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 possibility of storms changed that. Backyard camping it is. Dads taught boys how to set up the tents. The plan was to sleep in the tents Friday and Saturday nights, but the weather had other plans. No worries though. Everyone had fun playing in them until bedtime.
We spent the afternoon talking. Family happenings, jobs, politics, music, and my favorite, Books! My granddaughters are now reading YA books and it's so fun to share book ideas with them. They gave me ideas, I shared a few with them, and even a couple suggestions from the dads. We had a great time talking about them and why we loved them. I have a few I now have to check our library for.
Finally, it was time for my husband and me to leave. We both sighed as we got in the car. While the weather wasn't perfect, the day itself certainly was.