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| Forget everything else, this is what matters to me |
In order to earn my family’s love, and undo any damage
caused by yesterday’s blog, Chad and I got up early and made breakfast for
everyone. We brewed a pot of coffee, made
a casserole, put out croissants, watermelon, and cherries, and waited for
everyone to come and eat. My mom was the
only other one awake, so the three of us ate together and waited… Nobody came.
I guess most people on vacation like to sleep in past 7:30. I poured a second cup of
coffee and went out to the porch to read.
Eventually, people began moseying in for breakfast. As we were getting ready for the day, I
noticed Ali was still in bed so I went into her room to wake her up. She wasn't feeling well; she looked pale and
felt sick to her stomach. I decided to
stay home and take care of her while the family went to the lake. Leah and Heather took to comforting me by
attempting to diagnose Ali’s illness:
“It’s probably Feline HIV,” said Heather.
“No, it’s Spina Bifida, and it’s best just to let nature run
its course,” said Leah.
“Is she numb on her left side? It could be a stroke,” said Heather.
Heather and Leah can be hired to
detect and label any and all sicknesses, disabilities, or disorders in you and
your children. Or your friends. Or strangers on the street. And I’m positive they’ll accept beer as
payment for services rendered.
I drove Chad, my mom, Jackson and Ashley to the beautiful private beach by our house. Parking permits and passes are required to
access this beach, and there were only a few other families there. We picked a grassy spot right on the lake
with a picnic table in the shade, set up lawn chairs up in the sun, Chad and the kids started snorkeling and my mom laid out while I ran back to the house.
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| It's cold, but it's amazing |
Leah and Heather stayed at the house until I returned, and then
they went to the store to buy air mattresses.
Ali sipped some water, ate cherries, and took a hot shower. She soon began to feel better. I know this because I stood outside the bathroom
door, and opened it every three minutes asking, “How are you now? Are you better? Can I get you anything? Can I pray with you again?” After her shower she ate a croissant, and felt
significantly better. She was finally
ready to go to the lake. Kenny wanted to stay home with the dogs and enjoy the peace and quiet that is found wherever the rest of us are not. Heather and Leah had purchased a two-person air mattress and an air pump and loaded it
into the van. They were going to stop by
the lake for a bit and then spend a couple hours at the casino.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to win their millions at
the casino like they had planned, because Leah promptly locked her keys in the storage compartment of
her moped. Heather called the rental
company: “I know this probably happens all the time, but...”
“Actually, that’s never happened before,” said the
owner.
He didn’t have a spare key because the woman who last rented
it had lost hers, so Leah’s key was
the spare. The owner drove to the lake
to see if he could get the storage compartment open. When Leah heard he was on his way, she jumped in the lake to avoid having to deal with him.
Ultimately, he was unable to retrieve Leah’s keys. And so was the mechanic he called. They loaded the moped in a truck, and brought
Leah a replacement for the weekend. This all happened while Leah was hiding in
the lake behind the dock, only popping her head up every now and then to see if
the coast was clear.
We floated on air mattresses out to a dock where we spent
time basking in the sun.
Here is a photo of us having some quality family time:
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| Chad, Heather, Leah, me, and the kids |
It was a long and perfect day at the lake. I’ll just brief you on the high points:
- Jackson found a Nintendo DS game while snorkeling (Kingdom Hearts). Video games are a common thing found at the bottom of lakes, you know. Chad dried it out, and it totally works.
- The only injury of the day was when I had all three kids jump off the dock onto an air mattress for a picture. I counted to three and Ashley didn't hear me, so she jumped late and landed on Jackson’s knee. It knocked the wind out of her, hurt her ribs, and bruised her side. I bundled her up in a towel, held her while she cried, and Chad and I doted on her until her smiles returned.
- My mom was surrounded by a mama duck and her ducklings, which were so demanding that one of them bit her toe, and quacked at her until she fed them all the crackers she had. Very similar to how I was fed as a child.
- It’s worth noting that our three children played together all day without once fighting, arguing or bickering about anything. To reward them, we treated Ali and Jackson to Starbucks and we bought Ashley a bacon ring.
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| YAY for getting along!! |
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| A split second before the accidental injury |
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| Tending to the patient |
At the end of the afternoon, while Heather and Leah were at
the casino, we packed up our things, stopped at a couple of stores, and then
went home for the night. Once the girls came back from the casino (without the anticipated million dollars), Leah prepared a belated birthday dinner for
Chad. She made his favorite mouth-watering,
prime rib stuffed with garlic cloves, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and watermelon. Leah’s prime rib is the only thing Chad
requested for his birthday, but it was like a present for all of us.
Heather and Leah ran to the store, and were quickly pulled
over on their mopeds for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. The officer reminded them that they have to
follow the same rules as cars do, and then he scolded Heather for not wearing
eye protection. Heather said, “I’ll go
to Safeway right now and buy some,” and just then, a homeless man (Heather says he was homeless, but he was
probably like, the mayor or something) came over, handed her his sunglasses,
and said, “Here you can have mine.” They
were let go without a ticket, once again, escaping justice.
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| These are the things that happen when my sister gets involved |
For the rest of the evening, we sat around telling stories
from the old days, reminiscing, and laughing until our heads felt like they
were going to explode. Chad took the
girls back to the lake for a while, and the rest of us stayed behind to play
board games and make fun of each other. There is something about family—when you can laugh
at each other, tease each other, and know just what to say to send each other
into hysterics—that shows how much love you have for one another. Today was a day of laughter and memory-making;
two of the most important things in my life.
And today was a very good day.
Memories,
pressed between the pages of my mind,
Memories,
sweetened thru the ages just like wine.
-Elvis Presley
-
The Niemeyers
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