Brown Family Lake-ation 2011

It’s that time of year in the Brown family again!

The PLACE: a large, lovely rental house on Lake Entiat, a reservoir of the Columbia River located in East Wenatchee, WA.

 

The PEOPLE: 7 original Browns, 1 new Brown, 2 Brown-lovers, and 4 half-Browns. [in case you can’t figure out who’s who: 7=my parents and siblings, 1=Dani, my brother Brad’s new wife, 2=Jesse and Jeff,  4=Steve, Dan, Jay, and Rose—the grandkids]

The PURPOSE: Family fun and reunion! We do this every year—it’s the one time each year we can be 99.9% sure to have our WHOLE family all together in one place. We don’t always go to the same lake, but we always spend a week each summer hanging out by/in some water. It’s awesome.

Part 1: On the Water

That’s what the lake looked like every morning. *Insert smug smile: I actually TOOK this picture (ok, ok, my camera was probably on auto).

Jeff took Jay for a little paddle in the lake one day.

Jay was quite the little brave boy! Can you tell how fast he and Jeff are going in the tube? Faster than I went…

Jay liked reaching for the water. It was tricky keeping him on the tube some of the time, but he never fell off while the boat was moving…when Jesse was reeling us in at the dock, however, Jay and I lost our balance and tipped over! Jesse may or may not have reeled us in a little faster than the boat pulled us. It was close. Jay and I were the only ones to get dusted at the dock all week.

Going fast enough to make the water hurt has never really been my thing. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go skiing this year. It had been 2 years since the last time I skied. But the spark of adrenaline-adventure-insanity was ignited a few days into the week, and I skied.

Getting up on two skis is no problemo for me, and staying up is relatively easy. My challenge is going outside the wake. If I go out and back in the wake once, I am satisfied. On my second try, I did it. Then I was content to sit on the sidelines and watch my siblings kill themselves on the water.

I definitely married the right person, because Jeff didn’t get into the extreme water sports either. He did his fatherly duty and took Jay on the tube, but he found his joy in photographing everyone else water skiing and wakeboarding. What can I say? We Whites are just calmer than the Browns.

OK, time for some water awards:

Prettiest wakeboard moves: Jesse

Best first-time wakeboard moves: Kyle

Brad rocked the single-ski…

…and the wipeouts. Best wipeout award definitely goes to Brad.

Best singing: Dad. He sings Disney’s “The Bare Necessities” every time he goes skiing. He had knee surgery back in October, but did that stop him from getting up on one ski? Nah.

Daintiest skier: Em. I don’t think she got her hair wet all week.

Fastest learner: Mel. She got up on 1 ski AND on the wakeboard for the first time ever! Yes, she’s falling in this picture, but I think the falling pictures look the coolest.

The Wild Card Award goes to Dani! I only say wild card because I had no idea that she could DO all of this crazy stuff. She was so calm and modest, but out on the water, she tore it up!

Most fun to watch: DAN! Sorry little neph, but he wailed for his whole 3 minute tube ride. We were cracking up. Poor guy.

Bravest: Steve! This 3 1/2 year old went on the tube all by himself not once, but TWICE!

Cutest in a swimsuit: Rose! Rose actually never even wore her swimsuit while we were at the lake because the water was far to cold for her little 6 month old body, even with all her rolls.

And there you have it, folks! The Water Awards.

Part 2: On the Boat

Jay went out on the boat way more than I did! He loved zooming fast over the water and watching various relatives and their intense sports. He learned how to say “hit it!” like we do when we’re ready for the boat to GO.

 

Part 3: Meanwhile, back in the house…

We cooked mountains of food. One night, Jeff and I made a triple-batch of his special drop-dead bacon-mushroom white pizza. SIX pizzas, and we were too hungry to think of taking a picture of them lining the counter. Here’s a visual for you: we used: 2-lbs bacon, 2-lbs Swiss cheese, 1-pint heavy cream, 16oz sour cream, and 1 1/2-lbs mushrooms on four pizzas. Plus a chicken and some BBQ sauce and mozzarella for the 2 alternate-flavored pizzas. It was intense.

In spite of all the food and treats we made, there was a Hunger Games epidemic. I’m glad I read those books last summer, because 5 people were sharing them by the end of the week.

Cousin time

Puzzle time

“Jail” time

“Unk” time:

Auntie time:

[how did Dani miss out on all the Auntie pictures??]

Bed time. We had to tie Jay’s door shut to keep him from escaping.

In spite of the rope, Jay did NOT sleep well on this trip. He could always hear something fun going on, so he resisted sleep. Travels are hard on the little ‘ens.

Part 4: Turtle Island

Do you see the “turtle” shape of this island? Turtle Island was very close to our house. One day, Dad drove Jeff, Jay, Rose, Mom, Mel, and I over to the island in the boat. It was Rose’s first boat ride!

Poor Mom started feeling sick while we were on the island, so she stayed by the beach with Rose while the rest of us frolicked and explored.

Sagebrush Rose

Jay loved playing on the island’s sandy little beach with Daddy.

View from the top: Jeff hiked up to the turtle’s head first while the rest of us hung out on the beach.

Then Mel and I took a turn and hiked/scrabbled/climbed up to the tip top of the turtle head.

Can you see us?

At the top—we made it! It was a rush being that high up on a rock, but the view was awesome.

Triumph on the turtle!

Dangling

Like I said, it was a RUSH sitting perched up so high.

Up close it didn’t look like a turtle’s head at all.

Coming down. Jeff took this picture from the boat—we are those tiny specks right in the middle. Turtle Island was my favorite adventure of the week.

I also liked jumping in the cold lake to cool off after a run. And playing games…. and seeing the ultracute newlyweds, Brad and Dani. Family time is the best time.

Part 5: The End