Lilliput and the Lake, Day Three

And on the third day, we had a lake party! I have very few friends I am still in touch with from high school, so it is a rare treat to spend time with them. One of the downsides to moving 7 times across three states, and settling in 9 hours from the hometown - long-distance friendships. (boo....) Upside to trips home, mutual friends and blogging? New friendships in the hometown! (Hi Susan!)

The grand total of munchkins that day? Eleven. And all but the three littlest were lining up to do tricks and jumps off the pier. The day held all the fun we needed:

Swan flop by Cole

Fishing, and fish-watching

(see the sliver of white in the water? It's a sand bar.)

Kayaking

And last but not least, the area in which grandmothers excel: snuggling. Mom gets extra points for this one, because it was 97 degrees out. That is love... She started calling Isabella "Wallowby" because of all the lap-sitting and wallowing that child does.

And who do we have to thank for all of this family bounty of nature?

My grandparents, Joan and Jehu. Who would have guessed that, 30 years ago when my grandfather leased this useless field to a company that wanted the sand, a freshwater spring would be underneath? Out of the original 97 acres of farmland he first owned, this was the little field that was chosen. The others were producing tobacco, corn or soybeans. What luck, to find this kind of beauty in an otherwise ordinary area of flat fields and pine trees. I think I rattled on about this to any and all last week... how there was only a sliver of a blue pond when I was a teenager, surrounded by mounds of beautiful white sand. It was special then, and it is precious now. My grandparents have passed on, but they laid the groundwork for a fantastic family place.

And it's only extreme luck that it lies right in my Mom's back yard, giving us something to look forward to at each visit. Day Three, that's a wrap.

We went back to Lilliput replete with sun, sand, wind and friendship.