Memorial Day Weekend '09

I think we had the best Memorial Day Weekend of all time. For the life of me I can't remember what we did on Friday night. We must have done nothing, which we probably needed. We had a lazy Saturday morning and then Curtis and Jackson took a Man Trip to Bass Pro Shop. Annabeth and I prepared to make a Target run. While I was getting ready, we got an invitation via text message to join some friends at Lake Conroe for Memorial Day. Okay, how fast can I type "Yes please!" on my little phone? Woo hoo! I called Curtis right away, told him the news, and asked him to pick up a boat-worthy life jacket - excuse me, a PFD - for the boy. He came back with said PFD, a little kid fishing pole, and some worms. Or "rerms" as we say in the Moore home.

After rest time, we went to visit our friends Drew and Kristy and their 3 boys. All the boys swam while Kristy and I stayed dry and talked a million miles an hour. Then we had homemade pizza and cookies and IBC rootbeer. Poor us. Kristy is a great cook and baker and I've now made it my mission never to turn down an invitation to eat at her house. We had the best time. Jackson loves playing with Sage (whom he calls "Stage") and Kolby. When I see him with other boys I feel sad that he doesn't have a brother to romp around with. But when I look down at the sweet baby girl in my arms, I'm so happy I have a daughter. No outing is complete without something strange happening. That night we got mixed up and took one of their cell phones home with us (it's the same one that CJ has). I even called my mom on it and she asked if we had gotten a new number. Uh, no. It didn't register with me until I saw the picture of Sage and Kolby on the wallpaper. Nice move, Brilliance.

On Sunday morning we dropped off Beckham with my parents and went to church very early. Curtis and I signed up to help in the preschool ministry once every 6 weeks and that was to be our first day. The kids we were with were about 18 months old. I had kind of forgotten how to relate to them, but it came back. I think I am better with boys at that age, but I enjoyed playing with the girls and wondering what Annabeth will be like when she gets there. They were all so cute. Poor little girls though. They just want to play and climb but their dresses do not help things. Will that keep me from putting my daughter in dresses? Probably not. Then we went to the service, which was wonderful. Our worship peeps sang an acoustic version of "None But Jesus" and it was awesome.

After church we set out for Lake Conroe. There was some traffic on I45 and I realized people were slowing down to look at the Gallery Furniture store that had just suffered a huge fire in its warehouse. You couldn't really see anything from the freeway. Curt and I talked about how successful that business must be that everyone driving by knew about the fire. Mattress Mack has done quite well for himself.

We finally arrived at the lakehouse. It was absolutely gorgeous. My heart was doing backflips within me. We hung out for a bit and then took the boat to Five Guys Burgers. Please, let's observe a moment of silence for those burgers. I can't even talk about how good they were because they left me speechless. Then, adding fat to cholesterol, we walked to Marble Slab and partook of even more yumminess. After all, it had started thundering and we needed to let it pass before getting back in the boat. After the kids went to bed that night, we stayed up playing a game called Loaded Questions. It was hilarious and I think I might have to buy it.

The next morning we went out on the boat before the masses could get the water all choppy. Jackson got to tube for the first time with his daddy. He had a blast. Then Jenn amazed us all with her wakeboarding prowess. After that we had some incredible French toast back at the house that I will be making very soon. We basically spent the day eating, taking turns getting pulled behind the boat, and swimming in the lake in front of the house. There was much happiness and laughter.

One thing I will never forget is looking up and seeing my son swinging a golf club around his head, dangerously close to some enormous picture windows that the Jones family cannot afford to replace. Everyone was like, "Oh, he's fine! It's a toy golf club!" I ran up there and while there were toy golf clubs sitting right there (that looked very real), my son had grabbed the driver that Mr. Erin found in the lake (the house was on a golf course). I nearly had a heart attack. Anyway, who throws a driver in the lake? Well, people like me and that is why I do not ever play golf. Or other frustrating sports like putt putt.

At lunchtime, Jenn and Tammie mentored me in the cooking department. I now have mad skills for grilling corn on the cob, making easy peach cobbler, and baking French toast for a large group. I really, really need to spend more time with those girls.

We had one final boat ride before it was time to get cleaned up and head home. This time I got to tube with Jackson. I used to love tubing when I was a kid, so it was a highlight for me.

When we got back to the house, Annabeth was uncharacteristically fussy. She was warm, but I thought it was just because it was hot outside. Way to go again, Brilliance! When we went to pick up Beckham, my mom said "Honey, she has a temperature and it's 99-point-something-high." Sure enough, when I got her home and took her temp, she had a 99.7 degree fever. My sweet baby had her first fever! I'm sure she has the cold I had last week and I know how crummy she feels. Her little eyes are constantly watering and forming little tears. Bless her heart.

Aside from Annabeth's little cold, the weekend was just so much fun. When I was feeling really bad one day last week and both my kids were really needy, I was about to explode. I felt like I had lost all my coping skills and I desperately wanted to get away to somewhere beautiful. (Hello, hormones. I wasn't really missing you.) I knew how ridiculous these feelings were, but I couldn't shake them. In light of how I felt that day, I considered this mini-vacay to Conroe, this wonderful and unexpected blessing, to be a very undeserved gift from my Father. What a great shot in the arm. Thank you Jennifer and family. We are still smiling from all the fun we had!

This is serious business.



Wheeeee!



Boys.



Sabrina, did you ever imagine this outfit you made being accessorized with a PFD?



Here's that cute outfit without the lifesaving device attached. So cute! Annabeth loved Miss Kimmie.



Bless Clumsy the Worm's heart. It's hard to be at the bottom of the food chain.



I love this pic of my Hubs.



Look what Mr. Erin found!



Jackson's first fishing pole.



If anyone can look manly with a kids "Cars" fishing pole, it's my husband.