Lake Chatuge 2019: Week One

Our first weekend of the year at Lake Chatuge was a lot like every other weekend we spend at Lake Chatuge. Well, I take that back. This one was different. First of all, it rained - torrentially and almost non-stop, which made for VERY peaceful sleep. It also left a lot of time for game-playing in the house. It precluded our traditional trip to the Treat Store (Boundary Waters), but it didn't keep us from "guarding Aunt Nancy's dock," as she told the boys to do, and it didn't keep us from participating in the weekend's Main Event - the Cardboard Boat Race!

Part of 31st Lake Chatuge Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous, the race involved spending two hours building a boat using nothing but cardboard, an Exacto knife, and Duck Tape. Both boys were going to participate - one would work with Jeremy, the other with Mr. Pressley, but when we arrived - in a Saturday morning rain that could be characterized as "monsoon-like" - Jones decided to tap-out. That left the Pressleys and Jeremy to work on a boat for Freddie. 

Taking Randy Cunningham's advice that "Duck Tape is your friend," they fashioned a simple skiff and covered the entire bottom and most of the sides in gray tape, earning it the moniker "Old Gray Boat." Jeremy raced alongside Freddie, who did a fantastic job in his first race, while his proud and encouraging brother stood at the midway point, cheering, "That's my brother! That's my brother!" which, the more I think of it, may have been ripped off from a very similar boat-racing scene in "Stuart Little."

Sadly, the Boat Show won't be back at Chatuge next Summer, but it wouldn't surprise me if Freddie and his crew didn't follow it to Lake Lure this time next year!

Oh! And something else out-of-the-ordinary happened on this trip! Jones MAY have broken his nose. Whether it was broken or not, we aren't sure, but it was definitely busted, bloodied, black and blue, and swollen after a fall off of the porch swing. He cried when it happened but handled the aftermath like a champ!

This was the beginning of Croco-Mama & the Rhino Bros.

Happy Memorial Day!

Before Jones was even born, Jeremy and I decided to take him to the lake for his first Memorial Day, and that's just what we did. We headed out Friday after Jeremy got off work and spent Saturday morning at the Hayesville Parade.  That's what made us want to take him there in the first place! Jones didn't seem all that enamored with the floats; he did, however, love sitting on the truck bed with his Pop and Nan! Well, I SAY he wasn't enamored with the floats, but when a certain John Deere Gator passed by, he could not take his eyes off of it!

Later that same day, Jones took his first boat ride. He did great, even helping Pop to steer the ship before falling asleep in his Nanny's arms. The next day, though, he was less excited about the boat. Actually, I think it was his life vest that he wasn't excited about. Poor little guy couldn't even get his thumb in his mouth for the massive layer of foam across his chest. He seriously cried all the way to Boundary Waters before finally crying himself to sleep.

The next morning, Jeremy and I went to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.  Visiting there is one of our favorite parts of being out at the lake. Jones stayed home with Nan and Pop. Monday, he got to go on a stroll at the dam with them, while Jeremy and I went to some antique shops, and Tuesday, we all ate breakfast at the Country Cottage before Jeremy, Jones, and I drove to Atlanta to catch our flight for Omaha.

All in all, it was exactly what we hoped it'd be - an incredibly relaxing weekend, made all the more relaxing by the fact that Mrs. Pressley got up with Jones every morning!  Bless her little pea-picking heart.

Here are some videos of the first boat ride and way more pictures than you could ever care to see of Jones's first visit to a place I'm sure will figure very prominently in his childhood memory bank!