Kids weekend

We are back from a long and lovely weekend at Lake Rabun with Uncle Graham, whose visit the boys had been anticipating continuously for weeks on end. On Saturday, we followed through with Will's suggestion and celebrated "Kids Day." Rob and I drew cards for the boys, Graham presented them with World Cup jerseys as early birthday presents, and we all played nonstop at the lake. We ate blueberry pancakes for breakfast and for dinner, we took a boat ride to the lakeside pizza joint where Rob worked one summer in college.

I made a point of talking with Will and Owen in the morning about the fact that when you have a day in your honor, it's not an opportunity to act entitled and spoiled but a chance to show your love for each other and your family and to enjoy your place of honor. And since Will and Owen are both kids, they immediately started celebrating each other.

As I made breakfast, Will and Owen sat next to each other on the kitchen floor and Will told Owen, "I'm so glad I have a brother like you. Your my best person in the whole family." They gave each other a hug and then took turns kissing each other on the cheek. Two times each.

But really the whole weekend was kid's weekend, since Uncle Graham was at Will and Owen's permanent disposal to play Uno, Monopoly, and ping pong, to wrestle and play "tickle monster," to swim and read with and tell stories to. If Graham ever tried to relax for a minute, Will was sure to climb on top of him and at least get some cuddle time in.

To top it all off, Papa had gotten an inflatable ski trainer for Will. So now when he says he's been "water skiing," it doesn't just mean he's been intertubing on his belly behind the boat but actually standing up and crusing, sometimes one-handed, like this.

Will skiied a couple times a day and never fell off, although he did take one tumble in the lake with Uncle Graham at the tail end of a joint intertube ride, as did Owen and I.

Owen seemed surprisingly brave during our little meeting with the lake, but he was quick to tell everyone matter-of-factly once we were back on the boat, "I almost died." Then when I attempted to water ski a couple days later and crashed again, he told Rob, "Go back and get her before she dies." Luckily none of these little spills were actually near-death experiences. But Owen quickly discovered that his favorite place during water skiing outings is on the boat, watching his big brother like this:
He also liked to let me pull him between the docks on the water ski so he could imitate his big brother in slow motion while Harvey splashed around behind.

On Sunday, we joined a whole bunch of other boats at the end of the lake for the fire works show. I think that gathering of lighted boats in the dark is more beautiful than the show itself. And Owen, who had never before stayed up to witness a fireworks show, declared it "very bootiful." Will meanwhile, survived his first full show rather than insisting on being taken home. But he trembled a bit in my arms and worried about whether the fireworks might fall on our head. He looked over at awe-struck Owen and said, "Mom, how come Owen's only 2 and he's not even scared of fire works?" In the end, I think it may have been his little brother's bravery that helped Will appreciate the show. On the way back home, Will learned to find scorpio and the big dipper, and he counted 124 stars in the sky. But he said he knew there were really "a hundred million billion thousand" stars. Or something along those lines.