Squeezing Every Ounce Out of Summer

Another trip to the lake...

Bob, my sister Anna's gigantic cat. He's old and crabby, but loves to sleep with people. Andrew was tickled that Bob chose to sleep with him for a while Friday night, along with all the other "people" that we have to drag around with us everywhere.

Playing in the water--Andrew loves to "swim," and he's gotten really good at it this summer. As his comfort level increased, so did the ease with which he handles himself. I hope it's like riding a bike and we don't have to start from square one next summer.

Andrew and construction site Number One. Later we built a huge pond and a volcano out of wet sand, but there was too much cleavage in the shot for me to post for the whole world to see.

Andrew and his beach hat.
A view, from land, of Smith Mountain Gap and the dam. We had driven around for a while after leaving the state park, because Andrew desperately needed a nap. We wanted to get to the dam, but apparently "you can't get there from here," literally. We were coming from the north, and the only access is from the south, i.e., the other side of the lake. We ended up driving up and over the mountains on the left and ended up way past BFE. Andrew got his nap, though.
The same shot, only including my real family's dock. Little do they know I'm going to show up there one day claiming to be a long-lost relative. Imagine that view every day over Rice Krispies and the newspaper. I'll catch it for this one, courtesy of Kristi and her cell phone. Leigh Ann's sleeping off a night out with the "coasties" who were in town to patrol the lake for the weekend. Posting this is revenge for her assuming we didn't want to go out too, her drunken babbling about how much fun they had, and how the band played "Jessie's Girl." Payback's a bitch, Leigh Ann, and so is your sister. I'll consider taking it down once you call me and whine about it. Love you too! :-)
Already sunburned from the day before, so much so that I had to paint sunscreen onto the red places on my face and not wear sunglasses all day Sunday to try to obliterate the raccoon face I was sporting. I got the idea for my novel on this boat ride---and although I'll probably never write it because I procrastinate, it's a great story.

Andrew wanted to stay here and feed the fish, even after going through an entire pack of stale hot dog buns and a plastic bag full of popcorn that they sell at the marina store. You can't fully appreciate the size of these fish from the picture--nor their enthusiasm for their snack. I was a little concerned that some of the bigger, fiercer ones were going to jump up out of the water. Andrew thought it was hysterical when we got splashed by the flopping fish tails as they literally swam on top of each other to be the first to get crumbs. I was more than a little disturbed by the older kids who were feeding the fish with their toes---popcorn between the toes, dangled into the water, then toe-sucking action as the fish scarf the food down. I don't know who I was more disturbed for---the kid with the fish on his toe, or the fish with the kid's foot in his mouth. (gag)

All in all, a good weekend, although James ended up sick Saturday night in a suspicious recurrence of the mystery malady I came down with a few weeks ago. He's not in any of these shots because he's usually the photographer, unfortunately; although we do have some great video that he actually made it into.

We're thinking about going back next weekend to finish out the summer, but we don't want to overstay our welcome or be an intrusion. The routine and the order get thrown out of whack when we're there, even though we insist that no one needs to worry about us---we can entertain ourselves just fine! Dad's OCD when it comes to the lake house, because it's fairly small, and because he's fairly obsessive, so he tends to get his hackles up when we burst in there with all of our stuff and Andrew's toys are always everywhere. There are times I feel like we shouldn't be there or that people would be happier or more relaxed if we weren't. They'll insist that's not the case, and we'll probably go anyway, but to me, it feels like the proverbial elephant in the room. Anyway, whether we're up for the trip or not might all depend on how this week goes---5 days of school in a row just may kill me, and then it would be a moot point. ---T