Don't say I didn't warn you

Scene in the kitchen, Thursday evening:

Kristie: "Blaine, look at this. Is this a tick?"

Blaine: "No, that's just a mole."

Kristie: "I don't have a mole there ... I think it's a tick."

Blaine: "For pete's sake, it's too small to be a tick. It's teeny tiny. If it was a tick, it would be all puffed up with blood. It's a mole. Or a scab or something."

Kristie: "I probably have Lyme disease."

Blaine: "You are so overdramatic. Besides, when would you have gotten a tick? You don't even LIKE the outdoors."

Kristie: "Probably from the lake last weekend. When I went behind that tree to pee. I'm telling you, it's a tick."

Blaine: "For the last time, it's not a tick. And why did you pee behind a tree? That's totally not your style."

Kristie: "It was that or walk all the way back up to the cabin or pee in the lake and quite frankly, it was too cold to get wet. Quit trying to change the subject .... let's focus on my Lyme disease."

Blaine: "For the love of God, it's a mole."


Scene in my bathroom, Friday morning:

I'm 42 years old and familiar with my own body. I do not have a mole there. I tugged on it .... it came off .... and its legs were moving. A tick. Tiny, yes, and not engorged, which according to Wikipedia, means it most likely WAS a deer tick and I will be keeling over from Lyme disease any minute.

In the meantime, we are going to the lake again this weekend. Open notice to anyone going with us --- I refuse to pee behind a tree again and become all tick infested and court Lyme disease. So if you're swimming near me, I suggest you do so with your mouth closed.

That's all I'm saying about that. You have been warned.

Our Weekend of Awesomeness

This time last summer, I was more than ready for school to start and to have some reprieve from the non-stop squabbling that was going on around here. This year, either my kids have been better behaved, or I've been buying better-quality liquor to dull the pain.

Kidding. They've had their moments of total obnoxiousness, sure, and we're going to have some serious laptop- and tv-habits to squelch when school starts next week, but overall its been a pretty good summer. Probably the two weeks of vacation and week of summer church camp right smack dab in the middle was a good way to break up the chunks of fighting and bickering quality time.

Since school begins next Thursday, we're trying to cram all the last-minute "finals" into the time we have left. Final trip to the water park, final matinee, final day of free bowling thanks to the coupons they passed out at school last May .... which sadly, would also be our FIRST day of free bowling, since we didn't utilize the passes AT ALL, which is just really lame and pathetic, especially when you consider its one of the few activities that take place in an air conditioned building.

This weekend we had what will probably be our final trip to the lake with my sister and her family. Who knows? We might get to go again before it gets too cold, but this was the last weekend that no-one had to rush home at any certain time on Sunday night because of school the next morning. We were able to play and sleep and eat at our leisure, no time constraints, no schedules. Stay up as late as we wanted, sleep as late as we wanted, get on the water at our own pace, stay on the water until everyone had their fill ... you get the drift.

Quite frankly, it was a weekend of awesomeness. Which I thought I would share with you ... in .... what else? Photos, of course. Because that's just how I roll.

Awesomeness in getting dirty, because that's how THEY roll:



Awesomeness in spending time as a family (never mind that we had to re-take this photo because I didn't have a towel wrapped around my neck in the first one and the cleavage, my GOSH, was truly frightening, and evidence that I need to buy a more supportive swimsuit next summer):



Awesomeness in tubing:







Awesomeness in tubing like crazy people:







Awesomeness in wondering if there would be anyone left in the tube when it finally came down (sometimes there was .... sometimes there wasn't):




Awesomeness in spending time with Grandma Betty, who I think deserves some kind of medal for braving another day, on another boat, considering what happened last time:






Awesomeness in silhouettes (I just think this is a cool picture):




Awesomeness in underage driving:




Awesomeness in total cuteness:






Awesomeness in skiing and wake-boarding:






Do you see this face? This handsome face below?




I love the kid behind this face for so many reasons ..... SO many reasons .... not the least of which is his total and complete lack of fear. Ever. To do anything or try anything or enjoy anything. Which leads me to ..........

The TOTAL awesomeness of the wipeout:








And I think overall (especially considering nobody was permanently injured or maimed in the taking of these photographs) this was a pretty awesome way to spend our final weekend at the lake.

Stay tuned for more awesomeness, as I continue with my athletic spt tomorrow .....

Fun Is ......

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, fun is .....

Watching a kid, determined to get up on a U-ski ....



Especially when he succeeds!



And then seeing the same thing happen to the one and only kid who couldn't manage the U-ski two summers ago, but got up her first try this time! (Well, the first try after the initial first try when she flopped around in the water pitching a holy fit like a dying fish when she couldn't fit her feet into the ski the first time around ....like the WORLD was coming to an end .... not that she's dramatic or anything I have no idea where she gets that .... )



Watching kids splash ....



Watching kids contort their bodies like dolphins, and knowing darn good and well that if that were YOU, you wouldn't be able to get out of bed the next morning ...




Watching my nephew ride his kneeboard ...



Watching the boys innertube ...




More specifically, watching my son squeal like a girl ...




OK, if I'm being honest, letting everyone on the boat watch ME squeal like a girl. Only honestly, I wasn't squealing, I was cracking up. With hysterical laughter. And then about two seconds after this picture was taken, I fell off the innertube because I have the upper body strength of a gnat and couldn't hold on and laugh at the same time. You know that 90 pound weakling who used to get sand kicked in his face at the beach? Yeah, *THAT* kid could beat me in an arm wrestling contest. As big as my arms are, there is deceptively little muscle in them.




Being grateful for water-proof casts ...




Watching one of my other nephews wakeboard ...




Watching my oldest nephew flash the peace sign to his friends on the shore ...




Watching him do tricks, and accepting the fact that not even in your younger, more agile days could you do this spin-around trick and not do a face plant right in the lake .... have you ever HAD lake water go right up your sinus cavity and into your brain? No? It's not the most pleasant sensation in the world, let me tell you.




Catching your very own fish with your very own bare hands ..... (don't even ask)




Having Aunt Kelly teach you to ski ...




I SAID ... having Aunt Kelly ....



.... teach you .....




.... to ski ......




... or .....




NOT.


But hey, he gets an "E" for effort, right?

Today's Fun included playing with the cousins, swimming at Grandma's pool, piano lessons, and a baseball game this evening. I swear, not only is all this fun seriously cutting into my blogging time, but it's exhausting as well.