Off to Smith Lake, Alabama

Yesterday morning CK returned from his trip from New York City around 10am, quickly unpacked, repacked and was ready to head to Smith Lake, Alabama. Before CK came home from his trip, I headed over to Olivia's friend Cora's house to pick Olivia up who had stayed over for her first sleepover at Cora's house. Kate had originally asked both girls to spend the night with her kids, but when Sofia realized she would have the evening alone with me, she decided to stay with me. We watched Star Wars together and had fun. Olivia and Cora played, had a dance party, and ate pizza and also had a great night. They also slept well, according to Kate. Cora is such a sweet girl and has a similar personality to Olivia. Unfortunately she and her family are moving to Pittsburg, PA in August. They are such a good family and we are really sorry to see them go, especially since their kids and ours have really gotten close over the summer.

While CK packed, I bought a frozen brisket for Dan and Becky from Feed Store. We headed out around noon and Buddy was overjoyed to be going along with us. He was actually nervous for days while our bags came out of the closet and he was so happy to be in our car. We did the drive-thru at In-N-Out for lunch since we couldn't leave Buddy in the car while we sat inside somewhere for lunch. Of course the girls were happy, since they love In-N-Out as much as they love Johnny B's. After lunch, we drove to the airport and loaded up the Baron and headed out to Smith Lake, Alabama! Sofia sat in the front seat, read her book and helped her Papa to work the radios and fly. Olivia and I sat in the backseats with Buddy sleeping between us on a blanket. We also took a nice nap along with Buddy and we both slept for nearly two hours. The trip felt really quickly for us in the backseat.

We landed and Dan was soon picking us up. Since the last time I saw Dan, he's lost quite a lot of weight and looks really great. We last visited Dan and Becky three years ago at their first lake house which was so comfortable and cozy. Shortly after our visit, they sold that lake house and bought another that is closer for them to drive to on the weekends. We were excited to see the new house and spend the weekend on the lake with them.

We loaded up Dan's car with our stuff and he drove us the 45 minutes through the Alabama countryside to their new lake house. We arrived at their new house which is on three acres and has an incredible view of the lake. The house is both beautiful and comfortable and significantly larger than their prior lake house. The girls loved it and I kept telling CK that I felt like we were at the Four Seasons, Smith Lake. Of course, Becky has it decorated perfectly and it all felt so effortless and easy. She also had the "thank you drawing" Sofia made and sent the her and Dan three years ago after our prior visit. It's a drawing of Sofia on the hot dog being pulled by the boat. I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw it and it is so cute! She absolutely loved riding on the hot dog all over the lake and could have spent days being pulled all over the water!

Becky gave us a tour of their amazing house and Buddy roamed around and sniffed everything while the girls asked when they could change into their swimsuits. Becky showed the girls to their very own rooms, each with tall, fluffy very cozy-looking beds. They were joined by a bathroom and they quickly chose their "room" and changed into their suits while Becky showed us to our room. Our room was just down the hall from the girls and was equally comfortable and perfect with an en suite bathroom. Buddy followed me around and seemed to feel very comfortable as well. He was probably just grateful that he was still with us and not at Marco and Stacy's house wondering when we'd come back.

The girls changed into their suits and we all headed down to their boat dock to watch the sunset and relax. The girls love jumping off the dock and Dan has a really cool float that lets water in the bottom so it's basically a large shallow pool. He also has a big blue foam floaty that sits on top of the water and the girls could literally walk or lay down on it and would hardly get wet. They swam and played for a long time and then they ended up over at the shore line playing in the sand and making sand castles. It is so relaxing and comfortable at the lake and their view is gorgeous. Buddy explored their backyard and saw us on the dock. He was very reluctant to cross onto the walkway, but he finally did. Once he was on the dock he was a little less scared, but he could still feel it move a bit. He was more than happy when we got off and went back to the house for burgers. The burgers were great and really hit the spot. We all went to bed, ready for a fun day on Saturday. The girls loved having a big cozy bed to themselves in their own rooms!

Olivia and Cora at the sleepover

The view from their dock

Olivia hanging out on the blue foam mat

Sofia building sand castles