Another year of Redfish memories have been made! I've said it how many times before...this is one of my very favorite places on Earth! Recently my Mom said, "Redfish is magical," and I thought that sounded about right. Even as excited as we are for each year's trip, Redfish never disappoints :)
This year Cooper tried water-skiing out on the boom! Totally took me back to learning this way myself as a kid. My Dad even got in the water to help him... that's what heroism looks like :) In the end, the skiis ended up being just a bit more than Cooper could handle- next year for sure!
He did have a successful solo kneeboard run behind the boat, though!
Could hardly blame Conner for not wanting to take him tandem again this year- he's too heavy!
Keaton also got out on the boom to try skiing this year! He was really bothered by the skiis,
but it was fun to see him give it a go :) No doubt it'll go better for him with time too!
This year my Uncle Brent, Aunt Trish and their family were at Redfish with us. Their willingness to have a good time and their wakeboarding boat made for some really fun times! At one point almost ALL of us piled into their boat and headed to the other end to rock jump. The boys loved surfing behind their boat- Taron ate it up! Love the look on his face above. :)
Uncle Brent took Cooper and Ryder surfing with him- it was fun to see how eager they were! Uncle Brent actually lifted Ryder one-handed up and into the boat to avoid him getting wet when they were done- impressive!
Taron got plenty of wakeboard time in too- in this pic he's trying to get some big air when he had to let go of the rope at the beach anyway. Look pretty good! Meanwhile, Ryder and I hung out in the boat...
I love that our boys are really just generally eager when it comes to trying things at Redfish. They love being in the boat, the water, the sand, at camp, on the bikes, really just anything! Grandpa is awesome to make the boat really fun for them :) He put one of this doo-rags on Ry and he actually loved it- wore one most of the next two days! He even looked at this picture and said, "I want my own one of those." :)
Of course, there was plenty of fishing involved in our trip too! That's a big part of the appeal of Redfish- Stephen gets the fish and I get the beach :) He had one or all of the boys with him most of the time, but did get some really awesome solo fishing in at the end of the trip too.
One stormy afternoon we tried these cool ponds near Yankee Fork Dredge that were awesome! Cooper alone caught something like 20 fish! They were really the perfect place for kids- we'll have to hit them every year from now on for sure :) Cooper says it was, "Epic!"
All of the family took a day doing tree mail again this year too! It is so fun for the kids and it's really fun to gather clever things for the adults too- we love tree mail! This year Cyndel and Ben rocked it- I got "Stephen Resistant Ear Plugs" with a little note that said, "So glad we found this kind for you!" Ha Ha!
One evening I put these white nerd glasses in the boys' tree mail pockets so they could decorate them at camp with our Sharpie Neon markers- killed some time :)
We always take these big tubs to give the boys a bath in at camp in the evenings (or for me to wash my hair). We boil a big stock pot of water and add cold from the faucet- it works perfect and they love it!
Really, I think some of our favorite times at Redfish are just the relaxing ones hangin' out on the beach. The boys are all such water dogs- they make it super fun! I love swimming out to the rock with them and just laughing with them all.
This year our childhood friends the Vaden's were also at Redfish the same time and it was SO fun visiting with them! So many of my memories of growing up in this place involve them- hopefully we can keep coming the same week so we see them more often- they will forever be some of my very favorite people :)
Just like these two... my only brother and my nephew (aka. the cutest baby ever)!
And these two- so happy they graced with with this quick shot! They are so fun to be around! It's cool to see how much they love Redfish too.
It's kinda like how I told my Dad at one point on the trip, I really enjoy skiing and being in the water myself, but I enjoy watching them ski and enjoy it even more, I get the same exhilaration from them. :)
So, next year, about the same, exactly the same place?!
You can count on it :)
