a good 'ole american memorial holiday.

the wednesday before memorial day weekend, my little brother steven called to see if we wanted to join him and our cousins roxanne & adam at "the river" for the holiday, and since we weren't headed to coronado island, we decided to take the plunge. 

we packed up on friday afternoon and hit the road that night for the colorado river, just outside of lake havasu. we arrived just after 11 p.m. and walked into a full blown party. not just a house party, but we're talking legit DJ equipment with insanely loud speakers, beer pong and what felt like the entire neighborhood at our cousin's house right on the water. yup, we were officially staying at the party pad. it was awesome. our cousins adam and roxanne are friends with the whole community and everyone was super nice. we dove right in and had a total blast. 

saturday kicked off perfectly with a buggie ride to the neighborhood club house for greasy breakfast sandwiches and coffee (or screwdrivers and white russians for some) before a full day on the beach. it felt like the perfect way to spend the memorial day holiday and kick-off summer... boats, beaches, wave runners, vodka slushy drinks & spritzers, ladder golf, fruit, bumpin' tunes, patio dance parties, carne asada tacos and family. 

{the boat and our beach}

{corner lot & the neighborhood party pad}

{steven & danny coming in off the wave runners}

{mr. zinc}

{delilah was awesome. she dug herself a cool little hole and hung out for the day}

{first time playing ladder golf. new beach game}

{river tings}

{my fruit-infused vodka made delicious spritzers & beachside drinks}

{fruity vodka mixed in with orange slushie drinks}

{heading out for a wave runner ride. i didn't look so happy upon our return.

but the next time we went out, danny forced me to drive and i liked that a lot better than just gripping onto him for dear life. i actually got a little brave and was pushing 60mph and catching some air.}

{the family minus one}

{prankster sign put up for the weekend to freak everyone out}

{the ultimate neighborhood hang out house}

{as the sun goes down}

{our family... adam, danny, roxanne, heather, steven & me}

{see the buggie & golf cart?}

{frankie the five-month old frenchie. she was such a sweetheart}

{purple circle}

{danny on night #2 and feelin' the groove}

{tank!}

{steven was feeling the DJ jams each night}

{adam was so right - the days feel so long - but in a great way when you're at the river}

{the boys and their spritzers}

{danny jumping right in on night #1}

{time for some beer pong with the mister...}

{...the young competition. and we smoked them!}

{DJ eric on the insane set-up and speakers that rivaled that of a club}

{ting checkin' out the set-up}

{the family girls}

{we're on the california side and those homes across the river are in arizona}

 adam, roxanne, steven & heather... thank you so much for the invite and showing us what the river is all about! 

you better believe we'll be back :)