We took the kids to Petro Beach last night for some swimming, kayaking and playing in the sand. Ty brought the canoe as well so he could do some fishing. We got down there (its just past GTI) around 7:30pm; the weather was warm and beautiful and the kids were excited.
We all took turns on the kayaks, Ty of course headed out on the canoe, then the kids frolicked and splashed in the water. Lena and the two older ones went out to their chests, even Ryder tested his limit by going up to his belly button. Then the two little ones returned to the sand to play and build castles while the big boys stayed out deep and goofed around.
Ryder dug a big hole and proceeded to flood it with water, first calling it "Tiger Lake" and then changed the name to "Crocodile Lake". Gotta put some more water in Crocodile Lake for all the crocodiles that live in Crocodile Lake. I think he said the word crocodile about 30 times in 5 minutes, haha.
Lena was prancing around in the sand when she noticed something on her leg near the ankle, looked like a small piece of grass or reed. She went to slap it off but it wouldn't move. I was sitting there at the picnic table watching all this and it was like it happened in slow motion. She grabbed the thing with her fingers and then suddenly this horrified scream burst out of her, "ITS A BLOOD SUCKER!!!!" O.M.G! She started frantically hopping around, stomping her leg, slapping and pulling at this thing, and it wouldn't come off! Gunnar had reached shore by then and raced for the bug spray, started spraying that leech like crazy but it just would not leg go. By this time Lena was hysterical, still screaming and crying, while bad mommy sat at the table and giggled. (You know, that nervous laughing thing I do. Bad, bad me.) Gunnar had a firm hold of the leech and was pulling at it, and it still would not come off! Finally, it came loose and Gunnar flung it to the ground, where Ryder promptly stomped on it, "That's for sucking my sister's blood!" (Then of course he checked the bottom of his foot to make sure it hadn't stuck to HIM! lol)
Poor little Lena was a shivering, sobbing mess, utterly traumatized by the whole experience. She changed back into her clothes and flat-out refused to swim or get near the water for the rest of the night, even though I assured her the leech had come from the deeper waters she'd walked in, because there were reeds and seaweed over there. To my knowledge, leeches don't hang out in shallow water (maybe I'm wrong though). So she just sat by me and I cuddled her and rubbed her back and crooned to calm her down. See, I'm not such a bad mom after all!
A little while later I asked Ryder to find the dead leech so we could be sure it wasn't still alive in the sand, waiting for a juicy foot to come near. He told me, quite seriously, "No mom, it clawed its way back to the water with its one sharp tooth, and then it fell in and drowned because leeches can't swim, and now it can never be revived." Omg I laughed so hard to hear that, in his solemn gruff little voice. We never did find it, either.
So the boys were out kayaking, I was stuck on the beach with the little ones, one of whom refused to play or swim after her traumatic episode, and it was getting colder and windier, the sun was setting, and I realized Ty had taken the truck keys with him in the canoe. I was wearing flip-flops and my feet were blocks of ice. Ryder had to go poop so we ran to the bathroom there. Afterward, we couldn't wedge his cold wet clammy thick thighs back into his suit, so he just ran back to the water buck naked and played, sand stuck all over his cute chubby butt. By now it was around 9pm, the kids were starving (we hadn't eaten supper before we left because we'd had a really late lunch, but I had a roast slow-cooking for when we returned) and they had already eaten the bag of chips I brought and drank all their juiceboxes. I, stupidly, had not brought along a book or anything to keep me occupied other than my pack of smokes, so that was incredibly boring. Just sitting there shivering, chain-smoking, cursing my hubby who'd taken off across the lake in his canoe and taken the damn truck keys with him.
The boys came back in the kayaks and we all started packing up and hauling stuff back to the truck so when Ty finally returned, we could quickly get out of there. Finally we spotted his canoe heading our way. He was just at the area where all the boats are docked in the water when we saw him stop to take a few more casts. Oh, you can imagine the steam coming out of my ears. It was 9:45 at that point. We all watched as he cast and reeled, then he actually got something. He was so surprised! Then, THEN, oh holy mother of all things awesome and righteous, the damn man over-reacted in his excitement and set the hook much harder than he intended, that he actually managed to somehow lose his balance and accidentally flung himself overboard the canoe! SPLASH!! Ohmygod it was so funny. We were all laughing so hard we almost peed our pants, bent over and clutching our stomachs. He returned to shore in disgrace, haha. Good thing he had the foresight to put his cellphone in a ziploc baggy in his pocket before heading out. Unfortunately, he did not put his wallet in there. Bahahaha.
So anyway, we got home around 10, had a very late supper of tender deer roast, tossed salad, leftover corn-on-the-cob, and spinach. Threw the kids in the bath while the boys took turns showering, then everyone hit the sack.
What an exciting night!
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