Finally… as promised- the recounting of Z’s graduation celebration. When we originally discussed the idea of a “graduation party,” he was less than enthused by the idea of the typical backyard bar-b-que to which all of one’s 100 closest friends and family are invited. So, we decided on a different type of celebration.
A weekend with our families at Grandma and Grandpa’s lake house!
Once we had the date selected (which took several weeks of phone tag, emails, and re-scheduling) and the menu planned (which seemed to take even longer with all the debating between the women involved!), we just had to show up and enjoy ourselves.
The guys (Z, my dad, and my sister’s boyfriend, Eric) played some catch before we went out on the boats…
Z’s paternal grandfather gave my parents a tour of the lake on the pontoon boat while the rest of went out to waterski.
Z is really good at it.
Show off.
His dad is really good at it too. He only needs ONE ski!
And so is Z’s youngest sister.
THIS guy on the other hand…
Try as he might, couldn’t get up on the water. That’s my sister’s boyfriend again. And boy, he was persistent. This was on Sunday afternoon, even after he was tired and sore from all the trying that he did on Saturday morning and afternoon! But don’t feel bad for him. He was good at other stuff…
Like making my sister laugh while they were tubing. At least until they conked heads while going over some really rough water and were both thrown from the tube! Apparently his head is harder than hers because she was the one who ended up with a bump and bad headache. (Some ice and excedrin later and she felt better! No concussion thankfully!) And, they’re still dating so it didn’t do too much damage.
He was also the only one able to accomplish THIS all weekend…
Z has been trying and trying to land a fish or two every time we’ve been out at the lake. And Eric, who was extremely dubious about venturing out into the mosquito infested inky blackness that descends on areas with no light pollution to throw a line in the dark lake, came triumphantly back up to the house with this catfish on his line. He was very proud. (And let the poor fish go back into the lake… he was too small to be eaten!)
But back to the boating adventures…
Z’s sisters had fun on the jet ski… and later, Z, Eric and Kaitlin managed to tip it over- twice! Thankfully, no one was hurt and we all just laughed at them.
Jill even learned how to drive it!
Another perk to the weekend was getting to spend Father’s Day with my dad. My brother is away at scout camp as a counselor all summer and my sister is living at school to take classes and work so my dad would’ve been “childless” for the holiday. It was fun that we got to double the celebrations and be with him for the weekend too.
We had a wonderful weekend topped off with some great food (all of the planning was worth it!), a rousing game of “Pit,” and lots of quality time with our families. My sister is graduating NEXT spring… maybe we’ll do it again. 
Next up, some updates on our move and crazy busy life!
Choose Joy,
E
