The rest of the story...

We did get to the lake before dark and within minutes, we were out on the boat. What a great way to spend a Friday night. Saturday morning, the boys headed out for an early fishing trip. They came home with three bass, and claimed in complete seriousness they had lost a really big one. After breakfast we were back on the boat with a tube full of kids. I think Meredith was born for boating. She perched herself at the bow of the boat, Titanic-style and never moved.

Alex and our neighbor's little guy, Eli spent the majority of their time on the tube. Which really wasn't a tube. It was more like a small island. It was so funny to watch Alex white knuckle the handles, while Eli, who is three years old, was practically standing up. I was just excited Alex was brave enough to ride the tube solo. His self-confidence is finally showing itself.


Meredith liked the tube so long as we were going at a snail's pace. She really didn't like it if we went the slightest bit fast. I'm not sure if you can see the look of horror on her face, but it was as funny as it looks.

While we were on the water, we ran into our neighbor’s mom and dad. They pulled along side of us and after their little guy said, “Hi Pappy! I want to go on your boat.” Meredith said, “Me too! I want to go on Pappy’s boat.” She had one leg over the side of their boat before we could blink. The child has never met a stranger.

We boated to a fun place for lunch and I lost track of Meredith pretty quickly. Brandon told me she was with our neighbor so not to worry. I found her sitting at a table, chatting with some new friends, eating their French fries. Merdi table hopped and wasn’t all that thrilled about sitting with us for lunch.

After a much needed rest for the kids, we climbed back on the boat and the grown-ups tried to throw each other off the tube. Everyone stayed dry but Brandon. In his defense, we did our best to dump him in the drink. I woke up sore Sunday morning. My poor core muscles are gone. I really need to do something to whip this aging body into shape.

We didn’t want to overstay our welcome, and Lord knows it doesn’t take much with our family. So, we made the trip home late Saturday night. We were all exhausted but it was the most fun we’ve had as a family in a loooong time. The kids were asleep within seconds of hitting their beds. There was a huge fireworks show visible from our backyard, and I went in to get the kids so they could see it, but they were already down for the count.

Sunday evening we went over to the Ehnes’ for a cookout with the Smith’s. The girls all played really well together and for the first time in a long time, I don’t think anyone left in tears. In fact, they all hugged each other good bye. Maybe they were all too tired to squabble over plastic high heels.

Today is going to be a laborious Labor day for me. I have to get our house back in order so I can start the week off on the right foot. I’ll feel really guilty about lollygagging around the library while Meredith is at school if I have grimy bathrooms. I think I’ll try to enlist the help of my family, but knowing them, they’ll unionize and demand some elaborate dinner in return.