Henry's first trip to Lake Powell

My family has been vacationing at Lake Powell for about as long as I can remember.  Lake Powell is sacred ground to me, so I was pretty excited to take Henry for the first time.

More importantly, it was the first time we got to see Michael after he returned from his mission AND it was the first chance for the Winterholler and Lewis families to meet Henry.

Patrice and Chris were nice enough to invite the whole family to stay on their houseboat 4th of July weekend (thank you!)  Sadly, not everyone could make it.  As my family is now spread all over the country from coast to coast it's pretty hard to get everyone together.  Actually, it was pretty miraculous to get 4/7 Staples kids together in one spot on a holiday weekend.  I'm sure we'll try again next summer ;)

Of course we took a bazillion photos.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Henry loved nomming on his life vest.  He loves nomming on everything.  Teething?

Henry had his aunties wrapped around his little finger all weekend.

This was the last time Henry wore a shirt on the houseboat.  As expected, Lake Powell in July was as hot as the surface of the freaking sun.  So boyo pretty much spent the whole weekend nakey.  Good times.

No, Henry didn't grow a soul patch on his chin... Uncle Chris tried to feed him chocolate pudding.  Oh dear.  He's still not quite sure about food yet, so apparently it didn't go over very well.  I think he looks like a pensive little man in this pic.  I wonder what he was thinking about.  He was probably trying to figure out why the grown-ups keep trying to shove spoons in his mouth.

Los dos Capitans.  What these guys say goes.

There are few things better in this world than sitting on the beach at the lake with your Mom and sisters, some chocolate, and a bunch of trashy celebrity gossip magazines.

It's so great to have Michael home from his mission.  He was a trooper giving the little cousins rides on the wave runners all day.

The wave runners were pretty popular all weekend.  Good thing we had a substitute to keep the kiddos happy while they waited for someone to take them on a ride.

Speaking of rides... I'm pretty sure Dylan would have been happy if we could have provided him with 24/7 towing service.  That kiddo is a pro on the big tube.

When Dylan wasn't being towed he was patiently waiting to be towed again.  I like his style.

 Henry wasn't so sure about his first encounter with cool lake water.  He's never experienced water cooler than his bath, but we wanted to make sure he didn't overheat.  We thought we'd start slow by letting him sit in a little bucket of water.  As you can see, it didn't go very well.  At least he looks an adorable little surfer in his sun guard swim outfit.  Gotta protect my pasty baby from the harsh sun.

 It took a whole team of people to cheer him up.  After Henry cooled off a bit we decided to give him a break.

He was a happy camper for the rest of the day, hanging out in front of the portable AC with Dada.

That afternoon we tried feeding him some rice cereal... which is still an no go for Henry.  I can't say I blame him, that stuff is kinda gross.  We're planning to try veggies soon to see if he likes something with a little flavor.

Later that night we tried putting him straight in the lake.

Aunt Sharisa had the magic touch! 

Henry still wasn't sure about getting his whole body in the cool water, but he was more than happy to kick his feet around.  Progress!

Beth and Ella found a really great place for us to have dinner that night.  I'm not sure it gets any better than this.

Henry loves his Nana.

Aw, little family!

I love my boy!

Ella is a great explorer

and about as cute as possible

Heaven on earth.

The family roasted made s'mores.

The best part about sleeping on a houseboat up the lake:  waking up to views like this.

A switch must have flipped in Henry's mind overnight b/c the next morning he absolutely loved being in the water.  (also, the distraction of a bazillion beach toys might have helped)

I loved seeing Henry play with his cousins.  He loves being around other kids so much.

By the afternoon we had a hard time getting Henry out of the water.  I'm so glad our boy is a water baby.

Lake Powell is the best place I've ever seen for stargazing.  Before we left home I downloaded a really great astronomy app for the ipad called 'Star Walk'.  It was a huge hit, I highly recommend it.  You point the ipad at the sky and the app shows you which constellation you are looking at.  Very cool.

Nana brought lots of fun things for the grandkids to do. 

Everybody loves Nana!

Henry thinks his cousins are pretty cool.

I thought it was pretty cool that the glow toy made Henry's entire little hand glow.

The next morning was spent cleaning up and getting ready to head home.
BTW, I just want to nom on my boy's delicious rolls.  Look at that back fat.  I'm so proud!

Henry absolutely loved being entertained by Beth and Ella as we drove the houseboat back to the marina.

These girls are acrobats!

Scott took a turn driving.  Aye aye, cap'n!

Nana and the girls played Bingo.

Henry and I took a nap.  This pretty much sums up how any good trip to Lake Powell should end.
A big thank you to my family for a fabulous weekend.  We love you guys and hope we can get all 7 of us to The Lake next summer.