Labor Day Fun!

Since we had not been to TN to visit Mama Kay and Papa all summer, we decided to make use of the long weekend and go down to the lake for one last summer trip. It was a long way for a short weekend, but it was well worth it. We left on Friday morning and got there in time to do some swimming in the lake before dinner. Abbey wanted to hold my hand in the water the first few times, but before long she was swimming on her own (with the life jacket of course).

Ben and Abbey swimming...

Me with all the kids swimming in the lake...

The next day Uncle David, Aunt Carolyn, Madelyn and Virginia came and that meant lots of fishing with Uncle David! Here is Juju helping Daddy to fish (and Chien). By the way, Chien absolutely loves the lake. Whenever he gets out of the house, we can open the car door and he will run to get in the car. We think he does this each time in hopes that we are driving down to TN. He loves swimming in the water and fetching balls in the water and just being out and about at the lake.

Abbey swimming on her own...

Ben is helping Juliette reel in a fish. Highland, the black dog that belongs to Uncle David's family, is eagerly watching and waiting for the fish to come up. He went crazy for the fish. We didn't realize what a problem this would cause until later...

Ben fishing with Uncle David. He is looking into the bucket where the minnows were. They went to the bait shop each morning to buy minnows and crickets.

Daddy caught a big one!

Ben caught his first bass...

Besides swimming and fishing, we also did lots of riding on the boat (a personal favorite activity of mine).

It took some convincing to get in the tube, but Ben eventually went with Daddy and absolutely loved it (although he did not want to go by himself quite yet).

Then it was Juliette's turn. She was pretty laid back about the whole thing and almost fell asleep during his ride (granted, we went considerably slower with her in the tube so it was more a relaxing ride than a fun, bouncy ride).

Abbey did not want to go in, but with the promise of an ice cream sandwich, she braved it and went for a little bit. She did not enjoy it though (as you can tell by the look on her face)...the things we do for ice cream!

Ben enjoying the boat ride (notice his cool boat hair-do).

Daddy fishing with his girls...

OK, so back to Highland, the dog. On Saturday evening, Paul was bringing the fish they had caught into the house to cook. Highland, really wanting the fish, was right next to him and Abbey was next to Highland. Abbey wanted to see the fish and somehow, when she reached for them, Highland turned and bit her on the cheek. At least, that is what we think happened. Mama Kay and I took Abbey to the ER where she got 4 stitches (2 stitches in each main cut). She was so brave and did so extremely well. She is normally so terrified of doctors, but she just did great. They put some numbing cream on first and we had to wait a bit for that to take effect. When it did, they wrapped her in a blanket (using the excuse it was cold) so her arms were kept down and she closed her eyes. I sang her (and the 4 nurses and doctor) a song to keep her calm and she had no problem with the first two stitches. Then she started to get upset. She said it hurt, but I think she was mostly just scared and pretty done with the process at that point. So that was hard and it took everything I had to keep singing to her and not cry myself. I also can't believe I watched them put stitches in her (I am extremely squeamish when it comes to blood or anything like that - I did not get the doctor gene in my family)! The nurses were so nice and kept saying how well she did. When it was over, they even gave her some ice cream. Except for getting the stitches though, she was in a great mood and seemed to get a big kick out of being the center of attention. She was being cute and hamming it up with the nurses and doctor. Anyway, here she is the next day with her stitches...poor Abbey!

She did forgive Highland the next day...it was important to me that this did not cause her to be terrified of dogs because she loves animals and always wants to pet dogs that we see out on walks. We will obviously be much more cautious now with dogs around the kids...both with dogs we know and dogs we don't. This was the conversation I overheard between Ben and Abbey...Abbey: Highland is the black dog. Ben: Abbey, that is the dog that bit your face. Abbey: Yeah, I know, but he is very sorry!

She did get some special privileges the next day...like driving Papa's boat!

And in true Abbey style, she kept pushing Papa's hands off the wheel so she could do it herself!

Look at this fish that Ben, Uncle David and Virginia caught!

The last night we made smores, even though it was slightly raining.

Juju with her smore...

Yummy smores under the umbrella...

Then it was time to do the smores dance!

Yum!

Besides the incident with Abbey and Highland, we had a really great weekend! Thanks Mama Kay and Papa for being such wonderful hosts - we love coming to visit you guys! See you soon!