Fauxday!!! Plus Water Fun

What is a "fauxday," you ask?

It is the day at the lake cabin where the whole family celebrates our birthdays at the same time!  No one in our family has a summer birthday, but we celebrate anyway!

But first . . . breakfast!

Our morning started out with making Auntie Christie's smoothie!
Cora & Esme were eager to help.

Later in the morning, Grandma and Jillian made the special layered chocolate cake that Grandma has been making forever for birthdays.

Here's the whipped cream frosting!

A goodly amount accidentally gets in the girls' mouths.

And then chocolate frosting!

We went on a nice pontoon ride after the cake got done!

I got a lot of snuggles on the boat!

I tucked Cora's pretty braid into her sunglasses.

This is part of the family on one end of the boat:

Here's the other part of the family on the other end!

This is as close as we got to a family photo this year at the cabin.

I tried to take some selfies with Cora and Esme, and Cora decided to foil my plan by putting her hand in front of the camera!

So I put my hand in front of her face, too!

At one point, Cora declared that she wanted to get in the water RIGHT THERE to "swim".  She went down the ladder to the waist, then got a smirk on her face.  Jillian said, "Did you tell us you needed to swim just because you need to pee?!"  Cora said, "Maybe!" and giggled.  Hahahahahahaha!

Mark and Jillian were good sports and put the ladder in and out for her even though there's a potty onboard!

Esme was enjoying the sun:

Then I got to snuggle Esme a bit while Cora warmed up in the sun.

My with my parents:

Later, Greg and Esme played mancala.  I think Esme might have made up the rules. . . 

After lunch, we celebrated Fauxday!

The girls brought all the gifts out from the gift-hiding places (mostly in closets!)

We received very generous gifts and enjoyed our time as we always do!

I got to help Esme assemble this amazing bus for her Calico Critters!

It's true that I needed a bit of a nap at this point!

Mark was constantly fixing on things, blowing things up, and taking care of his people.

We love you, Mark!

He's a really good driver, too!

And he has a cute smirk and lovely dimples!

Jillian & Cora on the JetSki:

Esme with me:

Cute Esme!

I could see myself in her goggles!

We jumped off the boat into the water and played on the dockie.  It is very cool!

It was a windy day and the waves kept pushing us further away from the boat.  Thanks to Mark's vigilant eyes, we were escorted back safely.  Look at the smiles on those girls!  They love the water just like I do.

Esme got inside the rolled-up dockie!

After baths, it was getting dark, and the bus needed some lighting, so Esme used her new animal flashlights to light the night!

Dinner was yummy, of course!

I hate shepherd's pie with some corn chips.

I couldn't get everyone in the picture, so only my Dad's hands are visible and you can only see a teeny portion of Esme.  I did the best I could!

And then the sun was setting.

Good night!

To The Lake!

Before we headed to the lake, though, we went to CHURCH!

IN PERSON!

What a blessing to be able to be PHYSICALLY WITH other people to sing to God and think about Him!  We haven't been physically present in a church since March of 2020, and it was especially sweet because Woodland Hills is the church we'll be attending when we move to Minnesota.  Who would have guessed a year and a half ago that so much would change?

Minnesota has frequent tornadoes, and every public building needs to have posted severe weather shelter areas.  In this building it is the bathrooms!

The lighting in there was terrible, so I look lumpy and odd, but I'm posting this photo anyway because everyone looks lumpy and odd sometimes!  This is what I was wearing. 

blouse: A New Day (Target)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
sandals: Sketcher's Bob's For Dogs (Amazon)
bag: Scarleton (Amazon)

After church, we headed to my parents' lake cabin!

On the left is the shop, on the right is the garage.  Straight ahead is the cabin!

Almost immediately, I put on my suit and swimming gear to get in the water!
It was HOT and HUMID.  I was happy the water was right there at the bottom of the hill!

These are my OLD prescription sunglasses!  I don't want to be out in the sun with no sunglasses, but I don't want to take the risk that my new sunglasses will end up at the bottom of the lake.

There's the beautiful lake!

Lovely Jillian:

That's me in the blue with the hat:

3 silly girls in the water!

We had dinner outside and enjoyed some cuddles:

Greg drove Esme's car!

He's a very good driver!

Here's a teeny tiny toad!

The cabin from down the hill:

Mark started a fire and I was able to sit there for maybe 15 minutes before I was eaten alive by mosquitos.  I later discovered 30+ bites on my butt and upper thighs!

The fire was beautiful, though!

More fun tomorrow . . .