After camp, we packed up again for the lake. This time, it rained most of the weekend, but it gave me and Dave an excuse to just chill out for a bit. My dad came out most of the week, so he worked me like a pack mule (or was it the other way around?) We completed all of our landscaping project, finally! Whew, I thought we would never get it accomplished, but I knew if I enlisted my dad, it would get completed. In addition to all the work (laying sod, bags of pebbles, sand, planting day lilies, laying pine straw and oh yes, the magnificent vegetable garden), he made me (he he, it wasn't hard to talk me into it) go for walks up heartbreak hill each and every morning! Work horse, pack mule, it's all the same to me! Needless to say, in that heat and doing that kind of work, we weren't very hungry at dinner time. I need to keep him around more often. Does anyone need a personal trainer?! While my dad was there, the kids became these very sufficient little creatures. They played, laughed, swam, put on swim suits, life jackets, watched a movie or two and just plain hung out - ALL BY THEMSELVES. They really did not need us. It was quite enlightenting for them to realize they could do all of this by themselves. Hey, they are big kids now.
Dad found a 6+ foot snake outside our house. Luckily, he spied it out of the side window and not face to face. Our neighbors were over for dinner, so Bobby proceeded to use a shovel to stun/try to kill the snake (with Zach and Olivia on his heels). He relocated this creature to a wooded area away from our house, or so we thought. Days later, we smelled something aweful and found this same snake. He tried to slither back (maybe to the water), but died next to our cars. Yuck!
Our neighbor, Terri, took me, dad and the kids to an old gold mine on the lake. Since only locals know how to find it, it was such a great experience. My dad loves this kind of stuff, so this made his summer.
Father's Day weekend was nice, hot and sunny. We boated over to see Amy Storm's new lake house and ended up spending the day with her and friends. I love the lake - cell service doesn't work, so drop-ins are commonplace. Dave had to do a boat rescue when reoccuring waves put too much water in Amy's dad's boat. Literally, the boat was sinking at her dock. Dave and a couple of guys dumped water, then realized they needed to blow it out. So, off they went trying to get the water to spill back overboard. It worked, but the boat had to be pulled out at a marina (only to sink the next day at her dock again!) Poor thing. Father's Day was peaceful and quiet for us (we stayed away from the sinking boat at the Storm's) :-)
After Dave left, the kids and I had a couple of quiet days. They began to swim in the shallow part close to the dock without their vest. This was such a thrill to both O & Z, well that and the fact that this episode turned into a skinny dipping swim! They must have swam for over an hour in that little area, but it was the independence that made it all worth it. Of course, mommy bear was right there.... laughing at their little tushies and taking in all the giggles. That afternoon, as the kids played upstairs, I took magazines and Sudoko down to the shady part of the dock. I have no idea how the stars aligned, but I spent at least 2 quiet hours or more reading and doing Sudoko in peace. Times are a changing, people! It was pure bliss....I have some happy, little campers. On several occasions, Olivia or Zach would stop what they were doing and say "I love you, Mommy." For no apparent reason, it just had to be said. Now THAT makes it all worth it. "I love you too."
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