We don't get to see my dad too often, so I try to take advantage of holiday weekends and such to visit. So the kids and I made the almost two-hour trip to Dad's on Sunday to celebrate the Fourth with him and my step-mom. Aside from crazy drivers (can you say, "Road Rage"???) and Ian's constant, "Are we there yet?" (Yes, it's already started!), we made it without incident. Dad lives on the lake, so Ian's first order of business was, of course, SWIMMING.
We ate lunch as soon as we got there and then got ready to get in the water. Boy, anymore, it seems like it takes an hour just to get two kids ready to go swim. Make sure Ian pees. Lather with sunscreen from head to toe. Life jackets all around. Grab toys, towels, and bottles of water. Sheesh! Whatever happened to "grab your suit and go"??? At least, that's how I remember it as a kid.
We finally got down to the water and Ian was getting really excited. My step-mom went to go get some floats for the kids off the boat and slipped in the mud and fell on her backside into the lake. After we made sure she was okay, we all cracked up. She got up, turned around, and we died laughing all over again! She was covered in mud from her butt to her knees. But she still managed to get the floats and we got in the water. I hadn't even gotten my suit wet when Evan started wanting to take a nap. So I took him back up to the house and laid him down. He refused to sleep and just cried and cried. Finally, about an hour later, he fell asleep... Only after I gave up and left the room. I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and say, "I give up!" He cried for about ten seconds after I left, but as soon as I was out of sight, he stopped, laid down, and went to sleep!
While I had been up at the house, Ian had gone on his first trip on the jet ski with Dad-Dad (Grandad) and loved it. Soon after that, they all came back up to the house. Ian proclaimed he was sleepy and wanted to lay down with Evan. I warned him of the dire consequences that would occur if he woke him up, and he went to lay down. Ten minutes later, he was asleep! I couldn't believe my good fortune. Both kids napping?! I wanted to pinch myself.
My step-mom had to go watch my step-brother's kiddo for a couple hours, so it was just Dad and me. We always have good talks, so I enjoy our time spent together. Since he lives away, I don't get to see him as often as I would like to and a lot of the time, I feel like he is missing seeing the kids grow up. So I try to call at least once a week to talk to him and update him on all the cute stuff the kids are doing at the moment.
Then Dad went to fix dinner. And it must be said that he is a tremendous cook. Years as a single father taught him to be creative and cultivated his culinary abilities. But we had a simple dinner of grilled chicken, baked potatoes, and cucumbers from the garden. Just as I was taking my first few bites, Evan woke up. So I got him situated in his seat and got him some grub. Ian soon followed suit. After the boys ate, it was bath time and pj's. It wasn't quite dark yet, so we all decided to go out on the porch and watch the boats. Ian really like the little lights that they had. We could hear some people starting to set of some fireworks in the distance and we told Ian to look for them. I hoped we would be able to see some of them over all the trees. Sure enough, a few minutes later, we saw a rocket burst high in the sky. Ian said, "Look, Mommy, lightning crackers!" Dad and I thought his terminology was quite hilarious. I think he was trying to say lightning bugs and fire crackers at the same time. But whatever the reason, it was too cute!
The next morning, we had breakfast and then it was swimming again. I love any place that you can swim at 10:00 in the morning! There's just something about still being able to smell "the morning" and still get out and enjoy the water. Evan did a lot better this time and stayed in the water for almost an hour. Then I handed him off to Dad on the dock and swam out to get the baby float that had, er, floated away. Then I swam some laps from our shore to my uncle's (about 50 yds). I forgot how much I love swimming. Note to self: must swim laps more often.
Then we went up to eat some lunch and put Evan down for a nap. My dad picked up some hamburgers and we chowed down. A thunderstorm was coming and the wind was starting to pick up. So my step-mom went down to the dock to secure all the floats on the boat. A few minutes later, she came back, soaked from the waist down. I wasn't sure what had happened... until she turned around. Fall number two. Her entire back was covered in mud. We couldn't stop laughing. I said, "Well, did you at least get all the floats?" And about that time, I saw one floating across the lake. We died again. Luckily it landed on my uncle's shore. We called him to run out and get it. I told her that I'd come hose her off and we cracked up again. I can't remember the last time I laughed that much in such a short amount of time. It's too bad I didn't go with her down to the lake... I would have SO put that on YouTube!
Sadly, we soon had to head back home. I packed up all our stuff and bid farewell to Dad and Leslie. I wish they lived closer so that they could see the boys more and we could all spend time together. But this was definitely one trip for the books!
PS: Sorry I don't have any pictures... I forgot my camera :(
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