Spending time outdoors in Florida during the summer pretty much requires that you be in or adjacent to water at all times. So this means we spend as much free time as possible at either the lake or in pools belonging to friends and relatives. The lake is our favorite, and we spent the past weekend at the family lakehouse with our friends. It's an old cracker-style house built by my great grandfather in 1909, and I absosolutely love being there- so peaceful and I don't even mind if it rains as I love the sound of it on the tin roof. Luckily for us, our friends Alison & Ryan also enjoy staying there, and also don't mind sharing the rather rustic abode with the bugs and spiders who are only temporarily displaced by our sweeping (and sometimes more drastic, but never permanent, measures). Magnolia is in heaven whenever we are there, and to spend THE WHOLE WEEKEND is sheer delight. The fact that Lily & Eli were there to be her partners in crime just raised the level of elation even further. "We spending the night here again?" she kept asking with glee shining in her eyes. Saturday & Sunday a lot of family came out, so there was organized chaos with up to 14 kids running amok (okay, so David isn't running yet, but he can get a good roll on). Most of the kids were 6 years old and under, so it was quite the spectacle.
It was a pretty relaxing weekend. The kids would wake up much earlier than we grown-ups would have liked, but they played in the house while we became conscious with the aid of coffee (they did have to tickle Chris awake). Then it was down to the lake to swim and go tubing behind the boat. Naps were hit or miss (mostly miss), but that was okay as there were no melt-downs. There was the occasional impromtu parade- Alison carrying David around the house and Lily, Eli & Magnolia tagging behind chanting "Hey, David! Hey, David!". Magnolia announced she was going to marry Eli, which prompted Lily to claim baby David- way to go girl, getting yourself a younger man. Baby dolls were stripped of their clothes, kids ran around half-dressed, books were read, and copious amounts of watermelon and Cheetos were consumed. There were amazingly few requests for t.v. (good thing, as there wasn't one around). Chris & Ryan discussed politics on the back porch. Time was spent on the swing hung from a big live oak in the backyard. Chris entertained us with his guitar- lots of "Wheels on the Bus" requests. Kids (and Chris) boogied on the dock to Abba's Tiger song. Magnolia serenaded David with her original composition, "You are a cutie every day, you are a cutie baby boy" and David rewarded her efforts with a chuckle and a grin. Everybody wore themselves out during the day, so bedtimes weren't too traumatic. I even got most of a book read and went for a good, long swim.
Can't wait to do it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment