At Home with the Houses: Possum Kingdom

Last weekend we headed up to Possum Kingdom with the Gristys and Sylestines. No, Possum Kingdom is not a sanctuary for possums and there is no Possum King, contrary to the picture below.

PK is actually a lake near the Fort Worth area where our friends, Jordan and Allison Gristy, have a boat and lake house.

The Gristys invited us and Molly and Jeremy Sylestine up to PK for the weekend to relive the fun we had in New Orleans back in January. During this trip we stayed much warmer and more relaxed! Everyone wears their pajamas or sweats or swimsuits around all weekend. We grill delicious food, have great conversations uninterrupted by cell phones, and play fun board games that somehow turn into ridiculous drinking games.

Jordan, Allison, & Raider

Jeremy & Molly

Did we mention everyone brings their dogs, too? Allison and Jordan have a sweet German short-hair named Raider. Molly and Jeremy have a beautiful black Lab named Lexi and a rambunctious Puggle named Ella. The dogs love PK as much as we do, if not more! Well, almost all dogs… Ella HATES the water. It must be a Beagle thing because Otis (my parent’s Beagle) will only put his paws in water if the outside temperature reaches 110. After this trip, Ella is probably more afraid of water now than ever before! During our first trip out on the boat, Molly tried to toss her overboard into Jeremy’s arms, but right as she hit the water and came back up, a huge boat drove past us, causing a few pretty big waves to toss her under. Poor baby! Ella did not go back in the water after that.

Raider comforting Ella on my lap

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kirby, being the water-loving Lab he is, turns into a kid on Christmas morning at the lake! We arrived in PK Friday evening so we were not able to get out on the boat until Saturday morning, making Kirby even more anxious when we went to bed Friday night. He woke up every hour starting at 5:30AM. By 8:30, I finally just put him in the backyard, where he quickly managed to escape and go for a private swim.

Kirby and Raider on the way to the lake

Last year at PK, Kirby swam so much that he sprained his tail! Labs use their tails kind of like propellers when they swim. His tail became so sore from all of the swimming that he couldn’t lift it. We were pretty scared when we first noticed his tail wasn’t wagging happily, but he was healed within a couple of drier days back home. This year, Kirby tried to teach all of the dogs how to climb back into the boat using the ladder, and Raider managed to do it all by himself after a couple of tries!

The weather was a bit cloudy, but that didn't stop us from spending all of Saturday and most of Sunday out on the boat. I have always wanted to try one of those water trampolines, so when we swam past a clearly empty house with a water trampoline just floating there all alone, Molly and I had to try it out! Let me tell you, those things are not that great! They get way too slippery and they aren't stabilized so it's nearly impossible to jump higher than a foot!

Between intruding and swimming with the pups (minus Ella), we also found time to go tubing. The water was so rough that even at a low speed, the tube still flew! Allison wasn’t the kindest driver for the guys, and Jeremy fell out after a few loops around the waves. After our bodies, especially our booties, couldn’t take any more, we packed up and headed back to the real world. We are so happy we had this chance to hang out with some of our best friends before moving far, far away.