Back To The Lake

Just before July 4th, Hayden invited us back to the lake house in Virginia for a long weekend of grueling activities. This time I'd finally get to meet the last of the Sewell brothers and redeem myself from never jumping off the roof of the boat house. Also, Jenny came along too so I wasn't the only loitering girlfriend in the midst of the athletic competitions. The Lake House is a magical place with a HonBonesque aura and a sense of self-indulgence. If you're hungry, you can go make yourself a snack except that a snack could be anything from a a salad to a piece of cake because the Sewells keep a solid stash of cakes in their lake house.

The attendance list is as follows:
Mama and Papa Sewell
Brothers 1 through 4
One brother's pregnant wife (that makes 1 and a half)
Erik, Jenny, Brett and Big Lu
Raffy - the dog

This venture to Bracey was quite similar to the last one. All the same games and activities were present except that since it's summer time, there was an increase in water sports. We also got up in the morning and watched World Cup games which is the one sporting event that I do enjoy keeping up with. Typically Brother #2 and his wife would prepare breakfast for us while we watched the games. Due to World Cup scheduling, we often didn't really start our day until 11:00. That's when we would partake in homemade biscuits or eggs and bacon or chocolate chip pancakes. After that we'd immediately go jump into the lake. The Sewells are a productive people, often waking up especially early to exercise or maintain the lawn. Brother #3 is training for a marathon, so he'd wake up and run nine miles, eat breakfast and then sleep until lunch. Papa Sewell never sits down (except to do a puzzle) and scampers from task to task, stopping occasionally to see what his sons are doing and then he laughs at them with gusto. I did catch him reading the newspaper, paddle boarding, and playing with Raffy so I can say for sure that Papa Sewell enjoys the lake house even under the role of groundskeeper. Mama Sewell delights me each time with her subtle musings and quiet joy about having a full house. A true veteran of raising four boys, she's not afraid to leave the group activities in favor of some quiet reading time. She'd come and go throughout the day but anytime you looked at her, she was taking in the scene with that special kind of Mama Love that you can feel just by looking at their faces. She's very thankful for her boys and has a way of thanking us for loving them too.

Enough of the squishy stuff. While Jenny and I floated around on Erik's pineapple intertube, the boys partook in wakebaording, gun-shooting, badminton, spike ball, frisbee, and a game where they throw balls at the other while they jump off the dock and they have to catch them before they hit the water. Competitive to his core, Hayden took each game and task with the seriousness of a government ordered mission and he's not above scolding you if your performance I not up to par. At some point he managed to bend and smash Jenny's finger so badly that it later doubled in size and turned blue. I'll add, for the record, that Hayden felt very badly about it. Brother #2 and wife made sure that we ate well over the weekend. They prepared lavish summer meals for supper that turned into creative, experimental lunches the next day. One night, the family surprised me with a birthday party. They wore party hats and blew into shimmery noise makers and then presented me with an additional cake.  Mama Sewell took lots of pictures and looked at me like I was one of her kids at their birthday party. Have I mentioned how lovely she is?

On our last full day, I woke up and sauntered out onto the porch and was informed that we were doing Family Olympics that day and I was on a team with three of the Sewell boys. Competitive Hayden let out a growl. "Oh no Lu! You're gonna drag us down! I'll try to be nice."
Jokes on you Hayden! My inner-athlete came out and I became one of the Sewell boys. At some point we all got distracted from Family Olympics but it was a tie where we left off. Family Olympics included diving competitions, catching competitions, a paddle-board race, corn-hole and badminton. Just before the task involving a gun, another World Cup game came on. Though on opposing teams, Jenny and I were relieved when the games were abandoned.

I did not want to leave the house that Monday morning. Brett had to get back to that pesky job of his and since it takes Hayden several days of acceptance to leave the Lake House, Erik rode back with us so that he could get some work done before the fourth as well. It was an uneventful ride back except that we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall burger place where Erik and Brett ordered enormous burgers and french fries and also had big, rich milkshakes. Brett became sleepy and made Erik drive. Erik was uncomfortably full and refused to consume anything else for the rest of the day.

These are the days we'll cherish. Gut-busters and all.