Fire Starter

On Tuesday, we headed to my parents' lake cabin.

When we arrived, the lake looked cool and welcoming.

My parents have nurtured all manner of plants. 

My Dad was in the hammock, covered in toys. 

My nieces had buried him!

We were planning for our faux birthday party on Wednesday, and Cora helped make the frosting for Grandma's yummy layer cake.

Both Grandpa

AND Cora needed to have ears covered during the mixing of the whipped cream!

Yum yum!

 My dear thoughtful Mom and Dad had prepared lots of the cabin food ahead of time,

and this was one of those meals - chalupas!  Yum yum.  I'm planning to make this on Saturday, when a couple of friends are coming over for dinner and games.  It's a crowd-pleaser because everyone can assemble it themselves!

Here's what I was wearing (sorry for the poor lighting!): 

 top: Target

jeans: INC International Concepts (Macy's)

bag: ABage (Amazon)

As the sun went down, Mark built a fire.

But then he had to go help the girlies get into bed,

and the fire began to struggle . . . 

I couldn't let that happen!

Happily, there was a lot of dry wood around. 

I started stocking the fire with dry stuff in a tepee shape.

 Then I lit some seaweed I had put inside the tepee.

And I blew on it!!!

And then all of a sudden, it burst into flame!!!!

I was proud and happy.

My parents joined me by the fire.

I kept the fire going until Mark came out and could take over.

He and my Mom are the masters of fire building,

but I guess I have learned a few tricks from them!

Over the next few days of sitting by the fire for a few minutes each evening,

I got 15-20 mosquito bites on my back upper thighs and bum right through my pants!  Those are VERY uncomfortable places to be bitten.  I've never been bitten like that in those areas before.

Gorgeous surroundings and family time were well worth the trial of mosquitoes.

The pelicans were headed off to bed, and so did we!

My pretty sheets lured me into a lovely sleep.