Ethan's Birthday at the Lake!

Our nephew, Ethan, celebrated his 5th birthday this weekend at Whiskeytown Lake.  It made me think about the day he was born. He was so beautiful. We stayed the night in Anderson (where Erik's sister, Nicole, lives) and hung out at the lake all day on Sunday.

Saturday night we had dinner at Nicole's house. They live on several acres where they have the most AMAZING garden, chicken, sheep, bee's, a tree house and just fun "country living" activities on their property.

Max and Alex were first attracted to their sand pit complete with trucks, shovels, and mini frogs. It took Max a few tries but he finally caught one and was a very proud boy.

I didn't get any pictures at Nicole's house but when I say she has an amazing garden, I mean it should be in a magazine. It is the most beautiful garden I have ever seen in my life. They have it perfectly set up with every possible thing you can plant. They are really talented people to come up with the layout and design. We had fun picking berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries), having a fresh-from-the-garden salad with dinner, visiting with family, playing in the water, meeting the animals and absorbed the quiet atmosphere.

The next morning we went in to Redding to see the Sundial bridge. We walked across it and I did catch a photo of Alex, Max and Roxy holding hands and chatting while walking. It was pretty hot that early in the morning so we stopped at their Farmer's Market for breakfast and lemonade.

Then it was off to the lake.

 They reserved a private beach and it was filled quickly with friends and family to celebrate this charming young boy. As we were setting up I got a quick photo of Max, Vivian and Ethan in their party hats before the water activities started. We didn't see much of Max after that. He's like a little fish.

 Alex stayed close digging and sitting on me. It wasn't until near the end that he wanted to swim. The lake was a perfect temperature for the hot day. The kids had fun making new friends and playing with their boats and water toys. The men/dad's became "sea monsters" and the giggles that came from the kids was priceless. They all had so much fun.

As long as Max had his little floaty, he was swimming like crazy, all the way to the rope a couple times. Once with Erik, another time with me. He's inside that little blue boat in the last picture. We had a really wonderful, summery day  and hope to make it up to camp there sometime soon! Happy Birthday, Ethan! Thanks for inviting us to your super fun party!