Happy 4th of July!

Happy Happy Happy 4th of July from the Bates Family! We were able to celebrate the 4th at Lake Okoboji with the family. We had a good time and were able to enjoy our time up there. Our trip was a bit short but it gave us enough time to go boating and get some sun. Jeff has to work on Monday, so we came back today on the 4th and were going to enjoy the 4th of July festivities in Grinnell but they got postponed because of the rain. They will be going on tomorrow night though, so we will enjoy them then! We are okay by that since we were all a little tired tonight. :) The trip to the Lake was great and Jase did very well in the car. We decided to leave Thursday about the time he would normally go to bed at night and that seemed to work the best. He was able to sleep and we were able to put him down when we got there after the girl thought he needed to wake up for a bit. We went to pick up the boat the next morning and we were off. We weren't sure how Jase would do on the boat this year since he was actually able to either enjoy it or not so much enjoy it! We found out that he LOVES IT! He really didn't show much emotion on the boat but he didn't seem to cry or get upset. Even though I loaded the sunscreen on him, a hat and a lovely life jacket, he didn't seem to mind! We were out all day on the boat and Jase got a nice tan color! I guess the 100 SPF really does work. Mom and Dad on the other hand forgot the SPF and got a bit on the red side! We recovered though! Friday afternoon Aunt Jessica got there and the rest of the crew arrived Friday night. We were able to relax and enjoy each other's company. It is nice when Grandma and Grandpa are around. Mom and Dad tend to get a little more R and R :) Saturday we headed back out and took Jase swimming in the lake!! I was a little hesitant since the lake was pretty busy and everyone knows I don't get in the water that often with the "killer" fish...jk. Aunt Jessica, Grandpa and Jeff took Jase in the water and Grandma bought him a nice floaty boat so he could sit in the water. My last experience with a floaty and Jase in a pool was not the best at the Country Club so I was expecting this to be the same. Found out he LOVES it! He is for sure his Dad's boy! He couldn't stop laughing and he was having so much fun! There is nothing better then hearing your baby laugh. I could sit and do it forever. He actually got really upset when we took him out. He kept crawling to the back of the boat and was signing "more, more, more" to me! Poor buddy could have been out there all day! Saturday night we grilled and walked around Arnolds Park. Jase was out like a light around 7. The busy day just wore him out! Today it was kind of rainy all day so we decided to head out around 11. It was so much fun. We enjoy every 4th of July and we are glad Jase did too. We can't forget about the girl either. She had fun but she didn't get to go out on the boat this time. It was just too hot for her. Tomorrow Jase and Mom might go see Grandpa and Grandma for the day and tomorrow night we will be able to see how he does with the Fireworks! Hope everyone had a good 4th!