It had been what seemed like FOREVER since we had a free weekend with no plans but that was about to change. August 6th and 7th were WIDE OPEN.
& then I got a text from my niece, Leah. She was putting together a little bit of a surprise party for my sister on her 40th. From what I am told, my sister wanted the kiddos, Justin and I to come in town and celebrate with her and I couldn't say no to that.
However, my sister thought we were just coming into town on Saturday morning and leaving Saturday afternoon, we had other plans & showed up late Friday night with our weekend bags in our hands and our party hats on. Please forgive the frizzy hair!
She was surprised but in the best way possible, or at least I hope she was. The surprises weren't ending there either. My niece had also texted my mom and dad, my brother and his family, & a few of Jennifer's high school friends who would be arriving around lunchtime the next day. Our job, to try and get her to hang around the house and not insist on taking the boys to the museum, so we all just stayed in our pajamas and moved pretty slowly the next morning.
& then the all started to arrive. Leah not only handled getting everyone there but she had her brother take her to the store to buy hamburger meat and all the fixings for hamburgers. She had Grandma Sara bring Jennifer's favorite dessert--Strawberry Trifle. Lindsey brought fruit & some yummy corn dip & then we fixed potato salad and another corn/black bean dish. Leah made cupcakes, a cake and had all the condiments in these cute little jars. & she's 14.
Timing couldn't have been better either. It rained pretty much all morning and then it cleared off, just in time for us to head down to the dock for some fun on the water.
Jennifer took the kids on the paddle board.
and I took their dog, Molly. The first bet I won.
The kids swam and fished. I believe they may have caught the same ole fish at least 5 times. It didn't seem to be too smart, although he was getting worms & the hook was coming up pretty easily each time. So maybe he wasn't so dumb after all.
I've been wanting a paddle board most of the summer and since I haven't talked Justin into one, I decided to take a little paddle on my nephew's. I could faintly here someone saying, "Mommy, will you come and get me?" but I am pretty sure that was coming from another house.
& then it happened, my second challenge. Somehow it was brought up about doing a headstand on the paddle board and I for some reason said I could do it, how hard could it really be. Of course, my sister jumped at the opportunity to bet me and I can't back down from a bet. So I paddled out to the middle and went for it. My first attempt was anything but pretty---my head was killing me, I had nothing soft to put my head on. I could hear laughs coming from the dock so I pulled out my life jacket, laid it across the paddle board and went for it again.
Challenge accepted. Challenge met.
Not only was it my sister's 40th birthday weekend but the Olympics had also kicked off and we were in full support of them too. If we weren't down by the dock we were watching the games. I love everything about the Olympics and look forward to the three weeks of non-stop games. GO USA.
On Sunday morning we got up and headed out. My sister's kids were headed off to Chicago with their dad and with us leaving too, the house was quiet--I'm sure she was looking forward to it but that doesn't mean she wasn't going to miss us or us, her. It wasn't the Lake of the Ozarks but I kind of have a fondness for this lake too & the boys are absolutely loving the fact that Cousin Brett and Cousin Blake love to fish and love to show them everything they know.
Happy Birthday Sister. We love you and we are so happy that we gave up our only free weekend in 10 weeks to celebrate with you!
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