Stories with Sophie

Make a list. Edit the list. Cross things off the list. Lose the list. Make a new list. Heading out on a road trip. No specific plans, just a destination in mind. Motel reservation made. Load the car. Make room for Chloe (she loves road trips) Too many clothes--not leaving any. Sunglasses? Check. Water bottle filled? Check. Snack box filled? Check. Mail stopped? Check. Blog post written? Check! See you next week!

It's been such a lovely week at the lake. The weather, for the most part, has been lovely. Chloe and I have been able to be outside, playing and taking lots of walks. If I'm not playing with Chloe, then I can sit outside, read and stare at the lake. There have been afternoon naps, golf with friends, lunch with friends, dinner with friends. You're getting the theme here, right? My husband got back to the lake yesterday and got to join in the fun. While being alone is nice sometimes, I'm glad he's back. Things are just more fun with him around. After a busy week at work, he's more than ready for some lake fun. I'm looking forward to heading home for a few days though. I've got some friends to check in with back there!

"The kids want to swim. Care if we come out?" It definitely wasn't a lake day. Strong winds, dirty lake water. Ugh. But we really wanted to see them. I sent the video and said, "How about we come to you?" The girls jumped out of the car to greet us when we arrived. Or maybe they were just excited to see Chloe--because Chloe was sure excited to see them! Then the youngest boys came running. H had a secret that he told me, but not Grandpa because he wanted to surprise Grandpa. He learned to ride his bike without training wheels! The saying "smile a mile wide" was no exaggeration as he rode down the sidewalk showing off for us. Every so often, for the rest of the afternoon, he'd come up and say, "I'm going to ride around the block." And off he'd go. Still smiling. The older boys appeared and we got hugs from them too. They'd been in the tents set up in the backyard. Camping had been the plan, but the winds and possi

Ruth's son, Sam, inspired my post this morning. If you haven't read Ruth's post about Sam's summer to do list, you should hop on over and read it. Here at the lake, we all do have chores to do and jobs to go home to, but while here, most of us have mastered the art of doing nothing. And it's a beautiful place to do nothing. After Sam's explanation, I thought I'd make my own list. Taking Chloe on a long walk along the lakeshore is always a great way for me to do nothing. Especially when I let Chloe take the lead. She loves when I just let her go where she wants and sniff everything in her path. I do have to pay attention to her a little bit, though. She's been known to almost pull me off my feet when she gets a whiff of some critter and wants to go off hunting. Reading is also a great way to relax. My problem is when I read outside I sometimes just put my book down and stare at the lake. There is nothing more relaxing than watching the