Clinton Lake or Bust

What a weekend! My group at work planned a boating/picnic weekend at Clinton Lake. Our boat going was conditional on us getting it on the water to make sure that everything was OK after sitting since last season. The weather has been so bad here for boating between the rain (read floods) and the temperature. It was June 5 before we got on it! So we took it out on Friday after work. Things started out OK so we headed downtown so we could chill and eat dinner. As we were pulling into the no-wake zone we opened up the engine compartment to check again for leaks. Well the oil was OK but we had way too much water in there. So we turned around and zipped back to our lift. Somewhere in there, the bilge pumps started working again so we didn't end up having to bail it out but I will say I was a little nervous for a bit. So with everything A-OK, we had our dinner and headed back out. We aimed for downtown again and just planned to cruise about. Now this whole time that water was building up in the hull of the boat, we had noticed water seeping in around the dash area. At first it just seemed like the run-off making its way out of the boat as we changed angles. But the weird part was that the water was warm. At first we just explained it away as rain water that had warmed up under the boat cover. But it just kept coming. And in larger quantities. Eventually after we had made our way to downtown again, steam started to rise out of the dash! At this point we knew something was not right, so we zipped back up river again and decided to pull the boat out of the water and take it home to work on it. Such an adventure. Turns out that the source of the hot water was a monstrous leak in the heater core. We bought this awesome attachment that pipes the engine cooling water up under the dash to warm air that gets vented out to the driver and/or a passenger. Seemed like a great idea for all those cool Midwestern nights. Not such a great idea though if you don't get the water fully drained and it freezes. So one burst pipe, $$$ for a new core, and an adventurous evening later we have a broken boat. Tom got the core out of the boat around 11pm. Thank goodness we bought new so we wouldn't have to always be working on it!

Burst Pipe with the Fins Pushed Away

Hole ~ 3mm wide by 10mm long

After all that we got up early to head to Clinton without our boat. On the way Tommy had his first ever powdered donut...actually it was four. He certainly seemed to enjoy them.

Tommy's Powdered Face

We got there a little after 8 and Tim picked us up on his boat for a ride around the lake. Tommy just sits on one of our laps and snuggles up as good as his life jacket will allow. Then he hung out with Tim and Lana while Tom and I got on Scott's boat to board for a little bit. I got up each time but bit it on the wake each time too. But not so horrible for the first time this season.

Tim & Lana's Boat

Then Tommy and I went back to get set up for the picnic. We got our stuff set out on the sand and at the picnic tables. Tommy really took to Tim and wanted to go to him sometimes more than Tom or me. But while we were waiting for everybody to get there to start grilling, we played in the sand with Grant and Nick. We had shovels and buckets and a backhoe and an excavator and a dump truck. Everything a kid needs to move some dirt/sand around.

At one point Tommy was riding in Grant's truck down the hill. So Grant (4 years) decided that he wanted Tommy (1 year) to push him. T3 needed some help so Darren (Grant's Dad) jumped in. They all had a blast playing in the waves all day.

Darren, Tommy, & Grant

Tommy & Daddy

Tommy did really good playing with the other kids. The first time he saw Pete's daughter that was close to his age, he went tearing off through the grass straight for her, pulled up right in front of her, and just stopped and stared. It was pretty funny considering how carefree it all was. Later he decided to slam the cooler lid down on her hand which hurt so we worked on "saying" wwe're sorry. (Which consists of me trying to tell him that his actions hurt somebody, that I know he didn't mean to do it, and me saying I'm sorry) The talking will make this easier someday I think. All in all a very nice day.

Tommy and his new Friend