard - yikes!)

The 4th of July fell on Friday this year, and my BF's sister and nephew came to town for the weekend. Neither have been on a boat, so what better to do than load them up and go as fast as possible!? YEAH!

This first picture is of my BF Simon's nephew, snapped right as he pushed the throttle to the max. He started laughing hysterically with excitement. Love it!

No, he didn't swallow that gum, although at one point he choked on his own laugh. We stopped an anchored near the shore so we could take a swim and cool off, since it was a million degrees out.

Simon jumped in first, wearing a life vest, thankfully, since his nephew (also wearing a life vest) was in the water with him with both arms wrapped tightly around Simon's neck, choking the life out of him while screaming "MOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!" right into his ear.


So we get his sister all strapped into a life vest, and down the ladder she went...and it took some convincing for her to finally let go. First of all, she doesn't know how to swim (I think there is 1 pool in the valley, and it's like an hour away from where they live, and I think its only 4 feet deep), and she has never used a life jacket (so, of course, she didn't trust the darn thing).

With her son already strapped up in a lifevest and screaming bloody murder in the water with his little face smashed up against Simon's face, she finally lets go, and starts floating around in the water. She is VERY unsure of everything, flailing around a bit to keep upright, and she GRABS on to Simon for support, and he starts to sink under the weight, all the while laughing hysterically and telling them to "LET GO!" and "HOLD STILL!" while sputtering water out of his mouth. I just took pictures of the entire debacle from the safety of the boat. :)

Once his nephew gets comfortable in the water, we let him paddle around in the tube with an oar. We tied the tube to the boat, so he is out in the tube with the oar shouting, "Uncle! Pull me! PULL MEEEE!!!!!" Yup, he's got the idea already.

So nephew and Uncle Simon get on the tube and I pull them around (albeit slowly) the lake for a little ride. MAN it was hard to resist throwing that sucker at full throttle, wrenching the wheel around for the tightest left turn you ever saw, and sending that tube skipping across the wake with little bodies flying everywhere. But, since he is only 6 (and I am NOT that sick in the head...today), I felt that might be a bit traumatic for the kid, so we putted around at a safe speed. Boring, if you ask me. ;)

My BF and I got to do a little wakeboarding before my shoulders exploded into melting hot lava, and I had to get outta the sun. It burns!

Ouch.