Fourth of July Fun

A few years ago Steve and I started the tradition of swimming across our lake on the Fourth of July, and so this Fourth we got out to the lake early to beat all of the boat traffic. Steve just purchased a new triathlon wetsuit that looks like it is meant for an anorexic child. This was his first time trying it out in the water, so we got a good giggle watching him trying to squeeze into his suit. "It's supposed to be tight like this," he insisted. I didn't do much better squeezing into his old wetsuit, which makes me feel like a bloated catwomen. The girls, who were supposed to be our support staff, both paddled out on the windurfing board and we began our swim. Steve quickly began to go crooked because he forgets to look up and spot, while I stuck like glue to the girls, who seemed to be more interested in playing with the water than making sure Mommy didn't drown in the middle of the lake....it shouldn't have bothered me that they quickly began drifting away from my side, except for the fact that I have never gotten used to swimming long distances in our lake. I still get anxious about what I am going to see at the bottom, or what strange thing my hand might brush up against, or what might creep up from behind me and nibble me on my toes. When my goggles start to fog up or the sun shines rays of light through the water my eyes play tricks on me and my imagination takes over....was that a snapping turtle? A giant sturgeon? These crazy thoughts usually mean that I spend 90% of my swim in a state of breathlessness, hyperventilating, fight or flight. Our lake usually gets deeper the further out you swim, but this year about 200 meters out my hands started brushing up against weeds!!!! Ughhh! I swam faster...
By the time I reached the other side I was ready to crawl onto the girls board, but Steve wanted to do somthing new....add a bit more challenge.....swim all the way back! This time I decided to follow behind him no matter how crooked he swam. I stayed in his "bubble field" right behind his kicking white feet, and I found my swim back was much more enjoyable. As long as I could reach out and touch those toes of his my mind was kept from wandering. Now he was the one who felt a little apprehensive about what might get his toes :) We were very proud of ourselves when we made it to shore, and ran home to eat some yummy chicken salad for lunch before taking the girls to the parade in Brimley. Steve and I agreed that there is nothing  better than chicken salad and watermelon!

Below are a few pictures from the parade:

Playing carnival games in hopes of winning a prize

Autumn picking somthing from the prize table

It was really sunny so we made sure we were all wearing our hats

The girls got a ton of candy!

This was our favorite float...The incredible hulk!

Someone threw out popscicles!






After the parade we hit the beach for the afternoon. The weather was perfect! In the evening I went for a run, and even Autumn ran with me a bit. Then, it was off to the fireworks in Brimley. Steve had to work Thursday morning and he wanted to bike in, so he decided to skip the show and go to bed early. But, the girls and I managed to stay awake. The really cool thing about this years show was that you could see the fireworks in the Sault far off in the distance and the giant orange moon came up over the tree line about halfway through.

What a wonderful Fourth of July!