Living the Good Life

At the end of July, we had the pleasure of joining some of our best friends - the Speyers - at their family lake house in Pennsylvania.  Omar and I have known Karen and Max since college.  We lived together and were in each other's weddings back in the day.  They currently live in Denver with their two daughters, Kendall and Karson, so we don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like.  So when they invited us to spend some time at Max's family lake house just north of Pittsburgh, we jumped on the chance!

Everett and I flew up on a Monday, and Omar joined us on Thursday. What a lovely trip! Max's family was incredibly gracious in opening their house to us, which is a beautiful old home dating back to the 1800's. They have every water toy known to man, so we had a blast going out on the various boats, jet-skis, and floats. In particular, I loved getting to know their daughters better and watching EJ make new (hopefully lifelong) friends.

EJ, Karson, and Owen 

 All the kids had a blast together, whether eating, going on a golf cart ride, or playing on the iPad. This trip made me realize how non-tech friendly EJ is.  Kendall (almost 4) was - predictably - great at operating the iPad. Karson (a month younger than Everett) is also a whiz, I swear she was better at it than I am. And I went to Georgia Tech. My poor child only knows how to press the (only) button to turn the screen on & off. Karson was solving Mensa puzzles on it. We probably need to step up our game.

Kendall (age 3.5), EJ, and Karson (same age as EJ)

Somehow EJ always talks the other kids into pulling her in the wagon.

I have yet to see her pull someone else in the wagon. So, perhaps she doesn't need to know how to operate the iPad: she will just get her minions to do that for her.

Boating with my girl!

 Pretty girl! She loved being out on the water!

So nice to spend some quality time with Karen!

EJ & daddy

Nadi family picture!

Speyer family picture!

Triple-trouble

Captain Omar drives the boat.

Team Nadi goes tubing!

EJ had a blast!

Slip-sliding!

Omar learns to wakeboard!

Tired girl after all that fun.

HUGE thanks to the Speyers for having us - we hope to do it again at some point!  I wish we got to see them more often, but for now this will have to do. Great memories were made and it was a wonderfully relaxing break to an otherwise hectic summer.