Memorial Day at the Lake

We had a great Memorial Weekend! Drove up with dad since mom went early and Katie and Jacob were really pleasant (any drive without crying kids is so much more than pleasant and I can't think of another word). I don't remember what we did on Saturday but Sunday I know we had fun.

Uncle Mark, Aunt Colleen, Kayla, Cole, and Cam (Kayla's friend) showed up on Sunday while we were all outside. Jacob was laying in his bathtub and sitting on the picnic table under an umbrella, Katie was playing with her shopping cart of groceries and eating fruit snacks, Grammy and Mommy were just sitting enjoying the day. I think Grandpa and Dad were hanging out and Mom was doing some gardening. It was such a beautiful afternoon! When everyone arrived we had introductions and then the kids headed to the dock and Katie went too, happily holding on to Cam's hand.

After awhile, while Jacob was being cuddled, me and Katie tried to replant some geraniums. She was very busy getting the dirt in the pot and whenever I tried to get the plants to put in the pot she would tell me "Not yet." Finally I just decided to plant some seeds with her (I figured I could sneak those in a little faster since it's just dirt and seeds). That worked well. She finally got all of her dirt "just so" and in the seeds went. I'm not a gardener so who knows if they will grow. Katie was so cute using the kid rake and kid gloves from Grandma!

On Sunday evening, Katie got to go out on the pontoon with me, Uncle Mark (who's really MY uncle but I let her claim him too), Kayla, Cole, and Kayla's friend Cam, who Katie took to right away. The kids jumped into the coooold water and Katie had so much fun watching them swim out from under the pontoon. I told Katie that we could put our feet in the water but once we got out there, I realized that the only way her feet would even come close to the water would be if I held on to her and dangled her over the edge and that was so NOT happening! So we compromised and when we went back in we sat on the dock and put our feet in. She gave me a side hug and we sat for a few minutes just splashing our feet. Then it was time to go in for supper. On Sunday after Mom, Dad and Katie got home from church we had lunch and there was more hanging out. I have to admit, my memory of the weekend has gotten a little hazy over the last week or so but I do remember that we had fun!

Monday was the big day. Family started arriving at 11:00 or so and I had told Katie that if there are too many people and she wanted to have some quiet time, she could go into our room or into Grammy and Grampy's room. And she did. I went to find her when I saw Keaton (she played with him last year) and told her that there was a little boy here for her to play with. She asked me if he was tiny like her (and she put her thumb and finger close together to give me the visual) and I said that he was about her age. She decided to come out to see him. She got an introduction but for some reason it didn't quite stick. Keaton was "Kevin" for almost the whole day... and they were together for at least 4 hours! It was so funny to hear her say "Kevin, look over here..." They played outside and both went to the boutique we go to every year. When we got home, we ate some more.

Monday evening the kids and Uncle were going back out but I couldn't because I was holding Jake. Katie was already at the dock and ready to put on her life vest (the one that goes around her torso and has two arm bands that get in the way of her lowering her arms... it's funny) when I had to tell her no. It was just going to be Uncle with the kids and if something happened he would have to deal with the emergency. Well, Katie was not happy. She was down at the dock standing with her hands on her hips, leaning forward, yelling at me. I even saw a few foot stomps so she could truly show me her displeasure. When she finally did start to walk toward the house, she was stomping and yelling and her hands were pumping at her sides... ohhh, was she ever mad! Aunt Colleen saw what was happening and she offered to go to keep an eye on Katie. After that everything was peachy. Katie was thrilled and her mood changed in about 2.7 seconds to the sweet little girl she usually is.

Monday night we had a bit of a scare. John was supposed to pick me and the kids up on Monday but for some reason he DIDN'T SHOW UP! At first I was mildly annoyed but when it got to be about midnight, I was getting really worried! We called the neighbors who told us that the cars were in the driveway and the lights were on but no sign of John. We waited till Tuesday morning and then Mom and Dad decided to drive me and Jacob home to see what was going on. The whole drive home I expected to find John injured and so relieved that we were home. I envisioned a hospital visit and maybe surgery... or at least stitches. When we got home, what did we find? John. Standing, walking, moving. And very shocked to see us in the morning when we usually come home at night. I was relieved to see that he was okay but I was very angry. The least he could have done was be laying on the floor with a broken leg, a concussion... a splinter, something! Something to validate all of our worry! Well, he had lost his cell phone and didn't have my number... and he didn't know he was supposed to pick us up, even though he had planned to come to the lake for the day and BRING US HOME - I guess that I'll need to tell him 15 times instead of the 10 times I mentioned it! Grrr. Well, I'm glad he's okay but next time I'm going to put a postit note on his forehead and I'm going to include a list of injuries that make it okay to skip an event. And they are going to be very painful injuries.