Our Life In Pictures

I have written many posts this summer about different family events and special celebrations, but I couldn't seem to get the pictures included in the posts. So, here are the pictures that recap our summer. Enjoy!

SJ and Kaylea playing in the river at Family Reunion ~ June 2008

K8 and SJ at Family Reunion ~ June 2008

Mr. Bob on Father's Day ~ June 2008

The beautiful Miss C on Father's Day ~ June 2008

Pappy on Father's Day ~ June 2008

Miss C's Birthday ~ July 2008

Grammy and Pappy celebrating their 40th Anniversary - August 2008

Grammy's and Pappy's 40th Anniversary cake and cupcakes~ August 2008

The Anniversary cake ~ August 2008

Grammy and Pappy cutting their cake ~ August 2008

Grammy and Pappy feeding each other cake ~ August 2008

Bub's Birthday ~ August 2008

Bub's Birthday cake (handmade by Kaylea) ~ August 2008

Bub blowing out his candles (with a little help from Kaylea) ~ August 2008

My babies (Kaylea and Angel) and me ~ Summer 2008

Where has the summer gone? When I look back at these pictures, I can't believe that summer is now over and it is time to go back to school. It seems like all of this just happened last week. Oh well, I hope everyone out there had a great summer. Ours was a bit crazy and a little mixed up, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Roadtrip

Normally, I would be excited about a summer roadtrip. But for some reason it doesn't seem right to get excited about taking a roadtrip to a funeral. Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to seeing my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that I don't get to see very often. It is just the reason for this mini family reunion that really sucks.

Tomorrow, Kaylea and I will be heading up to Indiana to pick up my cousin, Cizzy and her two daughters, K8 and SJ. (you all remember Kaylea's favorite cousin, SJ from the Hilton Head trip?) Needless to say, Kaylea is beside herself with excitement because she gets to play with SJ for another 5 days, or so.

Thursday morning, Cizzy, the girls and I will meet up with ThiThi, Mr. Bob and Ethel and Chris, the two Hens (you know from our Annual Hens and Chicks Trip) they are bringing. I'm sure the intercept destination will be a Cracker Barrel somewhere in Indiana. Afterall, you can't have a roadtrip without at least one stop at a Craker Barrel. After stuffing our guts, we will do our reenactment of Speed Racer to get to Stevens Point, WI by that evening.

I never would have guessed that I would be spending the 4th of July in Wisconsin, but I suppose there could be worse places to be. Actually, in addition to seeing family members, I am looking forward to touring this part of the country. I have never been to Wisconsin, so this will be new territory for me.

Luckily, we will have a couple of days to spend with Auntie H's family. My cousin Thom and his wife are having all of us over to their house on Friday. The kids will get to swim while the adults get to take the every-so-familiar walks down Memory Lane. What is a family gathering without a little bit of "Remember When...?" I'm certain that there will be a lot of laughter and a few tears that day, but we all will go home that evening with a smile on our face and pleasant memories from days gone by.

The caravan of vehicles will be heading back home on Sunday. It will be too soon; but, Auntie H would want it that way. She would expect us to get on with our lives and stop blubbering over her. She was just that type of person.

So, my friends, until we return.............

Tales From The Dressing Room

Yes, my friends, after going to Splash Country the other day I actually got inspired to go swimsuit shopping. It's kinda funny how spending a day looking at other women with unfortunate bodies, such as myself, could inspire me to do the one thing I hate most in this world. I don't really get it either; but, for some reason I thought it was a good idea to go skirtini shopping.

So yesterday ThiThi, Kaylea and I hit the Mall and began the torture. Well, I was being tortured; I believe ThiThi and Kaylea went along for the amusement of it all.

Here are just a few of the incidents and comments that came from inside our dressing room:

• After trying on a loser of a suit I was removing the bottoms and realized the hygienic liner was stuck to my - uh - upper inner thigh (if you get the picture). I tried to gently peel it off but found, though it wouldn't stick to the crotch of the bathing suit any longer, it had appeared to have permanently affixed itself to me. What was I to do but to give it one quick pull and presto, I gave myself a wax job, also. (I always knew there was a reason I hadn't gone to see the little Vietnamese ladies about a "wass job."


• ThiThi critiquing one suit, "So what flavor of muffin is that?"


• Me, while looking at my ass in a skirtini in a 3-way mirror, "There must be something wrong with this suit. The back is shorter than the front!" (Wouldn't have anything to do with the hump and bump giving the skirt a little lift on the backside, ya think?)


• ThiThi to the sales associate that asked if we had a preference on dressing rooms, "We just need a big one. There will be a lot of wrastling going on in there."


• Me, while browsing the Miracle Suits, "For some reason I just don't think that one will be quite 'Miraculous' enough for me."


• Me, "Those draws ain't quite deep enough. You know I like me some deep'ins!"


• ThiThi to me after a full day of fun, "You know this is the worst time of the month for you to be doing this, don't you?"

And finally, the award for Funniest Comment of the Day goes to................................KAYLEA! She, so innocently said, "Ya know, Aunt Missy, I think that tag that says, 'Look 10 lbs slimmer in 10 seconds' is just a lie." Out of the mouths of babes. What can I say?

Oh, and for those of you wondering if I walked away from the Mall with a suit. Well, yes, I did. Here is the one I got. Unfortunately, I have a little more fluff than the invisi-model the company used for the picture. But, overall, it covered what needed to be covered and wasn't too appauling.

So, see all you gals and Splash Country this summer!

Splash Country - The Best Ego Boost In The South

Ya know, if you look over to the right side of my little Blog page you will find The Ever Growing List of Random Things I Hate. Well, about two-thirds of the way down the list I have mentioned my distaste for "Big Women in Bikinis." After spending a day a Splash Country yesterday, I do believe that I need to revise this dislike AND give it a little higher billing on my list. How about I change the dislike to, "Women Who Wear Bikinis And SHOULDN'T."

Now, let me start out by saying that I am NO frail flower. I have a little extra meat on my bones and could benefit by going back to Weight Watchers for, oh say, a year or two. It is because of my cottage cheese thighs and muffin top that I absolutely hate the idea of going out in public in a swimsuit. If I could find a fashionable Berka, that would be the beach/pool clothing of choice for me. However, since the Taliban has yet to get into the swimsuit business, I continue to settle for my girdlish Carol Wior suits that keep the bulging stuff, stuffed in, and the sagging stuff, lifted up. You see, I am brutally honest with myself and I use these things called MIRRORS when I try on a bathing suit. And yes, I have even looked in the ----- THREE-WAY MIRROR ----- in the fitting room before making my final bathing suit selection. Yes, I know that is a scary thought for some women out there. Looking in that mean ole three-way mirror that lets us get the view of everything comin' and goin', but as scary as the sight is, I always choose to take a look. The way I figure it is, I would rather have a private dressing room viewing of how bad things look so that I can opt out of the tankini that makes my trunk look a little to junky; as oppose to, oh say, several thousand people having a public viewing at a water theme park.

Now, back to Splash Country yesterday. I am convinced that the majority of the females that were there either (a) looked at themselves in a carnival mirror before leaving home, or (b) not only didn't own a mirror - they hadn't even heard of one, or (c) had way too much self confidence for their own good.

Now, I must say, it isn't just the big women/girls that I am referring to. Yes, there was a fair share of large women in all sorts of disastrous swimwear. Like, the very large woman in a bikini whose belly hung soooooo low that her bottoms (swimsuit, that is) were barely visible (oh, her other "bottoms" were VERY visible and, yes, she appeared to have more than one!) And then, there were the many young girls that had the unfortunate "dunlap" disease. And then there were the women that had WAY too much confidence in the strength of those little plastic bathing suit closures. We were one wrong stretch away from some major wardrobe malfunctions.

All you skinny ladies weren't immune to the unfortunate swimwear choices, either. Like the grandma in her bikini wearing a suit that really needed a good ironing (no, not a "bathing" suit that needed ironing. The "body/birthday" suit of the skin colored variety that she had on under the bathing suit). Then there was the pretty young soccer mom, with three kids in tow. She was wearing the skimpy little tiny weeny bikini and had stretch marks on her belly that resembled a road map of NYC.

In summary, I guess I learned a few important things yesterday.

1. Everyone should own a full length mirror. Believe it or not, they are good, very good; mirrors are my friend. Keep them around - and lots of them; they will save me from unnecessary humiliation
2. Just because you are a size 4 and you CAN wear a bikini, it doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD wear a bikini.
3. I don't look as bad as I could.
4. And finally, whenever I start beating myself up about my weight, I will just pick myself up by my bathing suit straps and head on over to Splash Country. This will give me a new found confidence and I will leave the park feelin' pretty darned svelte!

Summertime, Summertime, Summ Summ Summertime

Every year Kaylea's and my summer begin the same way. This year was a little different because we had the week at the beach (which you can read all about on Kaylea's blog at http://curiously-kaylea.blogspot.com ), but now we are right back to the same ole same ole.

You see, my mom's family reunion is always the second Sunday in June and all of the family that comes in from out of state camps in Townsend. Mom and Jim-Bob normally stay through Father's Day, so we get a nice long visit with them. Kaylea and I always go over to Townsend and spend several nights with them while they are here. It is nice being able to sit by the river and watch the tubers ride by. Plus, we get to swim and play cards and RELAX! The relaxation is always welcome after the craziness of the end of the school year.

Though summer started off a little different this year, things are now back to normal now. We are chillin' in Townsend and catching up with some family members we haven't seen in a year. It's amazing to see the children each year. They always look so much more mature and it really makes me realize how fast they are growing up. Of course I can't avoid the realization that Kaylea looks a lot older to them, as well. And she is growing up, too. I know the year will come that she will not be interested in continuing our summer tradition. I can hear her now, "Mom, I don't want to go over there. It is boring." I guess I will have to decide at that time whether to make her come because "This is what we always do!" I just think it would neat if we continued this until she had children of her own; so she could bring our grandkids to camp with Bub and me. I know that I am looking way too far into the future, but I am just like that. I am always thinking about creating happy memories and traditions for our family. I want Kaylea to be able to tell stories to her kids that begin with, "I remember every ___________ we would go/do __________________."

For now, we are all comfortable with our traditional start to summer and I will am happy with that. I hope all of you have fun making your own traditions, as well.