Labor Day Weekend With the Family

We had an action-packed Labor Day weekend here at the Davis house, and it was the perfect example of why we are glad to be back in the South near family again. Friday after everyone got home from school and work, we spent the late afternoon/early evening out on Lake Guntersville in the in-law’s ski boat. It was only the 2nd time we’ve been out on the boat this year because the other 2 times we tried to go out we ran into issues at the marina (We got there right after the dry-storage workers had closed shop and then had a broken part on the boat). I love being out on the lake, and it always brings back childhood memories of my grandparents (Nani & Pop)  and all the time we spent on their boats at Pickwick Lake.

FAMILY TIME ON THE SKI BOAT

Boating really is the perfect family activity. Almost everyone at every age seems to enjoy riding on the boat. Even in the 90+º heat, the breeze feels great on a ski boat. Even Tucker (one of the in-law’s dogs) came out with us this time, enjoying every moment. Everyone gets away from their iPads and Nintendo 3DS’s for awhile. You cannot ignore each other because it is an enclosed space. Like our recent camping trip, it is a way for the kids to experience nature. The kids get to feel adventurous riding the tube, and for the youngest kids, they get to face their fears of being dragged behind a fast-moving boat on an inflated piece of rubber. At 1 point we had 4 kids piled in the tube at once, and it was great to see them having that much fun together! Going out on the boat was great, and I look forward to doing this a ton in the future.

Here I am enjoying the nice breeze on the ski boat.

Here I am enjoying the nice breeze on the ski boat.

Me & Julie Beth on the ski boat

Me & Julie Beth on the ski boat.

Panoramic shot of the kids riding the tube.

Panoramic shot of the kids riding the tube.

Sam, Julie Beth, Will & Kalon all riding the tube together behind the ski boat.

Sam, Julie Beth, Will & Kalon all riding the tube together behind the ski boat.

Me and my kids out on the boat.

Me and my kids out on the boat.

Sam looking at all the other boats on the lake.

Sam looking at all the other boats on the lake.

Jason driving the ski boat.

Jason driving the ski boat.

Even Tucker loves riding on the boat!

Even Tucker loves riding on the boat!

Julie Beth is enjoying the ski boat.

Julie Beth is enjoying the ski boat.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SATURDAY

What better way is there to enjoy Labor Day weekend than watching opening weekend of college football? Here in Alabama we actually had 2 holidays in the span of just 3 days: opening games for Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers on Saturday and Labor Day on Monday. We watched the Auburn vs Louisville game at the in-laws’ house and part of the Bama game too. Then we came home and put the kids to bed so we could finish the game in peace. Jennifer’s mom and stepdad have a huge TV with HD cable, always good for watching games, but we have a slightly different setup at our house. We have nice enough TV’s, but we do not have cable. Check out my antenna setup that I have rigged up so we can pick up the major over-the-air networks at home. We do have access to Watch ESPN on our Roku media players and iPads, so this is what I used to watch the Memphis Tigers football game on Saturday. It was a great opening day for our teams as Memphis’ recently good again football team demolished Missouri State 63-7 and Alabama handled Wisconsin 35-17. No one down here cares one bit about the Memphis Tigers, but at least being back in Alabama everyone is excited about the Crimson Tide, and college football in general.

As you can imagine, Jennifer just loved having this ugly thing taped up in the corner of our living room at our new house!

As you can imagine, Jennifer just loved having this ugly thing taped up in the corner of our living room at our new house! It got the job done though, and we enjoyed the Alabama game in beautiful HD. Read more about my antenna setup here…

CHURCH WITH FAMILY

We enjoyed worshiping God together as a family on Sunday, and with my nephew Charlie in town, we had a nice crowd of family together at Jennifer’s mom’s church. As we have been visiting churches all summer (more on this in a future post), I have loved getting to participate in worship services with my kids, and it really was nice filling up a whole pew with family members this week. We had 4 generations together, and my kids were with parents, grandmother, great-grandmother, cousin, aunt and uncles. What a great chance for multi-generational worship it was!

MY SISTER VISITING ON LABOR DAY

We capped off our 3-day weekend with our 1st visit from out-of-town family at our new house in Guntersville. My sister Lauren came down from Nashville, TN with her husband and 4 kids to spend the day with us. We worked really hard on the house those last few days to get some rooms finished before they arrived, and it paid off as our house finally looks complete! The only room we have not finished is my office, which still has a few boxes to unpack, but every other room is set-up and decorated. It only took (almost) 3 months to get it all done! This is better than some of the rooms in our old house in Kokomo, IN that still had boxes that never got unpacked in the 2.5 years we lived there. Needless to say, we are very pleased to have it all done, and we finished just in time for my sister’s family to visit.

It was great catching up with my sister and brother-in-law, and the kids always love playing with their cousins. They spent most of the day in our newly revamped back yard. They played on our playground, played some soccer and collected acorns. Just over the weekend the kids collected more than 2 big jars of acorns, and this is currently Julie Beth’s favorite activity. There are tons in the morning in our back yard, and by the late afternoon more have fallen from the oak trees.

We loved all this family time together, and this Labor Day Weekend was the most time, without having to travel anywhere, that we have spent with family in several years. It really is a blessing to live near everyone again, and after being away in Indiana for a few years, we do not take it for granted.

My kids showing off some of their sidewalk chalk creations they made with their cousins on Labor Day.

My kids showing off some of their sidewalk chalk creations they made with their cousins on Labor Day.