Can't beat it!

That was a week that was, I tell you.  Glorious weather, smiling faces, family visits, celebrations, reminiscing and restoring.  I cannot put into words how wonderful the last few days have been.  Even though I have tried to turn it all around in my head, it still doesn’t seem real.  It certainly doesn't feel like it should be over.  I have really focused on every part of every moment of the last ten days or so, to fully appreciate ALL of it and my heart can only hold so much, and then so much more.  To recap it all would take more than I have in me, really, but some highlights follow…

Our holiday here at the lake started with our granddaughter’s solo visit.  We had each other to ourselves for a few days before the actual July 4^th holiday and she was a dream visitor ~ helpful, agreeable, laughing, somewhat tidy, sleepy, relaxed.  She enjoyed boat rides and “fancy drinks”, ate whenever she wanted and slept around on the couch or the wicker bench on the screened porch, sometimes reading, sometimes just daydreaming.  It was everything.

 

Her mom and dad, aunt and uncle and the rest of the grands started arriving over the weekend and began filling up the house with noise, activity and laughter.  My sons-in-law let me boss them around like a jailhouse guard ~ I snapped orders out like it was my job.  They cleaned, they painted, they walked around with a screw gun or a hammer, hanging stuff wherever I pointed and grunted.  I love those two men, I really do.  When they weren’t busy helping hubs with the chore of the day, they were helping me.

My girls.  They always come ready to work.  Babies to chase, dishes to wash, lunches to prepare…trips to the grocery store (maybe to escape?) and anything else I scowl at them.  I know when I am getting ready for a party or gathering I am not the most patient; those two get me and just jump in. Could not do it without them.

 

The house and yard is about 85% ready for a party like we had over the fourth, and the party the next day, and the next day and the day after that. We hosted and boated, filled the yard with family and friends and had the best times.  The parade, the party, the bonfire and watching fireworks…it was all golden, and like a dream.  Wonderful food, the big bowl of popcorn, incredible family and friends. It was hot, the bugs were largely at bay, the bonfire, the firecrackers…all of it…nothing but joy.

Things got quiet the next day or so and the kids started heading back to their homes.  Following the fourth we kept the two five-year-old grandsons for a couple days.  You never know what you are going to get with a five-year-old away from home, and we were gifted with two of the best ~ loving, well-behaved, obedient to a degree, confident, comfortable…they were such fun.  We boated at a sunset that should be listed in the dictionary as what a sunset is; a sunset boat cruise of all time.  I took them swimming, they laid in the grass and talked big dreams with each other, spent hours on the swings or in the dirt.  They giggled and hugged and fist-bumped their way further into my heart than one would have thought possible.  First cousins and best-friends.  My life is replaying.

Speaking of first-cousin-best-friends, on the night before the 4^th, our nephew proposed to his girlfriend, during another glorious sunset cruise on his festooned pontoon boat, decorated by his sisters and launched from our shore, while we sat on the deck acting like we had no idea it was coming.  Then spied through a zoom lens, as he got down on one knee in front of the stunned love of his life. His friends shot off fireworks from the shore as they passed by.  It was magical for them, and for us, too, as we cheered this young man whom we love so very much.  The middle of our lake became party central as his friends and family, and hers, sped out to their boat on boats of their own and popped champagne corks for the rest of the evening.  It was grand and glorious to see this boy, this man, who has been there for his friends and family time and time again, celebrated and to be the center, the star.  They came through for him and it made me happy to see him toasted, and cheered.

 

We celebrated, oh, how we celebrated, all week.  A beautiful niece, expecting her first child and showing off her baby bump, a dear cousin from out of town and his new bride…little girls discovering what they have in common and pledging to become pen pals.  This week had everything good; missing our son and daughter-in-law our setback.  We remembered those we have lost, and the memories were sometimes hard, but most often wonderful.

Things can start to get rather quiet after the 4th each year, but I know we have more joy coming.  The house will come together a bit more, and there are smaller parties, boat rides, visits and bonfires yet this summer.  We are so very looking forward to it all but, oh boy, these last two weeks will come back to me often as some of the best days…EVER.