It's Just over that Mountain!

(part of Writer's Workshop at Mama Kat's Losin' It!)

For as long as I can remember, my family has gone camping and boating at one specific lake about 5 hours from our house. It wasn't just our family--it was us, my uncles, my aunts, my grandparents, and all my cousins. As kids, we just couldn't get enough of the water, and hated when we had to come in for the night.



On one particular trip, we were down at the lake for a longer period of time than we usually stayed, so the decision was made to take a day off of boating and just hang around the campground. As a 10 year old, this did not exactly thrill me. So, some time around that afternoon, my cousin and I (who was also 10) were complaining about being bored. Our uncle pointed to a mountain in the distance and said "well then go to the lake, it's just right on the other side of that mountain!"

And we were off.

Several hours and at least 5 different "mountains" later, we still hadn't reached the lake. I'm sure it didn't help that we were forced to take our 8 year old cousin with us in her flipflops, either, but we eventually gave up and turned around.

If anyone ever tells me "it's just right over that mountain!" again? I'm not falling for it.

Lesson learned.

What Labor Day at the Lake Looks Like

Our last labor day at the lake looks like:

Cuddling in the early morning cold...


Laughing and swinging...



Bubble blowing...


Smores...


Babes sleeping on the boat, one in a lifejacket that is not accurate for his gender because we just used Brady's old one...



And water slides.


It wasn't too shabby at all :)

Little Big Horn

It snowed last night. Well...maybe not snow...but all I have to say is we were sitting in front of a fire last night in jeans and hoodies and were still freezing at the lake. It's August...that's not supposed to be 56 degree weather!

My week of vacation was lovely. Got to see my niece and nephew for a couple days and enjoyed myself some new york-style cheesecake in sugared strawberries. Got to see my nephew, who is 8, practice football and it was hi-larious. Took giggly pictures with my niece. Also laughed listening to the kids try to explain to their teachers what a "MayMay" was when I went to pick them up--normal kids have aunts that they call "Aunt Something"...but not me, I'm a MayMay and they can all thank my sister for that. Well, except in Brady's case, where I am actually a "Mammy".


The lake was okay. I almost finished the only book I've cracked all summer. It was rather chilly for a bit of the week, but it was a nice break!

Tomorrow I start class. I also have to call up to work tomorrow and put myself back on the schedule. Boo.

And, believe it or not, I had every intention of buying a new car this week. With that cash for clunkers program you can get a new Rio or Aveo for just over $5,000 and my A/C-less car doesn't shift on the highway anymore and can't be driven farther than 30 minutes safely. Thankfully, my parents have one too many cars and I've been borrowing my mom's when traveling and such. I don't like Rio's or Aveo's--I honestly think they are quite tiny and ugly (no offense to any of you that own them...) but if I could get a new car for $5k I don't really care what it is, and my car qualifies for the CARS thing. However, while I was gone last week they decided that they weren't going to wait until the end of the month to cancel the program and instead pulled the plug on it for tomorrow at 8pm and there is just no time tomorrow. Besides, with all the dealers knowing that tomorrow is the last day they won't be cutting ANY deals so...it wouldn't be worth it. I'll keep my hot clunker. Sad story.


All the Save-the-Dates are addressed and ready to go. However, I've decided to hold off on sending them until we've for sure reserved a reception hall. That little bit of information is becoming a problem. The cheapest "reception" hall I can find wants $22.95 per plate. Um....no thanks. Sometimes it's really crappy living in the metro area. All the plain "halls" only hold 250 comfortably, and we're really looking at 280-300. Our one and only hope right now is the fair grounds (that's not hillbilly at all...) who I will call tomorrow. If we can get that it'll fit us just fine and we have friends who cater that we can get for cheap. And that would stinkin' rock. If we can't? We are doing in outside...probably in my backyard lol. I'll rent the neighbors yards for parking. Honestly though, I must have talked to 30 reception halls and...is it not insane to spend $10,000 on a 4 hour party? I just cannot bring myself to spend anywhere near that much.

I'm pretty sure we've found a photographer however! Pretty sure...

The End.

Promise.

There are Places on Base to Dock a Boat!

This last weekend was B's first boating adventure. I should probably start by saying that B is not an avid camper/boater in the least. His parents took them in a tent once when they were really little and decided never to do it again. Other than field training, that was all of B's camping experience. He's never seen how we camp--in our nice A/Ced trailer and portable grills and speedboats. Needless to say, B is not upset with the fact that we camp in this manner. This is B on day one:

"There are places on base to dock boats. ....if we had one."


The man was in heaven driving that thing! I really have a strong dislike for driving the boat, however. I really enjoy wheels sitting on non-moving pavement. But now that I've turned B into a boating-lover, I guess I don't have to worry about that :)

He also had his first tubing adventure and had a seriously amazing wipeout that you can be sure was photographed, but it wasn't by me so that picture will have to wait until later this week. But, in the absence of a diving board, deck or cliff this time, we made due with the six person tube...


And B made friends with all the ladies...

(seen there with Cabbage)

Oh, and the sandal debate? We went caving when we got there on Friday through basically a cave with a creek running through it and a ceiling so low that you have to walk like a duck to get through it. And since he only brought one pair of shoes, he put the sandals on when we got back from the cave and then proceeded to keep them on until we left for home today.


Literally, he changed back into his sneakers while we were sitting in the car getting ready to take off. I say that's 1 Point for Via :)

How were your all's weekends?

Lakes and Bathing Suits

The weekend was...interesting...to say the least. Friday I went into work early and then we headed to the lake again, this time with Little Man (E) in tow. I love the dude, I do--I had him with me every day for five years, I changed his diapers, I fed him in the middle of the night...I love the little dude. But, these last couple years where he's (finally) been with his mom the majority of the time has pretty much turned him into a prissy brat and I've had him since Thursday so it was rather challenging. Does it make me a bad aunt if I say my nephew is a prissy brat? I have a niece who I also think is a brat, just a super spoiled one. I love them both, and being the (sometimes stupidly) honest person I am I'm willing to admit that they are brats, even if that does make me a bad aunt. (...does it? ha!)

But, anyway, Saturday we went out on the boat and Cabbage got her first taste of the lake life in Brady's life jacket from last year pictured here with her fabulous self:


Cabbage sported it a bit differently, seeing as how Brady was in the top 80% for height and weight and Cabbage just got on the bottom of the scale at her last checkup. It basically swallowed her whole:


She was not happy about it. She also sported Brady's float from last year--she was better with that. And on the way in Little Man got to drive the boat (shh!):


Saturday night I took all 7 (potty trained) kids, aged 12, 12, 9, 8 ,7, 6, and 4 to play putt putt on the sorriest course you've ever seen in your life with just a cousin of mine who, bless her heart, has zero authoritative power with children because she's really still in the stage where she'd like to "outsmart" or argue with them rather than the "because I said so" stage. So it was me and all seven kids basically, which wasn't actually bad but I was ready to go back to the campground by the time that was over.

Sunday we hit the cliffs. The Cliffs is an area of the lake where there are, surprise!, cliffs. It isn't an advertised tourist attraction or anything, you just have to know about it. And I'm very, very surprised they haven't shut it down yet. You basically have to jump over trees. They range from 5 feet to 40 feet in height, and higher when the water level is low. We kept the boat kind of far from the cliffs to be safer with the kids around so the shots I got were pretty bad, but here's the best one, as blurry as it is:

That's the highest one. And I know what you are thinking, and yes I did jump off of it. Once. Once every two years is about my quota for that jump. My 6 year old cousin jumped off the second highest one last year (at 5). My 8 year old Little Man? Wouldn't even jump off the boat.

We got home at 1030 sunday night, I had a load of laundry to do so I went to bed around 1215 and got up at 530 this morning and then worked 730am-6pm today. I'll be sure not to volunteer for that too often from now on :)

BUT. My bestie is back in town for the summer, and we went bathing suit shopping tonight. Total failure. However, I did get a $4 ballcap for the water and I put it on when I got home and said hi to my puppy. Chase HATES this hat. The first thing he did was bite the bill and rip it off my head. I thought maybe he just didn't want it on me, but I had to pull it out of his mouth. He hates it so much he'd really like to rip it to shreds. I mean, it's just a ballcap!

It's a Xavier hat, though...I guess my dog's a U of Cincinnati fan!

Hakuna Matata

What I did last week:

(I know what you're thinking, and the answer in Yes. Yes the sink explosion did go through the wall and floor into the basement.)

What I did this weekend:


What the park did because of what we did our last two summers:

(Hey, sometimes you just need a little Slip-N-Slide action. And we'll just move it over five feet this year :])

And when we weren't floating on the lake tanning burning, we were staying for the first time in our brand new camper. Paradise! The whole weekend, just paradise! And yes, I really am burnt. And yes, the bra straps hurt a lot.

But let's, for a second, look at my puppy Chase--because, let's face it, he's just so darn cute.

And that is the dog seatbelt/harness from god. He doesn't need it for long, but he has like 15 minutes of excitement when we first get in the car that he requires a seatbelt for. After that I just unhook him and he goes to sleep. Chase is really a perfect travel dog.

Except after he eats 200 various bugs off the cement at the campground. Then he pukes, twice, in the car on the way home.

...I have to go buy a new pillow before my softball game tonight. I prefer not to sleep on puppy puke!

But, overall, FANTASTIC weekend. I forgot how much I love it! We only got to go once last summer with everything going on, and this summer...we are hitting it about every other week!! =D