The Gang's all here!
Aaaaaaand, we're home from The Lake. I know that I'm not supposed to tell the blogosphere when we're away because - agreed- that is dangerous, but, my inlaws were here taking care of the place. And when I say taking care I mean more than just making sure Leland eats and doesn't pee in the house (i.e. I walk in the front door, think Hmmm, being gone for awhile really makes the smell of recently stained hardwood and new paint REALLY pronounced, only to realize that my father-in-law painted the trim in our bedroom and stained and completed the toe strips too. Yeah, things that should have been finished, um, back in February. But we've been busy and it was a GREAT surprise to come home to!).
This is going to be picture overload and I'm going to walk through ever memory because this blog is partially an exaggerated baby book for Becks. And me :)
Labor Day Weekend 2010
It had been months since we'd been to The Lakehouse. Becks talks about it often, and we couldn't wait to take him again. Life is slower at the lake, and we feel less obligated to worry about car drama, house appraisals, or to be tempted by the many distractions that our regular home lends itself to like blogging, cutting the grass, or paying bills. At the lake, we just get to be. We spend more time in our jammies sipping mugs of coffee and less time stressing about school assignments.
We left for the lake on Friday, as soon as B and I returned from our respective schools. With our bags packed and my mom in tow, we headed south in the station wagon with The Wiggles on reserve in the portable DVD player should we have a toddler moment on our way down. And my mom, love her, brought Jimmy Johns. Yum. After stopping in Lex to meet up with my sister and her bff, Danielle, it wasn't long before we were met with long stretches of the country.
The drive up to my parent's place is about 4 miles off of the main road, and it's always a treat to let Becks ride the last bit of the trip in my lap with the windows down. He loves it. As do I. His eyes are wide-eyed in wonder at such a privilege, and his head turns quickly from side-to-side to take in the various farm equipment and livestock that greet us as we arrive. As tradition goes, B stops ever 20 yards or so to let us moo at the cows and ask them silly questions from the safety of our car. Beck waves and says Hi, cow! Bye, cow! to every one we meet. The final drag consists of short little hills and dips that B zooms over with enough speed to make our tummies do flip flops and for Becks to call out Ooooh! while he braces himself against me.
After 20 minutes of talking cow, we finally made it to my parents' house and were greeted by familiar faces from the driveway while the Cracker Barrel rockers taunted us from the lit front porch. We stayed up way too late the first night, laughing about silly things and enjoying the company of the whole family - together at last.
Morning came quickly, and we awoke to Becks standing in his pack-n-play (which he can get out of by himself now!) saying, I'm awake now! Get out! There's really no point in trying to argue more sleep with a 2-year-old, plus it was 8:30am - a full three hours past the time I've become accustomed to these days - so we obliged and met everyone on the back porch, with steamy cups of coffee at the ready. Sweatshirts were a necessity, as the summer air had finally cooled off and the morning air was chilly. A welcomed change since we've been dealing with 90+ degree weather for the past month now. To make the day seem even more autumn-esque, it was the season openers for our favorite college football teams. UK and Michigan both walked away with a win. Breakfast was pancakes and bacon. I think Beckham could've eaten bacon alone, and we honored his request for More, please! more than once.
We filled our days with cheerful conversation, playing with cousins and grandparents and siblings, tailgate cuisine, soft-serve ice cream, 4-wheeler rides, visits to Sonic for vanilla Diet Cokes, and the customary once-a-day trips to Walmart. Becks wasn't too sure to think about riding in the trailer of the ATV at first, but, eventually, was requesting rides on the hour.
Don't you worry - he got to my drink only after it was mere pellet ice (a perk of a coke from Sonic!).
My super great UK blue earring from Walmart for $5! Just had to show you!!!
I was so happy to spend the weekend with my boys and with my family. I may have snuck in some grad school reading when Becks was sleeping, but you better believe I was sitting outside in a Cracker Barrel rocker while I did it, with a Diet Coke in reach. I would even go as far as to say it was relaxing. Of course, it all went by too fast and I'm sad that we won't return for a couple more months, but that will just make our next visit even sweeter.
I hope that your Labor Day weekend was wonderful! Have a great week :)
The end product was pretty darn blonde. And my part was able to cover up a couple of too-blonde mistakes, so it will have to do. Hopefully until I get some Christmas cash :) 
And, yes, the beignets were absolutely devine, though I could have done without the the hot and humid weather and the unavoidable stench of the city that we couldn't seem to escape. 
