Last time I was at a parade, Big Sis was ten months old (little brother was non-existent) and she was watching the parade in her stroller and getting really excited so I unbuckled her and let her stand in her stroller to watch. Parent Fail. She leaned forward and fell headfirst on the pavement and the immense mama guilt has banned me from parades ever since. But the parade was marching down literally outside the front steps of the lake house so we couldn't not watch it. Parade enjoyment redeemed. The kids loved waving to the firetrucks and floats and hauled more candy in 20 minutes than they have ever got trick-or-treating for hours.
There is also an amusement park and I don't mind roller coasters but in my old age, watching anything that spins makes me want to puke. Last year when my sister and I took the kids to Playland, both of us had to take Gravol before going on the little carousel. But it was God's blessing to us that my sister's friend, Auntie Driz, (who was with us) loves pukey rides so we designated her to be the 'fun auntie' and she graciously went on all the rides instead of us. It was the best thing ever, the kids spent from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm running from one thing to another.
The next day Big Sis got to try out the new kayak that Daddy "just happened" to pick up while he was suppose to get cheese at Costco. She was a natural and figured out how to paddle like a pro. My dad was a lot better at the SUP this year than last, he did fall in half a dozen times but he always got back up! Not too shabby for a semi-retired grandpa!
We soon got bored of just paddling on our SUPs and decided we needed to step it up and try things like..
Jumping off the dock and landing on the SUP ( * SO close right?*)
Trying to walk on water with two SUPs
Trying to stand up on a child-sized kayak...
Cruising with the dead calm waters with a sail...
Seeing how many people can stand on a SUP before everyone falls in...
And working on different hilarious SUP bails...
We eat together...
We make each other laugh...
Summer gets so busy and we all have different things planned. My sister will likely be doing lots of outdoorsy things and this year my parents are away for most of the summer exploring Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, & Russia. It was really nice to be together before we all set off on our summer travels. And now more adventure awaits us all...