July 4th Fun

We spent the 4th at "Bamah & Papa's Lake" and had another great day of water fun. Little lady spent some time building sand castles...


















playing with her big bud...


















getting plenty of sunscreened sun...
























jumping in the water, eating lots, splashing, playing and

WATER SKIING!


















Well, a 3-year-old's version of it, at least. She's still talking about it.

Then finally, a full day of playing hard with no nap caught up with her and Papa's lap looked like a perfect place to stop for the rest of the day.


















Little man had to celebrate Independence Day wearing his sister's pink polka dot hat. Mommy forgot his manly blue one at home.
























He enjoyed the sun and sand...























but not for long. It's hard on a pre-walker to be confined to the sand, grass, water or someone holding him the entire time. A very hot afternoon nap finally happened on Papa's lap (notice a trend here?)


















He was very happy to get inside and crawl on something familiar and comfortable.


















A side note: Mommy and Daddy's desperate attempts to hang on to their youth were successful another year. Daddy got up on the wakeboard. His falls have convinced him that he'll have a sinus infection within a day or two and he's ready to call in some antibiotics. Mommy got up on the slalom ski first try and was definitely more impressed with herself than anyone else was. Some showing off lead to some pretty good falls, but none the less, I made it up and didn't look like a walrus trying to leap on top of an iceberg.

So, the youth status hasn't totally fled the scene, but it has hopefully been delayed. Skiing always brings out pains in muscles that haven't been used in a while and to top it off, to get to the lake I had to descend 40 steps. Yes, 40, and I counted them every single time I ascended or descended them (it seemed like everything we needed was up those steps). So usually 48 hours after the unusual muscle exertion is when my pain really starts to set in. Tomorrow, I'm expecting to have to parent from the little green scooter Katherine used when learning to walk. Either that or the slider thing that goes under the car when changing oil. I could just attach a rope to it and tie it around Nathan's waist.

Two great days of water and sun fun. Our household is starting to feel the lightening of Daddy's school almost being over. What a wonderful feeling it is. Please keep Jim in your prayers. His defense is Wednesday and the final draft of his thesis has to be turned in the following Wednesday. He is so close and I couldn't be more proud of him. He will have completed his Master's of Science in 6 semesters with a 3.8 GPA, while working full-time and two part-time jobs and started a business. He is quite remarkable when he wants to be.