Dog Day at Rock Island

Here we are, back at our favorite swimming hole, Rock Island State Park. The summer has turned rainy here in the South so we're trying to get in all the swimming we can before the temperatures drop.

This time our friends Aubrey and Beiser came.

And they brought their precious pup Kabuki. He is a boochi, aka Boston Terrier/ Chihuahua mix. He basically looks like a short Boston and it so sweet! Look at that smile.

Travis was the king of rock jumping as usual.

Aubrey was brave and jumped twice. She ended up getting a concussion from hitting the water so hard but we didn't know until the next day. Scary!

Look at him!

Travis has great diving form.

He wasn't into swimming. He was kind of into riding on a float like a little prince.

Varuca likes swimming a little more each time she comes out. She has gotten so big!

It was such a beautiful day!

He mad.

Mani cam.

Usually we just stick to the one spot but we did a little exploring this time. It is a beautiful place.

Everybody climbed this cliff. Aubrey and I stayed at the bottom with the puppies.

Awwww baby Veruca.

A few more jumps and it was time to go.

It was a tiring but fun day.

Kicked out of Rock Island!

We headed out to our favorite swimming hole a few weeks ago to celebrate a friend turning 30.The forecast was for rain so we kept thinking we would have to call it off, but we went anyway and were rewarded with a great day of swimming. I love that place! I wish it was a little bit closer.

Billie the dog came! She loved it, and swam pretty much nonstop the whole time we were there.

Jumping in!

There were a bunch of people there I swear! This is pretty much the only picture I got that wasn't of Travis, Crystal and Marc. Oops.

This part is shallow so you can let the current take you away from the little water fall. So fun.

Travis about to jump. I'm still too chicken to try!

I bet he jumped 5 times throughout the day.

Billie very good at towing everyone around.

Old lady boxer having a great time.

I bet you are wondering about the title of this post. We got escorted out because we had alcohol in our cooler. Dang! They do have signs posted, but no one has ever said anything to us. Oh well, the ranger was nice about it, and it made us feel like rebels. He said the cooler was a dead giveaway. Haha. At least we got kicked out after we had been there several hours.

We stopped at Sonic on the way back for tots and cherry lime-aids.

Here is the only picture of my face I took that day. I wish I had smiled! What a great day.

Crystal and I sang the whole way back, the boys slept.

Two weeks until our family vacation to Asheville! I can't wait.

Summer Send Off!

Sadly, summer is coming to a close. I've been having a great time this year and needed one last hurrah before it got too cold. I happened to be off this past Sunday and was able to get a pretty good group together to go to Rock Island one last time this season. It was cloudy pretty much all day, but it was still fun.
The best part is we found a new place to park that makes the trek to the swimming hole MUCH easier. There was no crying or injuries this time. I can't wait to use our new knowledge next summer! If you are in the area, park at the Twin Falls viewing area and then walk along the access trail. You still have to climb down the hill, but it isn't bad.

Here is Twin Falls. You can walk down to those rocks and check it out, but you can't swim down there. Not that I want to, it looks pretty rough!

Our little hike. We were all so stoked about the new route!

The most perfect swimming hole I've ever been too! I really wish it was closer to Nashville. It is about an hour and a half away. But worth it.

There was a lot of rock jumping. I'm still to chicken to do it. Maybe next year.

Have you seen these new seasonal Apple-ahhhh-ritas? They are really good! Kind of a mix of a cider and a margarita. Yum! And there we are pretending to lay out, even though it was cloudy. The water is FREEZING so occasionally you have to get out and warm up.

My friend Bethany brought a waterproof disposable camera and Travis took a selfie while he jumped. I can't wait to see how that one turns out! Haha!

We brought a little picnic: sandwiches and chips and oranges and PIE!

We stayed for about four hours then had to get back to Nashville. And we had to eat at Chuy's on the way home of course. It's tradition.
I'll be retiring my super noodle and packing all the summer stuff away to make room for our coats.

Goodbye for now Rock Island! We'll see you next summer!