July 3, 2011, Sunday

Dave made a delicious French toast - bacon - fruit breakfast for everyone to start the morning. More trips were made to WalMart and other stores. God blessed us with another sunny, relatively cloudless day with temps in the 80s and a south wind which gave us the calm side of the lake today. Levi and Tim took princess Andrea (it was her birthday today) on a special canoe ride to the bay and back. She said "it was the best birthday present she'd ever had!". There was a lot of action with the Checkmate today and quite a few boats and jet skis on the lake - it was buzzing with excitement on a great day. We had a casual lunch of fried Floyd fish. Bob R., neighbor, came over number of times asking if we'd like to try the sailboat. Later on, near dinner time, Bob and Mitch launched the doomed vessel in an attempt to see if it still worked. Although riding low in the water, the two made it 1/3 way to the point with a light breeze and tried to turn it around. Riding lower yet, the boat heaved and took on more water. Levi from shore noticed Mitch trying to bail water. Tim got out the binoculars and verified Reiners furiously attempting to get the water out with his hands. The alarm was sounded, and Tim & Levi ran for the 9.9 Johnson/Lund to save them. When they reached the failing ship, Bob was in the front, ready to go down with the ship. Mitch had jumped out so as not to bring the boat down further. We helped Bob into the lifeboat (Lund) and resolved to tow the sinking vessel into shore with a rope. Bob was late for a dinner date, but we hoisted up the salvaged craft on the boat lift in an attempt to drain the water. It was then realized that there was a large crack/hole on the bottom of the boat, which was why so much water came in.
After a delicious dinner of brats, steak, and chicken (thanks to Dave, Laura, Dave, Cathy), Andrea's birthday was celebrated. She received many nice presents but really enjoyed the Selena Gomez gifts. More Checkmate action and a spectacular fireworks display by the Floyd Lake neighbors until near midnight. Dave B. enjoyed new joke material as the result of Jean's comment about putting jeans in a freezer to keep them fresh. He also relived some memorable Fran comments from past years. Thanks to mom for a great cabin time - praise be to God for keeping us in His care!