Steve McQueen loves to run, play with other dogs, and sleep in sand. He does NOT love water. How do we know?
...I pushed him in.
He sank to the bottom, swam up quickly, and doggy paddled like hell for the shore. And then puked.
I felt so horrible, but could not stop laughing. He's so cute when he swims!
This was a few hours after he fell off the dock trying to come play with me as I was sunbathing.
He seriously trotted halfway down and just went kersploosh! into the water. It was only chest-deep, but as he is a city dog, he had never been in any sort of standing water before, and didn't know what to do.
It took him a full half hour to realize that you can in fact move your paws when submerged in H2O. and when he figured that out, he high-stepped his little butt right outta there, making sure to lift each paw allll the way out of the water with every step. the hind ones were tricky, but he got those sky high, too. Again I collapsed in laughter.
Another night, we played spoons.
Basically, this is played by passing around cards until you have collected 4 of a kind. when you do, you grab a spoon. when you see someone grab a spoon, YOU DO IT TO. the object of the game is essentially to NOT be the one left without a spoon, similar to musical chairs.
Now.
I was up at this lakeside cottage with my in-laws. That means Husbear, his brother, his brother's wife, his father, his father's wife, his mother, and his mother's husband (they get long like that. it's very interesting).
I did not win the game, but I sure as hades did not lose.
It may have had something to do with the fact that I wrestled my stepmom-in-law OUT OF HER CHAIR and ONTO THE FLOOR in order to grab her spoon. Because that's allowed. encouraged? who knows. but it is allowed, and i got that freaking spoon.
my sister-in-law took off a few layers of skin from husbear's paw. Husbear about sent his dad into cardiac arrest. Oh, it was lively.
We spent a day at a logging reenactment camp. That was pretty fantastic, even if it was geared towards kids on field trips or retirees, like my in-laws. We had a grand old time on the trails, and in the gift shop, where my fully grown and oh-so-mature Husbear bought a slingshot...that is shaped like a bear. And he has used it. Oh, how he has used it.
But my favorite moments were the subtle ones.
Like how we'd wake up early each morning and make breakfast together. And we'd walk down to the lake where the boys had bonfires going as the sun rose, and we'd sit in chairs on the sand and drink steaming coffee and sigh about how beautiful the colors in the sky are.
Or how we'd all sit and make s'mores at the campsire every night, and argue over who was better at toasting the marshmallows and the merits of hershey bars vs. kisses. The dogs all slept soundly in the sand by the fire, completely exhausted from chasing each other and other small animals all day.
Or how still the lake is at 2pm with the sun shining and the breeze blowing just the right amount to get the best suntan of your life without sweating a drop.
I loved all of those things.
And then we came home, and people stopped waving to us in the road. and they stopped waiting their turns in line. And the stopped offering cheerful smiles and speaking in charming accents.
Hey brooklyn. Did you miss us? I haven't decided yet if we've missed you.
Love the story about playing spoons! I'm visualizing you tackling your mother-in-law to the floor!!!
I particularly enjoyed your description of the subtle moments you loved about this trip. Sounds like you had a wonderful time...