Random Evening Cruises!

It's FRIIIIDAY!! Wooo!

What a week it's been! I had to admit that while this has been a wholly productive week at work, I was ready to welcome the weekend and the fun we've planned for the next couple of days. On top of that, Jesse's in town for the weekend, which is always a great time!

I met Rob and Jesse at the house after work, and on a last-minute decision, we piled into the truck with boat in tow and headed for the river. I texted Jessica along the way, who was at the Red's game with Jill, and agreed to hitch a ride with us.

on our way!

coming up to the stadium - cincinnati, you're a beaut! 

gorgeous.. 

We swung by the Serpentine Wall to get Jessica and Jill, then were off to Ludlow Bromley for dinner.

lovin' it! 

on the river!

the haaaaat ... thanks jessica! haha

We haven't been to LBYC in a little while, but it was the perfect night to kick back and relax with good people, good food and live music! 

we look a little ragged from the boat ride, buuuut.. i love this guy! 

Once we had dinner under the belt, we hopped back on the boat to drop Jessica & Jill back off. It was a karaoke ride back, in preparation for tomorrow's Tim McGraw concert! 

these two! :) :)
[and me... being creepy in the background?!]

mid-dance party shot.. thanks jesse .. haha

love her at night! 

so thankful for this guy. so, so thankful! 

What a perfect Friday night! :) 

It's canoeing tomorrow, and then Tim McGraw on the water! Gooood night! 

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

We really don't know how good we've got it. I know I certainly take for granted the freedoms and amenities that come so easily and immediately to all of us. I am a PROUD American, and am proud to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved country!!

To celebrate, Rob and I loaded up the boat, finishing just as Jessica pulled up to the house to add her gear to the inventory. We hopped in the truck and were off to find Cave Run; it had been recommended to us by a few different people, so we opted to check it out.

We came to the realization about an hour and some change into the trip that there were a number of boats traveling the opposite way on the highway, and that eventually got the best of our curiosity. After some Googling, phone calls and research, we ended up abandoning our original plans of Cave Run, and in turn found ourselves on a direct route to Taylorsville Lake Marina somewhere in Kentucky....

love these two! 

Taylorsville Lake was a blast! I totally dig the fact that my tribe is a pack of spontaneous adventure-seekers, and can roll with just about any situation. We didn't land at our intended destination today, but had an awesome day anyway!

The evening started creeping in, so we packed back up and trekked back to Cincinnati, where it was a quick shower and turnaround, and back out the door we went, to spend the rest of the evening and watch fireworks with Andrew, Jessica and a collection of their friends on the west end of Cinci.

love this guy! 

Fireworks, new [& existing] friends, food and fun! From what I've seen, birthday parties are full of those things, so I'm pretty certain we did it up just right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY!
U-S-A!!!

xo | cmd

NOT NOW, RAIN.

Today's agenda: 76 Falls!

good morning, cumberland! 

We all awoke to Tawny and Ryan on board; the post midnight journey back across unfamiliar waters went off without a hitch, thanks to GPS! We woke up today to a sky threatening rain, but decided to spend it outside regardless of the weather.

good morning, beautiful cumberland :) 

We started out with a little early morning fishing. Well, Rob did. I was mid-page reading through Phenomenal when my Paul and Elisa called, while simultaneously Rob managed to catch a fish with another fish. It was a really strange short series of events.

morning fishing... with fish! crazyyy... haha

By mid morning, we were on the boats and cruising towards 76 Falls. We made a stop off at the marina to fuel up and grab a few essentials, before continuing on to the Falls.

marina 

We finally arrived at the opening of the falls, and carefully navigated our way through strings of other boats already anchored down for the morning. It wasn't a huge cove, but it sure was beautiful!

76 falls! 

We anchored down and spent the early afternoon doing what we came here to do - kick back and relax!

The skies started to cloud over, so we loaded back up and started heading back to the houseboat. We thought we were on the right track, until we realized that Kenny had peeled off and we found ourselves soaring through the lake in the wrong direction, while the sky opened up and rained on us as though it'd never rained ever. Haha. 

We were a little miserable, but once it ended and we were back at the houseboat - and dry, it was nothing but a laugh. We spent the evening grilling out and admiring the local visitors; they came in droves and it made me wonder how Ali would be handling this situation.. haha. :) Turtles everywhere! 

We opted to wait and relocate the houseboat tomorrow morning, once we have some light to navigate our way to a new spot closer to the Falls.

see ya there, rob! :) 

For now, we're wrapping up the day here, listening to the fish flop around out there and hoping it stays dry tomorrow. The radar keeps telling us it's going to be raining all day, but we're hoping for the best and relaxing for now.

Crossing fingers! Goodnight for now, Cumberland!

xo | cmd

Hello, Lake Cumberland!

It's been a while since we woke up super early and were actually excited to be awake before the sun. We had a very important destination to reach today, so it was not only totally warranted, but highly anticipated!

We loaded up, climbed in, and took off..... TO CUMBERLAND! :D

loaded up and car ride crazy! yeeeeshhh haha 

We rolled into the parking lot at the bottom of the switchback hill, where it wasn't long before Mike and Esther pulled up next to us. The four of us got a head start on dropping in and drifting over to the main office to get introduced to the houseboat on which we'll be spending the next three and a half days!

hello houseboat! 

What a fun little hideaway! I mean, it's basically a double wide on pontoons, but there's a hot tub and a waterslide on the top deck, so... yeah..

seven year old cori is extremely excited about this... 

We just started getting settled in when Kenny and Taryn appeared up on the bank, and before long, they'd loaded their boat and weekend gear into the houseboat as well.

snack corner assembly.. haha

on board with this guy! ♥  

We each staked claim to cubbies for sleeping, setting one aside for Tawny and Ryan. The Cumberland staff eventually came to escort us out of the cove into the open waters.

our escort with mike & "captain kenny" 

We cruised for about 20 minutes before we found a spot to anchor up to a shore and took advantage of the time to unwind and settle in..

here we go, cumberland! :) 

mike atop the houseboat
rob's boat on the left, kenny's on the right

We've all been driving all day, so as the sun starts setting, we'll be unwinding and probably calling it an early night. Tawny and Ryan will be here somewhere around midnight-1am tonight, but with any luck, some of us will be asleep by then ;). 

For now, we're here in Cumberland, and ready to go! 

Seeeee ya tomorrow! 

xo | cmd

#BoatProblems

It was so beautiful out today.

I kickstarted the gorgeous day by sleeping in until 11am. I have no clue how that happened, but I woke up to Rob nudging my foot at the end of the bed, with a plateful of breakfast in hand.

on the water! :) 

Yeah that's right, my man made me breakfast in bed.
I know for a fact that I don't deserve this guy. He is seriously.. the best.

It was a split decision after that to head to the water, but that's about how it happens half the time anyway. We loaded up and took off in the direction of Ripley, to meet up with Reuben and his two boys for the day.

Ripley is well past the passages of water that freak us all out here in the good old Ohio River. It's a bit of a haul out there, but as always, once you get in the water, the commute melts away and it all becomes worth it!

Jessica decided to join the fun, so she took off to meet us, while we rendezvoused for a bit with Reuben. Soon enough, we took the short cruise back to our drop in to load Jessica, and then it was back up river to the sandbar!

I don't give enough credit to the guy who brought us out here, and for all the work he does before and after these trips, along with everything else he does that we don't recognize him for as often as we should..

love this crazy fool ♥  

Reuben and his boys visit this area frequently, so they're familiar with the layout. The boys took Jessica and I to the other side of the sandbar, where there was a rope swing that swooped out over the bank and into the river. Interested? Well, DUH..

weeee! 

jessica taking a go at it, too 

We eventually trekked back through the brush of the sandbar to the bank where Rob and Reuben were in no rush to wind down. The lot of us hung out a little while longer, until the sun began to phase into that golden, pre-setting shade. Reuben and his sons took off, and we weren't far behind. It was a cruise back to where we'd started, so Jessica and I took turns to give Rob a bit of a break.

girls will be girls.. 

All was going just fine until a small sputter interrupted the otherwise smooth ride, and then a bigger sputter. Rob took over at that point, but with no luck of righting the noises. In an instant, the power stopped all together, and we were left afloat with no engine turnover in the middle of the river.

That is not where you want to be.
There was a lot of barge activity today, and my initial fear was that we'd wind up in the path of a load and be unable to move. After much effort, time and fruitless brainstorming on our end, we managed to flag down a couple on a jetski, who were kind enough to assist us with some fuel..

thank. you!!

As it turned out, the kid working the pump at the dock didn't put the gas cap back on correctly when we fueled up. It was an error that we should've caught, but noticed it only after it was too late - the point after which I'm sure gas had been coming out and water had been going in - the gas tank [aka, not.... good.. at all...].

The fueling didn't work, but our second saving grace was a family on a houseboat that ended up tying off with us and towing us in to the dock. Rob hopped off to go and get his truck, while Jess and I held down the fort. I must say we did a good job.. haha

 and jessica with the dismount! haha

Okay, so here's the deal - it's been a LONG day, and Rob is officially very much through with all of tonight's debacle. I would expect the next few days to hold some long hours of tinkering, but I have zero doubt that he'll have it diagnosed, fixed and reassembled before the middle of the week. That's just how he rolls...

Womp womp. That's the life of having big toys like boats, bikes and trucks... *sigh.

We'll deal with this later. For now, this is how we'll go ahead and remember today - from the fun side..

G'Nite...

xo | cmd 

Family Boating Day

We've launched into a new series of lessons today at SonRise, and I think it's really gonna be a good one! Cheers to Genesis, one of the most understated books of the Bible, and all that it holds for us if we really dig into it the way we should!

lovin' it! :) 

After church, we made a beeline back to the house and packed our gear, for a day out on the lake.

Raft and all, we made a day of it!

my girl 

my guy

an action shot! 

This girl cracks me up... 

Today was the first time Syd & I really tested out the raft together, & I must say it was a pretty good time! 

We're into our second season of boating lessons for Sydni, too - I'm wholly convinced that she'll have this down before long... especially if she stays at this pace.

It goes without saying, but should be reiterated basically all the time, that this guy is the reason behind days like this - this guy that I don't deserve, is the rock and reason behind fun days like this. He works his tail off every day to share with us and make sure that we not only live a good life, but that we can sprinkle in some extras to go with it. I'm marrying up here, folks. ♥

A day in the sun made for one tuckered out kiddo, so we were as quick as possible on the ride home, as we stopped off for some groceries before continuing on home for dinner, laundry and time to wind down.

It's gonna be a summer of sights much like these - I can tell already!

Have a BEAUTIFUL week, friends!

xo | cmd