114 degrees. Lake Mead. Fabulous.

When Jared asked Chris if he wanted to switch his flight and come out a day early to go boating on Lake Mead, it didn't take us long to decide.

The Chuggs boat fit both our big families comfortably. We found a perfect beach to hang out, set up some shade, and prepare for the day. The kids loved being pulled behind the boat. They piled on the two tubes and had fun going over the wakes, bumping into each other, bouncing up and down and occasionally flipping off. Even Luke had a turn.

Ryan and Jake waiting for their turn. They liked going fast!Ryan, Katie and Hanna all tried water skiing for the first time. Katie and Hanna did great popping up out of the water and skiing for 100 yards or so. We were so proud of them! Ryan got up and skied several times around the lake. Finally, after thinking 'he must be done' Chris dropped the rope and caused him to crash into the water. When we pulled up close to him he said, 'hey, I wasn't done!' He loved it.

Chris and I skied for the first time since we've had kids. Crazy! Chris did great but I didn't get a good picture. I crashed a couple times and then finally got up skiing in a perfect line behind the boat. When Chris suggested that I finally try to go over the wake I agreed knowing that I would crash, but being ok with that since I was already exhausted. Little did we know that the next day all of our skiing muscles (every muscle in our entire body) would be so sore we could barely move! Jared, of course, showed us up with some great wake boarding skills.

We all loved riding in the boat. Every couple minutes we'd stop and jump out of the boat. It was so refreshing to swim around and get wet before speeding off again. We had tons of fun playing at the beach, jumping off the swim dock at the back of the boat, eating watermelon and all kinds of great food and just being together. It was a great day. Thanks again Chuggs.