Lake Powell 2011

We went to Lake Powell this year July 11th-17th with my family.  This Lake Powell Trip was quite a bit different this year.  Back in Ferbruary my parent's houseboat started sinking.  There was a huge storm and the back end started going under.  It was also freezing that night when they pulled it out.  The people down at Lake Powell said it was so cold, there was ice frozen to the entire boat and that it was awful trying to save the boat and get it out of the water.  My dad worked like crazy trying to get the boat fixed so we could enjoy it this summer.  It needed new engines, the generator fixed, new batteries and a bunch of other things.  Because there is such limited services around Lake Powell it was a huge pain trying to get everything fixed.  My parents took numerous trips down to Bullfrog to work on the boat.  The week before our trip they finally got the new engines put on the boat but two days before our trip we got word that they couldn't get them started.  So my dad headed down the day before us.  Well it turned out there was some wiring problems and then the mechanic accidently fried the starter.  My mom, me, Leila, Greydon, my brother Marcus, my brother-in-law Jason and then Jason's father headed down on Monday afternoon hoping the engines would be fixed so we could get the houseboat launched and enjoy the whole week.  Well the part we needed for the fried starter was suppose to arrive Tuesday morning and then they were going to launch the boat.  Monday night we went out on the lake on my parents boat and looked for a spot to put the houseboat for the week.  We went to a canyon that we love and actually found a spot that we had two years ago and loved but another houseboat was in it so we found another spot near by.  Tuesday morning came and the part didn't arrive so we mostly played on the houseboat and fixed a few other things.  That evening we went down to the beach to play in the water since my kids were going crazy from being stuck on the houseboat all day.  Luckily the part came Wednesday, the mechanic fixed the engine and they loaded the houseboat onto the trailer.  I was so excited to finally be on the water.  My dad was still a little nervous because we never figured out why the house boat started sinking in the first place even thought numerous people examined the boat and did a pressure test on the pontoons.  As soon as they put the houseboat in the water the right pontoon started filling up with water, there was a tiny hole.  We pulled the houseboat back out and took it back to have the hole fixed (which they couldn't do until Thursday morning because the welder had already gone home for the day).  So Thursday morning the fixed the hole and then my dad found another hole on the left pontoon which they also fixed.  We were finally ready to be launched again.  This time no water came in and we stayed a float.  We went to find a spot and our favorite spot from two years ago was open now so we snatched it up and got the houseboat all anchored down and stared playing. 

Trying to keep my kids happy while hanging out on the houseboat the first couple of days was quite the challenge.  We played lots of games, danced, ate and watched videos on Marcus's Ipod.

On Thursday morning Jason's friends Brett and Josh arrived and then Thursday night my sister Leslie, her mother-in-law Wendy and and Leslie's brother-in-law Logan and his girlfriend Aubrey arrived so we had quite the crowd but it was so much fun and nice to have the help from the all the boys to get the hosue boat anchored down. 

Leila loved the water and could have spent hours in it.  She was always asking us to stop the boat so she could jump in.  And she had no fear she would just jump right in.  Greydon liked the water but only if I was in with him and was holding on to him tightly.  I definitely did not like it if I let go of him or tried to let him just float in his life jacket.  He loved to kick his legs and especially thought it was funny to splash my face. 

 Both kids loved going in the kayak!  I didn't get a picture of it but on Friday some of the group swam a couple hundred yards away from the house boat to climb some rocks.  Leila wanted to go with so she swam all the way over with my sister Leslie and then all the way back with me, she did get quite a few pushes from Leslie and me but I still couldn't believe she swam that far.  She is definitely a fish!

 Hanging out on the houseboat in the afternoon.  More games for Leila and Greydon hanging out with his favorite person on the trip, Marcus. 

Leila was our flag girl whenever we had skiers or wakeboarders, it was her favorite thing to do (besides swimming)

Naps were frequent for the kids.  The rocking of the boat just put them to sleep.  Greydon always wanted to be held while on the boat and was such a cuddler.  Leila always wanted to sit by someone but didn't want to be held which I was thankful for because she is getting too big to be held on the boat.

 

We pulled out the tube one morning when the water wasn't great for wakeboarding.  The tube always provides for some great laughs.  My parents just got a new tube that can hold four people and the boys, Dave and Aubrey all went for rides.  It's pretty funny watching them try and hang on especially when they are flying through the air.  You would think after crazy rides like the one above someone would get hurt but no it happens on the slow relaxing one with children.  My mom, Wendy, Leila and Greydon went for a ride, which is usually the safe ride since it involves kids.  They happened to hit a wave weird and my mom and Greydon went tubling off and Wendy slammed her head into Leila.  My mom got a bloody nose, Greydon was crying and Wendy got the worst black eye and passed out.  Leila fortunately survived uninjured and was looking around like what is all the fuss about.  I'm not sure we will ever get Wendy on a tube again or ever be able to consider the kid ride the "safe ride". 

We tried to get Leila to try out the new ski trainer but she only wanted to play on it and wouldn't let us actually pull her behind the boat. 

It was a great trip and beautiful weather and we got of the lake just before a huge storm blew in on Sunday.