We usually have our annual lake weekends over the summer. But the lakehouse was still under construction in May when we had originally planned our reunion, so we went to the Burkes instead (see prior post on that trip). This weekend, we all met at the newly remodeled lakehouse and had a blast. We still longed to have a night without the kids and definitely will have to work that into our future weekends. And it was hard that we all had to leave on Sunday - we all wished we could have stayed another day together.
The highlight of this year was Baby Elle who was 8 weeks old.
It was fun to experience a different time of year out at the lake with my friends. The lake was eerily calm. We took several boat rides and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. The kids even swam a little - brrrr!
On Saturday we visited a nearby pumpkin patch called Sweetberry Farm. It turned out to be more fun than I expected. The kids got their faces painted, picked out pumpkins, pet some goats, walked a corn maze and made sand art pumpkins.
The lowlight of the weekend was losing Will at the pumpkin patch. It has been awhile since I have been that terrified, but for about 10 minutes when I could not find Will, I was absolutely terrified. Here is the story: I was waiting off to the side holding some seats in the shade while Matt waited in line with Will and Alivia getting ice cream and paying for our pumpkins. Sam, Anna and Shane were with the rest of the kids (Birdie, Catherine and Samuel). All that to say there were plenty of adults. . . it is amazing how quickly kids can get lost. When they all came over with their ice cream, about 5 minutes later, I asked "Where's Will?" When he did not suddenly appear, I began to panic. I instantly thought about how I was going to describe him to the police: "A 2 1/2 year old boy with blonde hair, hazel eyes, wearing a neon green shirt and black shorts." I began to run back to where I had last seen him while scanning the large crowd. When I did not see him, I began to scream his name over and over. John started crying in the Baby Bjorn - I'm sure he could sense my panic. A woman came over to me and asked "Are you looking for Will?" I said "YES!!!" And she said, "A man in a red car in the parking lot called out his name and put him in his car." My heart dropped. I started running into the parking lot and found the car that she was pointing to - it was SAM! He had gone to get their car and saw Will wandering in the parking lot about 20-30 yards away and picked him up. Whew. . .
Praise God that He provided protection (once again) to my sweet son. Once again I am reminded that I am simply not in control. I never had a chance to thank that sweet lady either. Supposedly she could tell something was not right and was following behind Will while he was wandering in the parking lot calling out for Daddy.
All in all, the weekend was great. The kids got along so well. Catherine, Birdie and Alivia slept in one room, and Samuel and Will slept in another room. It was so nice to have more space to put everyone, too. We missed having the Brawners there for entertainment purposes and hope they can come next year. I love you Anna, Red, and Mandy! Thanks for a fun weekend.
