Day at the Lake

Last night while we were all at Baskin Robbins for ice cream, Garrett and I decided we needed to do something special today. I suggested we tell Grammy once she got home from her sister's house that we were all going to wake up this morning, pack our lunch, and head off to the lake. I am so glad that we did! We all had so much fun, and the water and weather were perfect!

I can't decide what the kids enjoyed more -- jumping off the dock, swimming to the other side of the cove, or playing in the sand. They all played so well together - building dams in the sand, (Garrett and Cayman are the best dam builders around!) ;) cheering each other on as they took turns jumping off the dock, or working together to swim across the cove to the other side.

We all inhaled our lunches, and there was no fussing when it was time to go (maybe, just maybe, we promised them a special surprise once we got back up to the trailer.)

But..... Of course a trip to the lake can't be complete without some traumatic experience. We were packing up in the van, everyone was in his/her car seat, and then I noticed a stinky yellow jacket flying all over the van. I didn't want to invoke mass chaos, so I was trying to gently and secretly shoo it out of the van. But it did not want to leave. Finally, I decided that I was just going to kill it. But unfortunately, when I swatted it, I did hit it, but it flew right into Cayman and stung him on his hand. I think if it had stung any other child, we probably wouldn't have had the chaos that followed. But my poor buddy is a little bit on the dramatic side and went into panic mode for the next 15-20 minutes. (Yes, I do know how bad it stings. But he was near hyperventilation/throwing up/convulsions. Not necessarily the reaction required for 15-20 minutes.) He finally calmed down (I may or may not have had to threaten that I was going to have to take him out of the van out to where the yellow jackets were to get him to stop screaming.) He was asleep before we even got to the paved road -- not even a mile up the road. In fact, three of the four kids were asleep at that point! They were all worn out, but especially my little buddy who worked himself up into a tizzy.

Overall we had an absolutely wonderful day, and even got to enjoy one last visit with Aunt Nell before she left to go back home. My Aunt Judy and Uncle Odel drove Aunt Nell, Sally and Pete up to the lake to see us one last time. It sure was nice to chat with her!