Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day fun

The summer has started! I had graduation Friday night, so the pups and I didn't head to the lake until Saturday morning. John had taken Friday off, though, so he came up then. Jessi and Lance came Friday night after they got off work, and Katy, Phillip, and Sam came up Saturday around noonish.

The weather wasn't as great as I would have liked, but on Saturday it cleared enough for us to take Sam on a boat ride. His first summer to visit the lake he was only about four months old, so he slept the entire time we were on the boat. Last summer, he was MISERABLE because he had to have on his life jacket, and it was H.O.T. and H.U.M.I.D. It was miserable for all of us, but especially Sam because of the life jacket. This time, he LOVED the boat, as you can see from the pictures below. From the time we started until we got back to the dock, he didn't stop smiling and laughing. He loved the "bumps" when we hit the wakes of other boats.

For his birthday, he got a Puddle Jumper, and boy, was it a huge improvement over the life jacket, and they are Coast Guard approved.


LOVING the boat ride!
He did not stop smiling the whole time!
Sitting up high
The lake felt GOOD!

No fear...he sat right on the edge of the dock and scootched down far enough to get his feet wet.

Testing the waters...

After slipping in, he still was right at the edge.
Sam doesn't seem to be afraid of ANYTHING. I think this will be a great summer for him to take swimming lessons because he loved the water. After we had all gotten out and were sitting on the dock, he was right on the edge. He would scootch out far enough to get his feet wet and then he'd ease back. We all knew that he would eventually scootch too far and slip in, and he did. (Don't worry...six VERY cautious adults were there with all eyes on him.) When he slipped in, he did go under...the Puddle Jumper didn't prevent that. I was sitting the closest to the edge, so I saw his face when he came back up. His eyes were HUGE, but we all clapped and called out "YEA, SAM!" Anything to keep him from being scared. Apparently, he wasn't too scared because he was right back at the edge just minutes later. I think he'll be jumping off before the end of the summer.
Katy, Phillip, and Sam left yesterday, and Jessi and Lance left just a little while ago, so now, it's quiet here. I have a feeling that we'll have many fun-filled and family-filled weekends, though. Jessi and Lance won't have as many chances to come up with the wedding, but once they are an old married couple and the parties and showers are over, they'll get to come up more. :)
It looks like the sun is trying to peep through the clouds, so I think I'll suit up and head to the dock.
As always, KEEP DREAMING!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

A beautiful, but cool, weekend

It was a gorgeous weekend at the lake, but it was very breezy! If you weren't in the sun, you needed sleeves. So I sat in the sun as much as possible. :)

Danny, Linda, and Billie came out and stayed most of the afternoon. It was good for Billie to get out. I was surprised she came because she doesn't leave her house that much. She says she wants to go places, but when anybody tries to get to her actually go, she has reasons why she can't. About 3, she started worrying about getting back home though.

John and I fished for a while late yesterday afternoon. We each caught about six bream. Most of them were of the "catch and release" size, but a couple were "catch and grease" size. We released them though. We flung a few crickets this morning, too, but they weren't biting. John got two really small ones.

We waited until just after noon before we packed up and headed back to Dadeville. John may have to work Friday night, but I'm really hoping he won't. I could go back without him, but I'd rather not. :)

Gotta go and get ready for a new week. Only three more until summer vacation!

Keep dreaming!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Home, Sweet Home

We got "home" about 8:30 last night, and boy, was it nice! We would have gotten here sooner, but we needed to make a grocery run. My plan was to buy what we'd need so we didn't have to stop, but that just didn't happen this week.

We got up about 6:30. At "real" home, getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday when I didn't have to would irritate me beyond belief. It's so different here, though. Most of the time, I WANT to be up early so I can enjoy the lake. The water is usually so calm that early. This morning, though, it is quite breezy. I hung my wind chimes out, and they haven't stopped ringing.

With the wind blowing, it's pretty cool. That's a VERY welcome change from yesterday, though, when it was so humid. After the extremely cold winter, I said I wouldn't complain about the heat, but I never said I wouldn't complain about the humidity. hahaha

I have only three more weeks of school (woo hoo!!!) before I can "move" up for the summer. Well, that's not entirely true. My last day of work is June 1 (but that's a make up professional development day, and I might be sick. I'm beginning to feel a little feverish. LOL) On June 2, my three sisters-in-law and one of my nieces and I are going to Gulf Shores. John is thinking his neck surgery will be the next week, and if the doc says it will be okay, we'll come here once he's out of the hospital. He'd much rather recuperate here than in Dadeville. The view is quite a bit nicer.

Guess that's it for this morning. I need to grade a few research papers so I can emjoy my afternoon. The dock is calling my name, but it still just a touch too cool, and the dock isn't in the sun yet.

Have a GREAT day, and

KEEP DREAMING!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Night sounds

I love night sounds. Not just any night sounds...not a fan of the night sounds in the city...I love the night sounds out in the middle of the country--frogs croaking, crickets chirping, owls hooting (not screeching, though). And when we're here at the lake, I get to hear lots of night sounds.

We didn't get here until about 8:30 last night, so we unloaded (well, I unloaded...not about to let John do anything that could possibly screw up his wrist) and then we sat on the porch for a bit. The frogs were in grand form. Danny and Linda had left some crickets on the porch, and they were doing a lot of leg rubbing. No owls hooted, though, and fortunately, we didn't hear any coyotes yipping.

We opened the window in the bedroom before we went to bed, so I got to fall asleep to the sounds that I love. These are the sounds of my childhood.
 
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