Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Straight chillin' in Columbia

The kids and I are in Columbia for the week and we're having a great time. Missing Ian a TON, but having fun nonetheless. Last weekend he was here with us and we spent the weekend at Jeannie and Kelly's house with just the younger kids. The older kids were at the lake with my parents at Camp Gammy and Doc. They had such a blast. Maggie called me every night and it went something like this...

"Mom, guess what?! I've got a surprise for you....I found PIRATE TREASURE!"

"Mom, guess what?! I've got ANOTHER surprise for you...I skied!! Gammy said I went almost as far as a football field!"

"Mom, guess what?! I've got one more surprise for you...I went FISHING with Doc. And.....I caught a fish! The biggest one out of the whole group!"

I can't tell you how happy it made me to hear about all her surprises. She was so excited and it just made me smile because I know she was able to relax, have a blast, and just be a six year old girl. They just played. And played. And played.

The reason I love it so much for her is because my sweetest memories from growing up are from time spent at Nana and Papa's lake house at Lake Murray. We went there almost every Sunday afternoon when the weather was warm, and often stayed a few days if we could talk Nana into keeping us for longer. Every time I am on the water riding in the pontoon or sitting in the porch swing at my parents' house I get this "little girl" feeling again. My memories of being at the lake growing up are just so peaceful and so relaxing. And so full of fun and laughter...and food. But I digress...we've already covered the Sloans' obsession with all things Southern and fried.

On Sunday we all met up at my parents' lake house to pick up the "big kids" and watch them do all their tricks they learned at camp. We also gathered because it's my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Yep, I said 40. Wow. Don't see that too much anymore.

When Nana and Papa had their 40th we all went to the lake and had our picture taken. That was probably 1987 and let me just say that for a picture taken in the 80's it's really not too terrible. My hair, though sprayed within an inch of it's life, is still relatively normal looking. Anyway, that shot hangs in all it's glory at every Hair/Sloan/Stanton/Meyer household in the southeast. Sooooo, Jeannie got the idea that we should do the same thing for Mom and Dad. We did and let me just say that it turned out ok. Granted, there are a couple kids in the pic who are either not looking or are making faces like serial killers, but overall I think it turned out pretty good. To see the pic, just go to my sister-in-law's site because she has it posted from the weekend. http://www.ashevillesloan.blogspot.com/

Poor Ian, though. He was only going to be at the lake for a few hours on Sunday before he drove back to Jacksonville. And that time got shortened considerably because our van battery decided to die so he and my Dad spent the afternoon driving to and from Wal-Mart to find and replace the battery. I have to say that I love my husband for so many reasons, but when he takes care of things like that for me I just want to give him a big wet kiss on the mouth. I was single for a long time (at least it felt like a long time) and I had to take care of a lot of things on my own. I remember what it's like to have to haul things by myself, to call tow trucks, to pump gas when I'm all dressed up for a wedding or something. I know those are little things, but they sure do spell out love to me. I'm just grateful for this hunka hunka burnin love that God gave me.

Gotta run. I'm at Jeannie's tonight with her kids while she's at Bible study and Watts and Nate are upstairs going ape in their bunk beds. It's time for me to regulate. I so love that I am here...I never get to do these normal everyday life things with them, like threaten them within an inch of their lives.

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