Till Next Time

We had a giant Cousin Sleepover this summer, made better yet by the fact that the Alaskan cousins were home for the summer.  I took the following picture as I drove this van of sardines to my aunt and uncle's pond.  It's a wonderful place that they dug out when I was in high school and have spent the years since transforming to a gorgeous corner of land.

We arrived safely!  (Good thing it's only a three-minute drive.)

Going swimming at the pond includes a canoe and kayaks and tubes and tadpoles and all manner of Fun Stuff, so they had a blast for the few hours we stayed.

(Note Zeke's manly life-jacket I bought for Luci at a rummage sale.  I'm afraid there's some pink in your future, too, Zekie-Boy.)

Ezekiel kept steering all the riding toys straight into the water, confident that they would make fine sailing vessels, instead.   This motorcycle would float for a bit before sinking, and then Deb or I would have to rescue him.  Again and again and again...

The car, too, sailed along for a few seconds before it burbled down and Zeke became submerged.  Again and again and again....

 Safety first!  That's my motto.

Aidan doesn't like to show off his swimming skills, so I mostly took snapshots and watched for drowning people I could rescue.  The sight of so many tubes reassured me.

Dakota braved the slide multiple times...

This one's for you, Beck.  Amanda (or Audra?) asked me to take this picture of her.  So, I guess, this picture's actually for Audra (or Amanda?).