Saying goodbye to lake season

Our lake season is officially over.  We spent one last long weekend up there after Labor Day.  It was one of those weekends that started with summer weather (heat index over 100°) and ended with fall (highs in the 60°s).  A nice way to transition to fall.

Pretty sure we made more jet ski rides in sweatshirts (10 from this picture) than we did in swimsuits (5 here).

It's always hard to say goodbye to the lake for another season because of all the good memories made up there.  This one seemed especially bittersweet because of Luke.  We took a lot of jet ski rides this summer and he figured out pretty quick how they worked.  He got to "drive" while we idled in and out of the channel.  He knew as soon as we slowed down that it was his turn and would be pushing the driver out of his way.  It's little things like that will be different by next summer.  Sure, we've always added a year to our age but it's not the same as Luke going from 1 - 2.

It's crazy to think how much bigger he'll be and how much more vocal he'll be by the time we are up there again.  This summer it was pretty impressive that he could say "jet ski", that he knew where the key went and knew where the start button is.  That's not quite as impressive when he's 2.  He grew up so much this summer (and grew a lot of hair)!

Having jet skis has been one of our biggest splurges over the last few years and while they can be a lot of work, there are many times it's completely worth it.  Sunset rides where the sun hits the splash.  Watching Luke sit on the back and kick at the sandbar.  All his "vroom vroom" noises.  It was wonderful having a jet ski this summer that our little family of 3 could go out on together.  We should be able to do the same again next summer but it won't quite be the same. 

So while saying goodbye to the lake for another year is normal, this year we were also saying goodbye to Luke's jet ski phase.  Many parents told us that your life just speeds up once you have kids.  We've certainly found that to be true.  Everything we do is marked by how old Luke is at the time.  Him growing shows time is passing regardless of how we feel.  Having a kid certainly puts it all into perspective.