Weekend Review

I like to think of myself as one of those Olympic gymnasts on the bars right now.  The high bar is summer, and the low bar is fall.  Last Friday I swung around and around on that high bar and then let go doing a split leap suspended just above summer, but not holding on.  I wore jeans and long sleeve tees, went to Starbucks and Target with no rush to get back to the lake, and was able to finish my runs without feeling like I was dying!  I love a cottage weekend without the pressure to be in the lake all day. 

Grandma has not been doing well:(  She has some fractures in her hip that happened because of her age and brittle bones.  It’s making it very difficult for her to get around, and she’s unable to get in the car to and come to us.  So, Em, Anne, and I packed up Natty Bug and headed over to see her. 

Grandma loves her vanilla latte, so we brought her one and sipped our coffee while watching Natalie entertain us!

  

When we got back the kids had been down at the lake.  Kaitlyn told Adrienne she wanted to be just like her!  Awwwww.  So Adrienne asked her if she wanted to ski.  She enthusiastically agreed to try it and Adrienne came running up to the house to get skis and cameras and mommies.  Smart girl!  On our way down to the boat Livy and Lexi were coming back up.  Em and I said in unison, “OOOHHHH NOOOOO!  You will stay on the boat and cheer your sister/cousin on while she tries this.” 

Poor babies, such an awful life they have.  The root of this attitude?  They were not happy about all the praise little Kaitlyn was getting for trying this big kid feet.  They didn’t want to try it and whispered between each other that this was stupid and Kaitlyn wasn’t going to be able to do it anyway.  Oh how badly I wanted her to prove them wrong!  If I could have I would have swam underneath her holding the skis up!  Alas, she got good instruction from her big cousin Adrienne, and made at least 5 tries, but she’s just not quite strong enough this year.

  

No dice.  Good for her for trying though!  Guess who decided to try it the next day?  Yep, you guessed it, the dismal duo.  Nothing like a little peer pressure from a 6 year old!

Lexi was really close, but no successes yet.  In our book just trying counts as a win though.  We decided to revert back to tubing which everyone is a pro at!

Just for the record, in case anyone doubts my love for our Russian princess, I took off my jeans and put my swimsuit on because Sof wanted to swim.  I only swim when it is HOT.  It wasn’t hot.  Just sayin’.  I love that girl somethin’ fierce to swim on a day like that. 

I don’t know what the flowers on lily pads are called, but they provided good entertainment this weekend.  The girls got creative in finding ways to float out into the pads and collect the flowers.

Despite the temps we had just the right amount of good water time.  The water is still warm even if the breeze isn’t.

We really enjoyed our evening with the doors and windows open.  Everyone just chillin’ and eating. 

Yep, those are your feet.  They are super cute too!

  

Kaitlyn continued her quest to be Adrienne’s mini me.  So cute!

  

It was such a weird light over the lake that night.

 

When the sun went down, the cards came out, and kids fell asleep wherever they were. 

When we returned home I continued to let go of summer.  I lit candles and cooked in the crock pot.  I cleaned out closets and took inventory of jeans and jackets.  Suddenly though, it turned warmer, and I realized I still have a few weeks to embrace this short season.  I grabbed that bar back and started to swing again.  Soon enough I will let go and propel myself to that lower bar, but I have a few things left in my summer bucket list to accomplish.  We’re not finished yet… 

I’ve been obsessed with wanting to paddle board ever since Lexi and I saw it on Lake Michigan shortly after 4th of July.  Turns out they rent them on our local lake, so I took Lexi and her friend out.  I loved it!  The kids did great, but it’s pretty hard work.  We paddled for over 2 hours and went all the way across the lake and back.  About the last half hour the girls got pretty tired. I was so proud of them though, they persevered!  We will definitely do this again and bring Mark and Adrienne. 

 

Those little girls controlled that big board!  It was funny when we got there because they thought we would all share one board.  When they got they’re own they were a little nervous!  Of course Lexi decided quickly that she loved it and wants it to be her “sport”, and wants us to buy her a board, and wants to have her birthday party paddle boarding.  Her birthday’s in March, in Michigan.  The girl is like her daddy, all in! 

I do love you summer…