A much better day...

July 5th was a whole new day!! No rain, bright skies, and hot hot sun!!! So you guessed it...we headed out on the river.

We hadn't taken out our friends Adam and Amanda yet, so we picked them and their daughter, Kendall, up at the river front and went to Brown's beach. The water is on the low side so we couldn't get the boat any closer to the beach than about 20 feet, but it was ok. The water was barely knee deep from the boat to the beach so it actually ended up perfect. The kids could play wherever they wanted to without boats right next to them, and the beach here is really flat, too, so the kids love to play here with their sand toys.

There are also lots of clams under the water in the sand, and Gage had such a good time collecting a bunch of them and putting them in a bucket to save for bait for fishing. You could just see him constantly feeling and searching for clams beneath his toes. He even had Drake doing it for a bit. Really, I think he just wanted to be able to pry one open to see the inside of one when we got home more than anything! None-the-less he was totally in his element and "happy as a clam!" (No pun intended!)

Kendall was the only girl, but it didn't matter. The boys and her got along great and she loved being on the boat and hanging out on the beach. She even said to Steve "Your boat is really cool!" We had a great time catching up with the Smith's. We don't get together often enough anymore. All of us adults got really sunburned! We did a great job lathering the kids up with sunscreen, but pretty much didn't take care of ourselves. My shoulders are still killing me and my nose is peeling now!!

After a long day we packed up and went for a little ride on the water before we went back in, and Gage drove. This is one of his favorite things to do these days. He is actually really good at it, and he really listens well to all the instructions and facts that Steve tells him about the river. I can bet that he knows more about all of it than I do!! Drake did his favorite thing, too, while Gage drove the boat....napped!!! He is still little enough that it still wipes him out!! We all decided that we would grab some supper together since we just don't see each other much anymore, so after trailering the boat we hit Diamond Dave's. The kids ate really well, and Gage and Kendall sat at the end of the table across from each other and shared a bowl of ranch dressing and chips and talked and talked and talked with each other. It was sooo cute!!! And he is so polite with her and tries to make her laugh!! We are planning a family get-away with the Smith's in August to Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri so it was nice to see that Gage and Drake are going to have a good time with Kendall while we are there.