Such as Memorial weekends go. We've been usually heading to the lake for the weekend, rain or shine, or snow....such as you never really know. It started off a little different than normal. Gwen's last day of preschool was Wednesday. We asked her if she wanted to spend the next day and night at the lake with Bubba and Papa before we arrived since Trevor had school on Friday and Russ wasn't coming back from Chicago until 5:30 that night. So she went off and hitched a ride to the lake on Thursday afternoon. That left Trevor and I alone for over 24 hours. How would we spend the time? Well, I decided to train him in a little on taking his mom out for a date. He got to pick the place - he decided Red Lobster. So we went and had a nice relaxing dinner. It is such a different feel having one less kid to worry about. He wasn't given a kids menu to begin with, so he started to check out the drink menu and wanted to order a lemonade frozen drink. I gave him the ok to do so. We had some very nice conversations about what to expect in the future...he is a very good conversationalist! I'm very proud of that in him. It isn't very often that we get a chance to see that, either because his alone time with us involves an activity or homework.
So Friday came and I spent most of the day packing and making sure we had everything set to pick up Russ from the airport and drive straight to the lake. His flight was early, and we actually had decent traffic. It wasn't a straight shot, but being that there were 3 different spots for construction, we made good time. As soon as we walked in the door, Gwen was quick to show off the purchases she had gotten while going shopping with Bubba. Those two ladies love to shop, and I hate it, so they have to take advantage of it while they can. She got an outfit, jewelry, and a toy. And she glowed.
As usual, we decided to have a night of dominoes followed by a quick trip to the casino....I can't help myself. Pretty good night there...no jackpots, but relatively successful.
The guys got up in the morning to go play golf. Unfortunately, towards the end of their round they started getting rained on. The other kids got to run to the park for about 45 minutes to get some time outside before the rain started. We hung out inside until it was time to go to the newly remodeled roller skating rink. It had been all over facebook, last year they had a fire in the food area and had to repair the roof and remodel. I had taken Trevor and Gwen two years ago, and Trevor was the only one able to skate at the time so this year it would be everyone willing and able could go. Russ came as well as my mom, some of some extended relatives....for some of them, it had been close to 15 years or so between visits, but it sure brought back memories! Gwen had a hard time with a fear of falling down, but even when she was upset, she never wanted to leave. Although Trevor had to make do with roller skates as opposed to roller blades, he was good on his feet. We all had fun and hope to do it again at least a few more times this summer. And then we were anxiously waiting for Sunday. We heard it was going to be 90 degrees!
And it was! We were invited over to the other side of the lake, so we could sit on the beach and watch the kids. For the first year, I actually could sit and watch and not feel like I had to be in the water with the kids. Trevor has been good for a while, but Gwen was always a little timid at first and not really sure of the water. This year, she had playmates, dogs, and sand and didn't even flinch. I was a bad mom and did not reapply her sunscreen after the first 2 hours so her arms and cheeks got a little red. My legs and shoulders were scorched. But OH was I in heaven. I didn't even go to the tiki bar, it was just so perfect sitting in the sun on the beach. The kids had snacks and were hungry when we were done, but also had such a full day in the water they were tired out.
The water temp was around 65 degrees or so, but with the air temp being so hot, the kids never got too cold. I never even went in the water....it was just so nice in the sun! (Did I say that already??) It was peaceful, even though the water traffic was crazy. I again, was so happy to just sit and not have the kids even ask about a boat ride.
We headed back early on Monday, and didn't hit much traffic on the way back either. Because we were back shortly after noon that day, we could still spend the day getting ready for school on Tuesday and Russ going back to Chicago. Lots of laundry and organizing. Not really the most fun part of the weekend, but very necessary.
So it has been a week since that hot day, and the temperature dropped to some chilly temps. I was bundled up in a blanket and trying to stay warm on Trevor's Wednesday baseball game. So far this weekend, it has been very nice for baseball. But that is for another post.
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