Catching the Summer Wave Snelders Style

Nate shows Mom that with Jared's help surfing is easy!
Britt couldn't wait for her turn to catch a wave.

OH, I got it,wait...Nope, I don't! But every time I fell I did it with style!

Scott is showing off his new found wake surfing skills!

Zach learned to love his life jacket and didn't complain until the end of the trip! What a little trooper!

The hum of the boats motor helped Zach take a nice long nap! Ahh, peace and quiet for all!

Kayden (Nates new 10 year old friend--who is a bug and lizard expert) caught this lizard at the campground and let Nate take turns holding it. The kids all loved "Geekie" and were sad when they had to release him back into the wild.

With a smile on her face, shirt on backwards, and that awesome hair; it is obvious that Britt got the best night sleep on our campout. I guess 80 degrees is her perfect sleeping temperature!

Owyhee Reservoir

We have some awesome friends in Star! The Cheney's invited us to go camping and boating this weekend and we didn't want to miss this opportunity! We drove Friday evening about and hour and a half to Owyhee Reservoir in eastern Oregon. It was a beautiful area that neither Scott or I had ever seen before. We love going discovering new places.

However once we arrived at our camp spot and were deciding where to pitch our tent the kids heard a rattlesnake. Sad to say this time it was NOT their imaginations. Some other adults came over and crushed the snakes head with a rock and then the camp host came over to "finish" the snake off...with a shovel. SO we decided to put our tent as far from the sagebrush as possible!! Luckily that was the only rattlesnake we saw.

Stacie and Jared have a son that is 10 and this kid is an animal expert! He told me so much about lizards and snakes and bugs it nearly made my head spin. He had caught a little lizard earlier in the day before we arrived and named him "Geekie". I was surprised when Nate asked to hold him. He did great as long as the Geekie held still, if the lizard so much as flinched Nate was ready to throw him on the ground. Luckily Geekie was very cooperative. Nate and I also visited the kids that took the rattlesnake body and touched the belly of the snake. We were surprised to find the body still reacted to touch even when it's head was 50 yards away in the sagebrush! Ahh, you gotta love Nature!

After playing cards for a bit we were all exhausted and Britt and Nate were SO excited to sleep in the tent. I didn't realize how warm it would be at night and packed everyone nice warm pj's. By morning it cooled off to maybe 72 degree's. Even little Zach woke up with sweat down his back.

Soon were packed up and ready to hit the lake. First we found a nice cove and anchored down for swimming and lunch. Man, what better way to spend a hot summer day! After lunch it was time to start lessons. This was our second time trying wake surfing and we found some of us and faster learners (Scott) and others (Nat). I drank alot of lake water on my first turn. I got up nearly every time but only stayed up for about 20 seconds! Then Scott has to make me look bad by popping up and surfing on his 2nd attempt! He did great. He got into the "sweet spot" and even had enough confidence to let go of the rope. I should get the "perseverence award" because I tried ALOT! My coaches, Stacie and Jared, say I'm getting better and I could tell I was getting it toward the end of the day. But if I stop now then hopefully we can squeeze another invitation out of the to go boating before the summer is over. So really, sucking at this sport is really for the benefit of my family! HUGE Thank you to the Cheney's for a very FUN and memorable trip to Owhyee! What a blast!