Lake Mac

Austin's family invited me to go to Lake McConaughy with them and I was sooo excited! They have been there before and this time the Airbnb they rented has an extra bedroom, so they invited me! I was thrilled they wanted me to spend their vacation with them. Lake Mac is in Nebraska, near the town of Ogallala, about a 4 hour drive from here.

The original house was really old, but has been updated so it was quite nice. The porch was a little crumbly, but the house has new siding and the inside was modern and nice. We could tell that they added on to the kitchen and added an extra bathroom and mud room that was so nice to unload all our wet things when we came home each night.

We got there in the late afternoon, and picked up a Walmart food order. We got unpacked and settled in. It was early evening by then, but we were too excited and headed to the Lake. The  girls posed for a picture by the front door.

It was so beautiful! This is the side where people camp, and there's not any beach areas.

It was windy and a little chilly, but the girls didn't care and went right in the water.

Because the water was a little cold, we played in the sand and made sculptures. I was so impressed by Claire's turtle!

Melissa made a cat!

What a great hole Maddie dug!

Just perfect for a mermaid tail!

We found some sticks that were great for drawing in the sand, Melissa made the quintessential heart on the beach.

A huge cat! An hour or two in and I already love Lake Mac! The sand is so soft and the water is so beautiful! It's hard to believe a beach like this exists in a land locked state.

We could tell this house was old by the way the bedrooms were designed. Just look at that sloped ceiling. In parts of the room, adults had to duck or you would bump your head. Maddie had her spot all set up with stuffed animals, a doll, and books that she brought with her.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the doorway is really narrow. I wondered if this used to be closet because you entered from my room.

If these girls wake up in the middle of the night in the dark and sit up, they might bump their heads! They love this bedroom though.

This doorknob reminded me of the doorknobs in my grandparents house. So quaint!

We headed out to the Lake each day around 11 am  and set up a picnic area. The umbrella gave us some good shade.

We spent all day playing in water, digging in the sand, and soaking up the sun! Each of the girls had a floatie and

drifted around on the lake.

Austin and Melissa brought Emma her very own little pool to play in. She had a blast pouring water and splashing around.

She also enjoyed playing at the water's edge. Every kid loves a stick!

The girls named this guy Keychain, and he was super fun to float around in.

Double riding in Keychain.

Even Millie enjoyed the little pool.

Pouring water was one of Emma's favorite things to do on the beach.

The sand was perfect for making sand castles.

When we were driving to Lake Mac, Austin said one of the things he was most looking forward to was relaxing and napping in his hammock.

He got what he wanted! Yay!

The first full day was a little windy, and I wasn't sure about paddle boarding, but by late afternoon it had died down enough that we aired up the boards. The second day was much better and we were in paddle boarding heaven!

Melissa took a few laps around the lake.

The girls had a lot of fun on the paddleboard too. Millie was so excited that she could stand up on it.

Millie loved to shout, "Man Overboard!" and jump off the edge.

A leisurely ride.

Tipping it over is half the fun, right?

Family time on the boards.

Heading in to shore.

Soaking up the sun with Claire!

Melissa and I brought our floatie chairs.

SO relaxing!



Maddie loved to pull me around and pretend she was driving me places. She would laugh and laugh and I had so much fun with her.

Lunch time!

It was cool how the girls could dig a little opening and the water would come in and make a 

little pond.

Maddie had her own watering hole! She loved pouring water and digging in the mud.

Soaking up the water and the sun!

Lots of sticks along the water's edge made it easy to stir the water.

Hammock time!

We headed back to our Airbnb each night around 6:30, it's about a 20 minute drive. Melissa and the girls would have a quick shower while Austin and I made a quick dinner. 

On the last day we didn't want to get wet and sandy and not be able to shower before the drive home, so we went to the play ground. The girls played and we had a picnic.

Claire can do all the tricks on the monkey bars. It reminded me of Denya and how she always loved to hang upside down too.

Emma loved to climb up the stairs more than she like going down the slide. Silly girl, sliding down is the most fun part!

I had the best time at Lake Mac with Austin's family! I love water and sun and these 5 days with some of my favorite people were pure heaven!