Our 1st annual Easter egg hunt at the river.

This Easter we had many Easter egg hunts but TMac wanted to know why we have never had an Easter egg hunt at the river. I don't know why! We just never have! TMac pointed out that we should have egg hunts at all of the places we live and hey, he's right! I enjoyed it and I love the combo of swim trunks and egg hunts.

I hid the eggs near 3 trees like this that had really cool hollows and nooks and crannies to hide the eggs in.

It's fun to start new traditions. Next year I want to hide some along the actual river banks and shores.

River R&R - the best way to relax!

It's relaxing for me just looking at this picture. My river rat boys enjoying their spot. We returned from almost 5 days at the river this evening and we are reluctant to get back to reality. It was great to have a lot of time with Tracy.

A chairs and towels fort on the deck.

Someone added this beautiful green wrought iron bench to a road next to the river recently and I was so happy to see it and instantly planned the photos I would take with it. There is some of our stretch of the Colorado river that we love.

Look really close - there is a white shell on the end of his pointer finger.

Dana, Genni and my little baby niece who took her first trip to the river this time.

Flyin' kites and hangin' out at our favorite river beach.

It was windier than normal on this trip so we got several good kite flying sessions in.

TMac and his cousin flying kites. They were really good at it.

There are 5 little black tadpoles in this sand bucket. Usually the tadpoles swim away too fast and we can't catch any but there were hundreds of tiny tadpoles that were really lazy and totally catchable. It was weird how they didn't move at all, even when you were going to step right on top of them. I bet we did step on some because they were that lazy. In almost 7 or 8 years of going to the river I have never seen lazy tadpoles like this. TMac was loving it.

Tracy was able to get some good fishing time in several times and one afternoon Tracy and TMac fished for almost 4 hours while Tot and I napped which was so great for me!

The boys loved to run on Dana's boat while it was anchored on the shore (don't worry - you can't tell from this photo but below the grass is several feet of dirt/sand and then very shallow water for a few feet so no lifejackets are needed). I love how Tot is just laying down and relaxing while staring at the water. It was a simple trip this time with no pontoon boat or jet skis because it's maintenance time for all of our toys but it was great to have Dana's boat there to cruise in.

Popsicle time!

Nap time!

More playin' on the boat at the shore. The photo looks so dangerous but it's just the angle of the shot. I have plenty of photos of crying boys who are unhappy in their lifejackets!

More kite flying.

Blanket fort in one of the motorhome bunk beds.

I don't know why I get such a kick out of cutting open those little cereal boxes to make the cereal boats where you pour the milk right in but I do!

Strawberries, marshmallow dip and some TV after a fun filled day. Life is good.

When we get to our park and motorhome we usually just drive right by it to go straight to the water and see what the water level is and say hi. Well, when we got to the water the boys wanted to go straight in without changing out of our driving clothes and into swim trunks first so that is what they did. It's still a little cold this time of year in the water since it is snow melt run off from the mountains of Colorado but that doesn't stop my boys. Look at the joy on their faces (it took TMac a little longer to get out to Tracy's depth from the shore because he was reluctant at first but Tot was laughing and all smiles). Another side story is that whenever Colorado is getting bad snow storms Tracy is so happy because their snow becomes our river water so when he hears on the news that there are blizzards and schools shut down in Colorado he is cheering!

The very first dip of this trip = happy boys.

Good times. We hung out, we swam, fished, ate, BBQ'ed, napped, slept in, laughed and lot's of playing and relaxing. We can't wait to get out there again!

One other story that cracked me up - One of the nights TMac had played hard all day and right before falling asleep said to me, "Mom, I want to go home." I was shocked. Then tears start rolling down his face and he's doing an honest, heartbroken cry and he says, "I have to color every day!" He really does spend hours every day coloring and cutting out his paper creations so he was upset that days had gone by without coloring. He told me that we could never go on a trip again without his art supplies and huge roll of paper. It tugs on my heart when he is honestly sad. It was so cute that I was trying to be serious and not laugh. We did so many fun things while we were there but he must color every day!

Love - river style.

It is time for a new blog header so this picture that has been the cutest header is retiring. I absolutely love this photo. It has many of my favorite things in it - my gorgeous boys being brothers and sharing a hug, the river and evidence of a great day!

River trip - our remedy for life's stresses.

Gorgeous river rats. I love blond, California boys and matching swimsuits. Precious!

Aaaahhhhh...there is nothing like a good river trip to ease the stress that life can bring your way. When our family is feeling the stress of the daily grind (especially Tracy and Dana - the hardest working men in the universe) we all yearn for the river. A trip to our honkey tonk river spot is the remedy we crave. Last week we got a sudden opportunity to go and we grabbed at the chance. It was so great. We have missed it so bad. Two years ago and the 3 years preceding we went all of the time. Last year we did okay but career changes slowed us down. This year we've been only a few times since Tracy is working Monday-Saturday usually 95 plus hours a week. It was an awesome weekend with naps, BBQ'ing and relaxing together as a family. It is always nice to spend leisure time with Tracy, especially for the boys. Thanks Tracy for working hard so that we could take a few blissful days to play hard!

Okay, if you plan on reading this post, grab a snack because I do not like slideshows. They slow down the blogspot, won't print out into book form and frustrate TMac who surfs this blog all of the time. There are a ton of photos below and I even only chose a fraction of the awesome photos we took!

Tracy is always great about building a special sand sculpture and since TMac is all about sea animals and Sea World lately, they built a Mommy and baby dolphin.

Sing the Alan Jackson song "When Daddy let me drive." The boys love to drive on the journey from our motorhome to one of our favorite river spots. Don't worry - it's on private property. Tot must drive! If you start him out sitting on Mom's lap in the passenger seat he will protest!

The boys love piling up all of the big couch pillows and bed pillows and jumping into them off the drivers platform of the motorhome.

I love this picture of Tracy. All of the problem areas are hidden under the water - hee hee! I should take some photos in this position because I delete most of the ones that show me in my swimsuit!

Tot's current trick is giving the best hugs all day whenever the mood strikes. I love it! That is not me in the bikini behind them. Just a random lady and the dog named Oakley that the boys loved playing with. They love their river dogs which in TMac language means dogs that he gets to borrow for awhile.

The boys love hanging out on the wood deck on Papa Doug's (Genni's Dad and W's grandpa) boat.

Dana the river lizard - basking in the sun. The water he is in is a little cove on the side of the river that slowly fills up all day which makes it hot like bath water. When you get too hot you go jump in the big river behind him and cool off in the cold water.

Papa Doug taking a nap on his boat. I didn't have my camera on me any of the times that he took a nap in a chair right in the deep water! Doug is fun to have with us because he is really easy going and super funny.

W jumping. The older boys did such a great job of taking turns and being careful with Tot.

Hanging out on the jet ski. These swim trunks are one of my favorite sets. It says "surfer dude" across their bums!

Tot loves a good jet ski ride but he usually returns asleep. This time he came back awake.

Mommy and Tot swimming. Great photo that hides all of the problem areas! :)

One of the reasons that the boys are such great swimmers is their experience in the river with the tides, waves from passing boats or jet skis and differing depths. They both started swimming in the river when they were 2 months old. The river is usually really calm though and wave free.

TMac and W were eating dry Trix cereal out of bowls like they were kitty cats. They were belly laughing and would get cereal sticking to their nostrils!

Nap time for Tot.

Tracy and his boys at sundown in the lagoon.

Tot felt like having a hug! River = LOVE!