Every Fourth of July for the past 6 years (minus the year we got married) we have been going to Florida. Some wonder how we can stand Florida in July, well we are on a lake all day and the house has air conditioning so it really isn't too difficult. The water does feel like bath water though.
This is where we stay. It is a view from the lake. The lake we stayed on is a giant circle (4 miles around), which makes for awesome water sports.
How the trip works. We usually leave on Friday once everyone gets out of work. There are 6 of us that go. Kenny, his parents, two brothers and me. We all pile into one vehicle around 6 and we are then on our way. From Michigan it is 17 hours with no stops, but to have no stops would be both impossible and insane. There are now 5 of us that can drive. Danny is taking drivers training this year, so he probably won't drive for a couple more years. We take 2 hour shifts and who ever is riding shotgun must also stay awake. We drive all night with a dinner and breakfast stop. They don't let you eat in the car, which I found out this year. Kenny's Aunt always makes the best chex mix for our vacation. Me, being the logical one thought it was to tide us over on our 17+ hour car ride. So there I was mowing down in the back when Phil taddles on me. Mind you Phil is in college. I was scolded and had the chex mix taken away. Honestly, how was I suppose to know. Anyways, by now we are in Florida where we relax for an entire week.
In Florida, at least on this lake, they don't have rafts like we do in Michigan, but they do have wicked docks. Now these are no ordinary docks. Quite to the contrary. The are Extraordinary docks!
Exhibit A
This particular dock is the meca of docks on the lake and this my friends is what all others aspire to be like. Our family that we stay with is planning to build a new dock, so we spent a considerable amount of energy and time going over what the new dock should have. Needless to say we drew much of our inspiration from the meca of docks.
For example: that dock had a screened in porch, a big screen tv inside said porch, fans inside the porch, a shed with a small garage door to store life jackets, skiis, tubes, etc., sprayers to spray your feet when you got out of the water, and a hot tub on the deck.
So our cousins new deck we can only hope will have the following: a hot tub, big screen tv, trampoline, 3 stories (3rd story is where the trampoline will be located), screened in porch, a grill, storage shed, rope swing, diving board (high dive of course), and so much more :)
A typical day at the lake:
Wake up (whenever you want). If you are Kenny's parents or Uncle that would be around 7:30. They walk around the lake and he sometimes does or works. If you are the majority you wake up between 8:30 and 9:30 and if you are Kenny's cousins you wake up between 10 and 11. The best part, no one judges you regardless of what time you wake up. It is a beautiful thing. So we wake up. Then we eat a large breakfast, compliments of Aunt Tracy. She makes great food. After breakfast, everyone slowly disperses. Some go sit on the deck and read, some go down to the dock, others play pool. Some time around 11 someone wants to go tubing. I think we tubed every day. The tubers included Brooke, Katie, Danny, and me. They are going to be Freshmen and Katie will be in seventh grade, me on the other hand, I am 23. So we go tubing. We go tubing for a very long time. Usually some part of me hurts. Either my knuckles, knees, back, neck. It all depends on the day, and on any given day it could be all of the above, but it is worth every minute. Here are some of my favorite moments.
Katie and me mid air, a little blurry, but you get the picture.
This was probably way more exciting than it looks :)
Danny about to land on me
This is one of my favorite pictures. Danny was show boating and trying not to hold on. About a second after this shot he held on.
Hands down my favorite picture. Compliments of my handsome husband.
If you look at Katie's foot, and see where it is. The day before I was tubing with her sister who is a dancer. We went over a big bump and she kicked me in the head. Did not even know that that was possible.
After tubing, we are usually hungry again. So we head back up to the house get out all of the sandwich items and mow down again. This is around 1pm. After lunch we proceed back down to the lake where we play an intense game of water volleyball, or we read, or we sleep, or we swim, or we do whatever we want. Then we usually go back out on the boat and wakeboard and ski. Once we return we go back to the house and have dinner. After dinner we play pool, read, play wii, watch Toddlers in Tiaras, play cards, or whatever else we want to do. And then some time around 11 or 12 we head off to bed.
Life is best lived on a lake.
Then you must chill the ingredients to 45 degrees. It recommends over night but I couldn't wait so I did 2 hours and it was down to 45 degrees.
I poured them into a glass bowl with a lid. (It has to be a bowl that is freezer safe) Once in the glass bowl I put ice and water in a bigger bowl and set the smaller bowl with ingredients and lid firmly on into the bowl of ice water and placed in the refrigerator. This speeds up the cooling process. 
I only stirred for a minute or two each time. I took it out 4 times. So this process took about 3.5 hours. After 3.5 hours and one good last stir, you leave in the freezer for at least 4 hours, or until it is completely frozen to ice cream consistency. 
