The Lee Family: Fun at Smith Lake

On Friday afternoon, we left Buddy with Marco and Stacy and headed out to get on the Baron and fly to the small town of Hamilton, Alabama. We had been invited to spend the weekend with a man CK has done a lot of bank deals with over the past few years. He and his wife live in Tupelo, MS and bought this lake house in the spring. Both of their kids are in their early 20s and they had a lake house near Houston for the many years they lived there.

We landed and Dan picked us up and helped us unload. We'd made chocolate chip cookies, chocolate brownies and CK had picked up a frozen brisket from Feed Store BBQ that morning too. It was only about a 45 minute drive to their lake house on Smith Lake, but since we'd left so late to avoid thunderstorms in the area, it was dark for the entire drive. Both girls were starving since they had each had a granola bar on the plane and it was already 7pm. Olivia started getting that glassy eyed stare and would say "I'm tired" every few minutes. We finally arrived and met Dan's lovely wife Becky. She had brisket already ready along with beans and potato salad. It was delicious and the girls gobbled it up too! After eating dinner, we unpacked and our rooms were right next to each other, both with two full size beds in them. CK and I took the lakeside room and put the girls in the other. They were soon cozy in their beds and asleep.

Saturday morning brought a beautiful day and an amazing view of the lake! It was so peaceful and beautiful. The lake is narrow but very big and very deep, so perfect for water sports. The girls woke up and we were soon ready to take Dan and Becky's boat out. We loaded up snacks and drinks and headed out. They have an awesome system of boat and jet skis on floats that can be easily taking down into the water. We started out on the boat and CK and Sofia got onto "the hot dog" - a huge hot dog-shaped inflated lake toy. Sofia was a little unsure but once the boat started she wore a smile for the rest of the day! It was so fun to watch CK and Sofia bounce along the water and get tossed off occasionally. They had a ball! I finally got onto the hot dog with Sofia and it really was a lot of fun. Olivia wanted no part of it, although she loved to watch everyone else ride it. At one point, after being tossed off the hot dog, CK convinced Olivia to swim to me and she enjoyed getting into the water. Plus, since she had a life vest on, she just bobbed in place and could swim a lot easier than she is used to. The water was clear and a perfect temperature. We continued driving around the lake with Sofia riding the hot dog and talking away - we couldn't hear her, but could see her mouth moving the entire time. At one point, Dan played "Let it Go" and Sofia lip synched her way through the entire song which was hilarious! Big black clouds were rolling in, so we headed back to the house and Olivia fell asleep in my lap. We made it to their dock and were on our way to the house when it started raining hard. I tried to transfer Olivia, but as soon as I took her life vest off she was awake.

After sandwiches, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading and watching "Home Alone 2" on their living room tv. It rained for most of the afternoon until around 4 or so. Once it stopped, Sofia was back in her swimsuit and ready to ride on the jet skis. She rode with Dan while Olivia rode with CK and off they went. They rode for a while before I saw them and wanted a picture. Once at the dock, CK said they were going to get fuel and that I should get on too. I got on the back of CK's jet ski and off we went. It was so much fun! We got up to 55 mph and it was an incredibly smooth ride. I couldn't believe Olivia was sitting in front and was perfectly content. Sofia was having a ball and smiling ear to ear. After getting gas and playing around on the water, we returned to the dock and Becky came down from the house. We sat on the dock while the girls played in the "private island" which allows lake water into the mesh bottom but has an inflated edge around the entire pool so the girls could jump into it and splash around. They had a ball! Before we knew it, it was nearly 8pm so we headed up to the house for showers followed by cheeseburgers. The girls were happy, full and tired from a long, fun day! CK put them to bed in record time and we followed soon after.

Sunday morning we got up and enjoyed waffles before getting one last ride on the boat. Dan took us out while Becky stayed up in the house and Sofia decided to try "The Screamer" instead of the hot dog. She wasn't so sure because she didn't love the name and kept asking why it was called "The Screamer" but once she and CK were on it, they had so much fun! They would bounce along like rag dolls over the wake, but held on like pros. I rode for a bit with Sofia too and it was a lot of fun. Olivia swam one more time with me and then CK wanted to try jet skiing which he hasn't done in 20 years. He got right up and looked great out there, even going back and forth over the wake. He convinced me to try it and I did a few times but couldn't get up. We switched back to "The Screamer" and Sofia and CK rode it back to the house.

After showering the girls and myself, we packed up all of our things and said goodbye to the beautiful and relaxing lake house. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend and I think CK, the girls and I could get used to lake house life! Dan and Becky dropped us off at the airport and we said our thank yous and goodbyes before they watched us take off. The girls and I slept on the flight home and we landed in hot Dallas and our everyday life. It was good to be home too!

Two girls are ready for some lake fun!