Lake Norman - June 2009

The Gang at Dinner

For Keith's 40th birthday, Shawna decided to surprise him with a weekend trip with friends to Lake Norman which is outside of Charlotte, NC.  She got the gang together (John, JoAnna, Kim, Jonathan, Steve, Julie) and rented a 5 bedroom house right on the lake for the weekend.  Keith thought that Shawna and he were going to a B&B in Asheville for the weekend so he was quite surprised when this crew showed up at our door just minutes before we were supposed to leave.

The House on Lake Norman

We were supposed to leave the house for "Asheville" around 3 in the afternoon on Friday so Shawna told everyone to come to the house at that time to surprise Keith.  Well, Keith was on a conference call that was running long so she sent a text to everyone to stay outside until she let them know that he was off the call.  Unfortunately this took a while, so the gang hung out under the tree at the side of our house, started to drink beer and tore into some of the chips that they were planning to bring on the trip.  Our neighbors surely must have wondered what was going on.

Chilling at the House

When Keith finally got off of the phone, Shawna texted them to ring the doorbell.  When they did, Keith answered the door to find 6 of our friends standing outside.  He was perplexed as to why they were all there and they said they came to wish us a good trip to Asheville.  Still perplexed, we finally broke the news to Keith that we were not going to Asheville but instead to Lake Norman!  In a state of shock, he did a mad dash to quickly change what he packed and then we were out the door on the road to the lake -- the boys rode in one car while the girls drove in another.

Tubing on Lake Norman

We arrived at the house, which was absolutely beautiful.  It was located right on the lake and had great amenities -- a dock where you can fish and swim from, a pool table, a ping pong table, and a foosball table.  We got settled in and then went out to dinner at a local Irish restaurant.  When we returned to the house, a few people went for a quick swim and then we started the 'battle of the sexes' -- a game we played all weekend with various competitions of pool, ping pong, foosball, cards, karaoke and synchronized swimming (yes, you read correctly).

Glamour Shot

On Saturday, we rented a boat that had a large tube that could be pulled behind the boat.  We took turns getting pulled on the tube and stopped a few locations to jump in the water and swim.  This is where we attempted the synchronized swimming competition which may have been the only one that the women won!

Intense Competition

Keith and the Bday Cake

After a fun day on the boat, we returned to the house and chilled and then we cooked dinner at the house, including burgers, corn, salad and chips with guacamole.  Shawna had also bought a cake in advance (carrot cake which is Keith's favorite) that we served as dessert after Keith blew out his candles.  After dinner, we stayed up late continuing the games.

After everyone woke up on Sunday, we packed and cleaned up and then grabbed a quick breakfast at a Bruegger's nearby before we got on the road to drive back home.  It was an awesome weekend and Shawna was happy that she truly did surprise Keith for his birthday!

Keith and Shawna