The Treadway Chronicles: Fun Trip to Loon Lake

We headed to Loon Lake over 4th of July week and we had a great time. While our day of travel was long (12 hours door to door), it was honestly about as good as can be expected. Connor was pretty pooped by the end, but we made it in one piece and Avery was a trooper too. She slept for a majority of the time and seemed to do alright. At just three months of age, she's already been on an airplane twice. Wow! The Houston airport didn't board our carseat, so we had to rent one, but they delivered it to my parent's house the next day, so all was well. They let us borrow one in the meantime.

When we first arrived, my sister Julie and her new husband Brian were there with his son John. They left the next afternoon, but while they were there Connor and John were like two peas in a pod. It was adorable to see them play together. It was really nice for me to have my sister even if it was just for the night.

Once they left, we still had some family in town who were staying in the area. We got to see my Aunt Joan, Uncle Dave, and my Aunt Linda. That's always a nice part of being at Loon Lake, since it was always such a fond family location for me growing up.

The weather while we were there was fantastic. The highs were in the 80's and the lows were in the 60's, but it was never too cool or too hot. The one day it was a big muggy, we fixed that by spending the day in the lake. It was perfect and it made me feel so happy to see Connor playing outside all day long. In Sugar Land, that is just not an option in this terrible heat, so it was just so nice to see him explore and play outside again.

Avery was having a bit of a fussy evening on the 4th of July, so we missed out on fireworks, but Grandpa, Jeff, and Connor went down to the lake to watch the fireworks go off. They said it was great and if the mosquitoes weren't so bad they would have stayed even longer.

We managed to fit in everything we wanted to do in one week. We ate a lot of yummy and sinfully delicious food, we swam, skiied, tubed, and floated around the lake, we climbed Stewart Mountain, we played miniature golf, we had campfires, and we relaxed. It was a great trip and it flew by. We all miss it. Now enjoy the many photos and a few videos I included from the trip. I had trouble deleting any since we packed in so much fun.

When we arrived Friday night, we were greeted by the Noyles and my parents. Immediately, Connor and John had a blast.

We had a little birthday celebration for John and Connor. Ice cream cake...yummy.

Connor was cold after getting in the lake on the first day so he wore Jeff's shirt. Somehow he pulled his arm through the neck hole and wore it like a toga. Ha! Luckily, the lake warmed up each day so he was never this cold again.

Brian, John, Connor, and Jeff go on the Super Mable tube. It is really fun.

A happy sailor.

Meanwhile, my Aunt Joan got some quality snuggle time with a sleeping Avery.

John and Connor decided to use Jeff as a pillow as he laid on the boat.


My Dad discovered that if you sing to Avery and rock her gently at the same time, she calms down. He even created a little song just for her. It goes, "Avery, Avery, you are so wonderful. Avery, Avery, you are incredible. Avery, Avery, you are a beautiful girl...you are a beautiful girl." You just keep repeating it over and over again. Below is a video I took of my parents singing the song. It's a bit quiet, but turn up your volume and you'll hear it. Avery loved it.

http://youtu.be/zkfPXOYcRnk

It was my parents wedding anniversary so we had them go out to dinner, so we were on our own. Jeff found this nearby pizza place and it turned out to be a bit hit, even with Connor. It is amazing how happy seeing Connor eat makes me and Jeff. So sad really.

On another beautiful morning, we went over to the town little league field so Connor could play some baseball. He probably ran the bases 10 times and still had energy to burn.

The water was still a little too cold for Connor early in our trip, so here he is on dry land throwing a football to Jeff and Grandpa. My Mom was the catcher. He is still happiest when throwing some type of ball.

Sweet sailor Avery. She seemed to like the rocking of the boat. She took some good naps on the boat.

Enjoying a boat cruise.

I thought this picture was pretty cool with the blue sky and the boys sitting on the back of the boat taking it all in as we floated in the lake.

We found a good spot for Avery on the floor of the boat sort of snuggled up in the front. She happily kicked and cooed.

Pretty girl.

Taking a nap on the boat all swaddled up.

We had many meals outside on the patio. We really tried to enjoy the weather as much as possible.

Avery was forced to sit at the kids table. Hee hee.

My tough mountain men gathering wood for campfires.

The baby whisperer strikes again. Grandpa could somehow always get Avery to calm down and go to sleep.

One afternoon we went to Lake George to the Pirate Cove miniature golf course. Connor had been talking about this place since last summer and it didn't disappoint. We all had fun and he even managed to get a hole in one!

Of course he loved the eye patch and flag he got at the end too. Doesn't he look like a happy pirate?

Afterwards, we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Friendly's. It is kind of like Chili's but it is known for it's ice cream sundaes. Connor was in heaven.

Mommy looks pretty happy too. Poor Avery didn't get any. Maybe next year sweet girl.

Fun times with Grandpa.

Grandpa and Avery are having a heart to heart as my Aunt Linda holds Avery. We had my Aunts over for dinner one night and we all had a great time.

On one of our lunchtime boat floats, Connor had a good time "pushing" Daddy into the water. It made him laugh every time.

The boys kicking their feet in the water.

A sweet patriotic baby on the 4th of July.

Avery was being sweet so Jeff took some pictures and the video below. She had some fussy days while we were at Loon Lake, so this was a nice moment.

http://youtu.be/4XcZ1sO4D9s

Hanging in the shade on the 4th of July.

Now it's nap time. We set up a towel on a tube as her "bed."

Hiking up Stewart Mountain.

This tree at the top of the mountain has a hole in it. This is a traditional photo op.

As the days continued to be warm, Connor liked swimming more. Here he is smiling a silly smile right before he jumped off the dock. The video below is of Connor jumping into some pool noodles.

http://youtu.be/1m1fitwBl5Q