Family Gained - Part 2

Sunday arrives early, mind you, and Gav and I are up, bathed, dressed, loaded and ready to go before Keith even made it home from work. Correct, I do not have one of those kids that goes to bed later, therefore sleeps later...nope, still up with the roosters! Can you tell by my description that we were a little stir crazy?!?!

Keith arrives home and with the hope of eating breakfast and then taking off, I rush around cooking up a delicious homemade, fresh squeezed meal for two and a half!

Everyone was ready to leave, but Keith. He had to mow first. It had been a while since we saw a break in the rain, so this was his chance, before the rain returns at the beginning of this week. Ok, what can we do to make this go faster...to the back yard we go..."cleaning up" so all Keith has to do is mow. We're ready!! Nope, still not done...Keith  has one more yard to mow...anxious as we {when I say "we", I really mean "me"} were, Gav and I loaded up and prepared to head out...Keith wanted to ride the motorcycle anyways. Finally, we were off! It was actually good timing because it was Gavin's naptime...so we hit two birds with one stone...nap and drive time. Rob said to drive slow, let Gav get his nap in {we don't want to deal with Grumpy Gavin} and be careful because there were cops everywhere for the holiday weekend...so it was a LONG trip out there, but worth it!

Yay!!! We arrived at our mini-retreat...home away from home!

Gavin instantly made friends (no shocker there) with Cheryl, Carol and John...oh, and of course Rob and let's not forget the pups, Red Dog and Peppers. Actually, that was Gavin's first question to Rob..."Where is Red Dog?" We see where his priorities stand.Waiting and waiting for Daddy to show up, we relaxed, played, snacked and made new friends by discovering the whole new world of "golf cart adventures" or "bentures" as Gavin would call them...thanks Ms. Cheryl. Yes, Rob and Cheryl took Gav for his first golf cart adventure and he was instantly hooked. Cheryl was his new best friend. She helped her case by playing trains with him, sharing her snacks with him, and enjoying his entertainment. I might have to start charging for this entertainment. We had never seen Gavin act so silly, but he also had a new audience...one that hadn't seen all of his "tricks." Keith finally made it, had a snack himself, and we headed out for another "benture" to check on the decorators for the Golf Cart Parade.

{Waiting for Parade Candy!}

{Mission accomplished...candy...yummy!}

We picniced, we paraded, we ate and ate and ate. We "bentured", we scouted a place for fireworks, and we finally planted and watched a great show! So great, that we were actually getting ashed on from the fireworks! I think Gav loved his glow sticks, more than the fireworks...taking them apart and putting them back together was apparently fun.

{Gav did have his first run-in with fire ants...poor lil buddy! They got his feet and ankles.}

He has been so good about getting bit and the itching that follows...he really hasn't seemed bothered!

It was a great show and it was nice to lay on a blanked and watch fireworks, all together, as a family.

 Everyone was ready to get back to a cool house, a clean bath, and some comfy clothes.

Good  AHSUM day!!!

Today, we woke up {late, mind you...I finally convinced Gavin to go back to sleep and he slept until 8:30} to a yummy breakfast from Ms. Carol. Everyone slowly got ready to hit the lake and we were off.

We drove around, got a mini tour of the area. Gav got his swim/wake board {standing on the board, if you will} time and Red even got coerced into the water.

We wanted to go grab some lunch on the lake so we headed back for wallets, Ms.Carol, and a minor boat repair. Mr. John met us at the restaurant where we ate and escaped the heat.

Ms. Carol showed Gav where to feed the fishies and then we were off again! This time,Gav wanted to "drive" or sit in Rob's lap while Rob drove. Needless to say, he didn't last that long...Rob soon handed him back to me because he had fallen asleep! Yes, that is the first time I have ever seen him fall asleep while on the lake, much less going through the choppy water that we were hitting!

Finally, in closing...yes, I am going to stop rambling...

to the Loar Family for making us feel like family! I was a little bummed that we were not in Ohio with our family, but I am thankful we were afforded the opportunity to spend the weekend with an amazing family! Being in their neighborhood made me feel like I was staying at my Gram's cottage on the campground. It was my home away from home, this weekend, and I am not going to lie...I was a little sad to be leaving.

Rob...you are lucky to have such an awesome family!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!