Egbert Family Blog: Summer Boating

We had a lot of fun boating this year. We took full advantage of Prospect Lake, which is only a 25 minute drive from our house. It is very small, but there is a beach to play on, and since the water is shallow, it is also very warm. It is my favorite place to water ski right as the sun goes down and all other boats have gone home. The water is perfect. We also spent time at Pueblo, but with the fires, the lake was full of disgusting debris. Katelyn and Mia learned to water ski this summer and are quite good. Katelyn tried to slalom many times, but was never successful in staying up. Ashley loves the surf board and is great at it. Justin braves the tube. I love having the boat because I really feel that it creates family culture. And it mixes hard work with great fun. We had some exciting adventures this year with the rope getting caught in the prop, the battery dying, the boat not starting, and the engine smoking and overheating. We got towed off the Lake twice. We also towed someone else off at some point too. I think my favorite was when the prop got dinged up and Hans and Jeff changed the prop by taking turns diving down. The funniest part of it is that they were wearing Conley's goggles, which had been packed in a bag with ben gay. Jeff and Hans both came up screaming in pain. Which wouldn't have been funny except that they were laughing at the same time. Liam does great on the boat. We had a few days in Pueblo where it was over 100 degrees and I stressed a lot over him, but he was happy. Mostly he coped by sleeping and eating, which is my favorite coping mechanism for myself, so clearly he is my son.

Justin is by far the most timid of the bunch with water sports. He is, however, an excellent mechanic and keeps us on track with boat maintenance. He is a great director for getting the trailer in and out of the water and for covering and storage of the boat. He is quite helpful and remembers things Hans and I forget, which earned him his own boat key on a boating key ring. He just is so cute. He will tube at 2 mph. No faster. This makes him my favorite tubing partner. He will wakeboard also at 2 mph. No faster.

I love Mia's smile and hair on the boat. She is by far the bravest of the bunch. She water skis, tubes with reckless abandon, surfs with Hans, and likes to jump off the boat while it's moving. She scares me. She, on discovering water skiing, said, "Mom...This is fun! I better keep doing this." A girl after my own heart.

Ashley is a great help with Liam. Here she is shading him from the sun. She loves driving the boat, knee boarding, wake boarding, tubing, and surfing. She says that she is not a skier, but I'm hoping that will come. She likes to lay out on the boat and read.

Katelyn is always first in the water. She is a terrific skier and is motivated to learn to slalom. She likes wearing the water ski gloves and can ski for a really long time behind the boat. She's fun to watch because she copies my every move in the water, right down to my mannerisms. It's frightening, really. She loves to tube and likes me to go with her since I scream the whole time. It's scary riding with her. She's crazy.

The tube gets the most use. I count it as a successful boating day when every one is tears getting off the tube.

Hans and I both like to drive the boat. My favorite view of the boat is from in the water getting ready to ski. So fun to have it.

The kids really wanted Liam to get in the water, but he was too little. Next year!

This is Mia skiing. She pops right up as soon as I start the engine even a little bit. She closes her eyes tightly and doesn't open them. She told me that if she blinks her eyes really fast and tight then that means for me to cut it. When I suggested she just say cut it, she said she couldn't take her hands off of the rope. She is funny.