Weekend at the Lake

Eric told me that all he wanted to do for his 30th birthday was to go to a lake and fish...so this weekend (just two weeks late) we made it happen. Eric, me, Mali, Eleri, Eric's parents, and our new puppy all left Amarillo at 6am Friday morning and drove down to Denison/Sherman, TX (I'm still not exactly sure which town we were in most of the time) to visit Kisha and Josh. Josh owns and operates a boat detailing company on Lake Texhoma and borrowed a pontoon boat for all of us (yes I said all of us...minus the puppy) to go out on the lake in. I was pretty nervous about taking the girls, especially Eleri, but it really worked out just. Mimi held on to Eleri most of the time. We brought a big metal tub for the girls to splash around in on the boat and Eleri really enjoy that and then finished the boating trip off with a nap. Mali tried fishing but with no positive reinforcement got tired of it and she was just pretty tired to begin with. Apparently it was a windy day for the lake which made for not perfect boating and fishing conditions. That didn't stop the birthday boy from catching a striper on his first cast! And, to top it off, that was the ONLY catch of the day. About 3, Josh pulled the boat in and we went back to Kisha and Josh's to get dinner ready. Eleri was strapped in to her car seat in her floatation swimsuit asleep and Mali deliriously jabbered all the way to their house. We finished of the night with fajitas, cake and Josh's yummy home made ice cream. On the way home today, Mali asked us if we had brought the ice cream with us! Kisha and Josh have such a nice house!! I was so impressed. They have done a great job of making it their home. They have 17 acres of land, two fishing ponds, a few cows, a hound dog, and Lexie! They have just built this house and are living there now but eventually this will become the guest house and they will build a larger house to live in permanently. They were generous enough to give us their bedroom for our family and they slept in an unfinished room on a deflating air mattress. We had a good time. The girls loved exploring their land. They picked acorns, pet Ray, went fishing, played and played, watched lighting bugs, listened to bull frogs, chased a small frog, listened to whippoorwills, and looked at the stars. It was a good weekend and it was a great experience for everyone. And in case I wasn't clear on this: I was so amazed at what Josh and Kisha have done. They have an amazing place and were so hospitable. Kisha has done an excellent job managing her home, Josh has done an excellent job in providing for his family, and they were both so patient with us and the girls all weekend.