A lovely weekend

We all had such a lovely weekend. We drove over to Merrill, Wisconsin on Friday afternoon. (About 20 minutes north of Wausau, if that helps you). We stayed in a hotel with a really nice pool and hot tub. In all, we spent about 3 or 3-1/2 hours in the pool this past weekend. The girls are not big on putting their faces in the water. But Amelia finally figured out how to "swim". Yep. It's classic dog paddle, arms and legs flailing with head held above water. But she figured it out. And she was sooo proud of herself (as she should be) I heard "Mommy, look at me!" more than 100 times this weekend. The girls both did a maneuver called the "flying squirrel", which was basically pushinng off the steps in the pool into the water. I pretended to be a dolphin (and they would be baby dolphins and I would give them rides) or a whale (and I would jump up and make big splashes). Both moves would be met with claps and glee and asking for more. Even with just the pool experience it would have been great.

But the reason we drove four hours was not to go to a pool... it was to go to a family reunion. This is an upbeat, fun, organized family. We had a horseshoe tournament (my cousin Todd and I won) a water balloon toss, a pinata, a craft (glue tissue paper on glass votives), a campfire with lots of singing, and lots of motorboat rides with tubing and skiing. It was cold there on Saturday (I'd say low 60s with a 20 mph wind off the lake), but that just meant we sat up near the cabin and talked more. I got to spend more time with family. Very nice.

Margaret went tubing with 3 other 6-7 year old girls. Cute factor off the scale!!!

The girls are 1st or 2nd cousins and they really had a blast playing all weekend. Margaret especially enjoyed playing with Madeline, my cousin Kathy's daughter.

My brother Mark's family from Missouri was all there. No small feat since their boys are a 9th grader, a 12th grader, and a college junior.Let me tell you, they ate half the ham all by themselves! I don't know how you can afford to feed three young men those ages. It is amazing to see how they have grown and their areas of wisdom and their areas of silliness and immaturity.



Amelia also enjoyed the motor boat rides this year. She is a bit more timid than Margaret and I don't anticipate her tubing anytime soon. She also hasn't liked riding on the motorboat in past years. This year, however, you couldn't get her out of the boat! Fun to see her grow up, too.

At the campfire, there was a lull in the songs at one point and Amelia plunged in with "My home's in Montana, I wear a bandana, My spurs they are silver, my pony is grey" Three verses. She knew all the words and everyone sat and listened to her. She got big claps at the end. She has a pretty voice and it was fun to see her using it.

Speaking of singing, Sunday morning my Uncle Bill set up for the family to sing at their church service. I wasn't really that interested in getting up for church at 8:15, but I was glad I did. It was fun to sing with my Aunts and Uncles and mom. There were only 3 of us "cousins". My cousin Anne is a music teacher and has such a lovely voice. I could tell that my mom was very happy and grateful that I came and sang...that was worth it all by itself. I guess we were on the radio. Hah! My brush with fame.

After that, we went back to the "lake" for another afternoon of boating and tubing. Margaret went out again.

It's hard to watch, because I'm always so scared they will fall off. That would really scare her, but no incidents!

After our drive home, we got into the cities just in time to take the girls straight to choir practice. A woman at our church is a music teacher and is having a choir over the summer. The girls are performing at the Episcopal Church home this coming Saturday and at church next Sunday. They were sooooo tired. Margaret looked like she was going to fall asleep on her feet. Amelia has a speaking part and sounded good talking into the microphone.

Let's just say we were all tired. I downloaded pictures from my camera to my computer (I will put some on this post tonight) and then we basically went to bed. I'll have to do laundry tonight.

It was a perfect night to sleep with the windows open. We have windows on two sides of the bedroom, so we get a nice cross flow. With the big elm tree overhead, it feels like sleeping in a tree house sometimes. I woke up this morning just grateful for everything... my family, safe travels, my house, my job. Everything.



That, my friends, is what a weekend is supposed to do for you.