Jumping In at the Lake

It's premature to say for sure,
but this may end up being my favorite picture of the entire summer.

The lake was great!

As expected, Memorial Day weekend with the Pressleys in Hayesville was absolutely awesome. Jeremy and I first spent the holiday at Lake Chatuge when I was pregnant with Jones. We've been back ever since - a tradition I hope continues in perpetuity!

Part of that tradition is attending the Memorial Day Parade on the square in Hayesville. This year didn't go as smoothly as last - either for the organizers or for us. They got started late, and Jones was in meltdown mode for much of the mid-morning for reasons I still don't understand. He did get to pet some dogs (even a Great Dane, to his daddy's delight), though, and the tailgate seats in our new van got broken in, both of which were great. 

After the parade, we went to lunch at the Country Cottage. The food was awesome ... the wait for it, however, put ME in meltdown mode.  Then, the boys took naps followed by Freddie's first boat ride. Jones has settled into his role as Captain of the Pressleys' pontoon. He sat in his Pop's lap almost the entire time. When he wasn't manning the ship, he was wearing a hooded towel draped over him like Obi Wan Kenobi. The child didn't have a drop of water on him, but he kept wearing that towel, walking around on his knees like he had good sense.  He'd done the same thing in the house earlier in our visit.

For Freddie's part, he hated the life jacket as much as Jones did last year (though we got Jones a less uncomfortable Puddle Jumper this year, he still doesn't love being "vested"). Once he got resigned to the reality of it, though, Freddie settled down for nice naps every time we set sail.

Another favorite lake tradition is going to Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Last year, Jones would stay home with Nan and Pop, while Jeremy and I went to church. This year, though, he went with us, and Freddie stayed home. He did great in the nursery, and I loved having him with us there! They have a really big VBS every year, and Jeremy and I have talked about making it a tradition that we spend VBS week at the lake every year, so the boys can go there.

But I digress.

Here are a few more highlights of our trip:

• Freddie ate his first cereal ... if you call spitting cereal out "eating it." He's been eyeing table food for a few weeks now, so I figured it was time, even though the doctor said they're recommending waiting until six months now (with Jones, they recommended four; why the change?!). We set him in his Bumbo on the table on the porch and fed him oatmeal cereal, mixed with formula. With an audience of five, Freddie didn't exactly love the cereal, but he didn't cry like Jones did the first time, either, so I'll count that as a victory.
• Jones got to "ride" a pit bull.  No. That is not a misprint. And no. I didn't have anything to do with it. Jeremy and his dad were talking to the neighbor's granddaughter. The granddaughter breeds pits, one of whom ... Slayer (brother to "Outlaw;" I couldn't make this up, if I tried) ... was with her. She said she wanted to come and see the boys, so here they all came. As soon as Mr. Pressley said that Ashley was bringing the dog over, Mrs. Pressley and I, knowing what breeds she had, bee-lined for the deck, where everyone was. Though I can surely see the strength of pit bulls - Slayer, for one, looks like an offensive lineman - he was perfectly nice and gentle, obviously well-trained by Ashley, and at no point did I ever feel like any of us were in danger. Still, it was more than a little scary to think about your 19 month old face to face with a breed known for threatening babies! Needless to say, we are NOT considering pitbulls in our search for Jones's dog.

I'm sure there are other things I'd like to remember, but since I can't think of them, I'm just gonna stop and let these pictures do the talking.

Nan was holding Freddie. When Jones saw this, he
insisted she hold him, too, which reminded me of how
my sister and I used to fight over who got to sit beside our
Mayme out at restaurants ... and anywhere else.

They're in the wrong hue of blue, but seriously.
I'm not sure it gets any cuter than
these two in t-shirts and ball caps.

Our wait for food at the Country Cottage
was long enough that Freddie was able
to catch a cat nap.   

Captain Jones & his Crew

Jones has just started to lay like this - to watch TV, usually,
or, in this case, to talk to Brother about something. 

Jones LOVES wearing Pop's hats. He especially likes it when
Pop plops it on his head. Just after this picture, Pop took the
hat off of Jones and put it on Freddie, which Jones thought
was just HILARIOUS.

He's handsome. AND sweet.

See? Sleepy Bear. 

Jones has developed a bizarre interest
in playing with condiment containers
and empty milk jugs. We allow this,
because it keeps him from screaming
while we eat.