We made our way back to Montana this summer. If you remember, last summer was our first trip back to Will's home-state in five years. While we were talking about summer plans earlier in the season Will confessed, he missed home and wanted to get the kids back up to the lake. I was happy to go--as long as he did all the planning and prep work. Packing the car was my only contribution to the trip.
Like last year, Will drove out with the big kids and I flew out with Colter.
Like last year, as soon as Will and the kids were gone I started having panic attacks. This is a strange thing about me. I need some help figuring out the root of these panic attacks. I have a book called When Panic Attacks...but I only read it through eyes blurred with tears as my panic is attacking. It hasn't proven to be super helpful. I mostly avoid the house when I am in the throws of these attacks. Being in the almost empty house seems to be the biggest trigger. Saturday was the worst, I finally came home after forcing my baby to be out all day. As soon as the door closed behind me I started to shake. I couldn't breathe...I couldn't see...it was crazy...I was crazy. I put Colter safely in his high chair and grabbed the phone. It was a toss up, call 911 or my sister. My sister won. Through gasps and sobs I told her that I was physically fine but mentally off my rocker.
It was horrible.
My sister was saintly. She talked me through my emotions. She talked me through feeding the baby. I was so consumed by panic I couldn't remember how to feed him--or myself. She shared personal experiences from her own life and her own work through anxiety. I called the right person.
Yuck, that is one unpleasant start to a post about a pretty awesome trip. Sorry.
Once Colter and I were in Montana everything was A-OK. We took the grand tour of the lake front. The kids showed us their sand castles, our tent, the cabin--everything. The whole family was happy to be back together again.
We spent about five days at the lake. Of course, Will is never really on vacation...work had to be done. Will's younger brother, Alan, also works with Will--so he had to work too. This is what work looks like at the lake:
There is other "work" to be done at the lake too. Sand castles must be built. Marshmallows must be roasted. Children and adults must water ski.
It is very stressful...
Much of the real work at the lake involves the boat. Even the kids have to pitch in with the work.
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| Somebody get that girl a cheese burger. If she has to turn that steering wheel her arms will snap off... |
Wyatt proved to be the best water skier in our family. He crossed the wake and was a natural out there.
Lorien hated water skiing. But like many things in her life, her parents made her do it because it builds character. She would like to take a wrecking ball to character.
There was plenty of cousin-bonding going on. Clare and Andrew were attached at the hip. Here they are in a fort they made in the woods.
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| A couple of Hobbits, running barefoot through the forest...drinking soda. |
Most of the kids preferred to be pulled behind the boat on the tube over skiing.
Will and Alan had a baby fight. Will won.
More fun on the "beach".
Clare was nervous the first time she got up on skis. But it didn't take long before she was skiing like a pro. She even let go of the handle a couple of times to wave. Woot-woot!
Even Adell got up on water skis. Sort of.
She kept her little body crouched down on the skis creating a spray of water--up into her face. Still, she went all the way around the bay--getting her face sprayed with lake water.
And...on the last day...I went water skiing too. I am not a water skier. I am not a down-hill skier. I am a cross country skier--in that I went cross country skiing four or five times one winter in middle school as part of a PE unit. I am wicked good at cross country skiing. Water skiing...not so much. Alas, I couldn't properly expound on all the character building benefits of water skiing to Lorien without going once myself.
So, Will and I got behind the boat and off we went. I got up just fine and assumed my "natural" water skiing position...which is almost exactly like Adell's. I hunch over, bend my knees and cry. Then I fell over and got water up my nose.
It wasn't a bad fall so we tried again. I love tempting fate. This time, as the boat turned around one part of the bay I started to cross the wake, lost my cool and fell over. I fell backwards this time and my body was going faster than I anticipated. My legs (still solidly attached to water skis) shot out in front of me and my back-side skidded along the top of the water. The result: an atomic wedgie that would have made any middle-school-80's-movie-bully proud. My bathing suit actually became part of my body for a few seconds...the fish way down in the deeps of the lake were treated to a view of my blinding white hiney as I skipped across the lake.
It was awesome.
I came up from the fall in pain. I couldn't walk or sit down for a couple of days. I will probably never water ski again. Who needs character?
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| Photographic proof of my water skiing. That's me on the left...no, I'm on the right. Yes, that's me on the right--hard to tell when you have the same hair cut as your husband... |
Then, after Will and I skied. Alan and his wife got up on the skis. They held hands.
Then they kissed. Then I cut their ropes and told the driver of the boat to leave them in the lake because I hated them. The driver ignored me.
There was another reason we went out to Montana this summer. Will's youngest sister, Emily, was getting married to a great guy--Kenny. So, after a handful of days at the lake we packed up the van and drove down from Montana to Utah for the wedding.
I really loved this drive. It was fun to do just one part of the three-part road trip Will and the kids did. We stopped at a few picturesque places and played travel games (I couldn't reach the DVD player...).
At the reception the bride's older brothers gave Kenny an affectionate welcome to the family--affectionate for a family of wrestlers. They turned Kenny into a Groom-ata (like Pinata--but more Groomy). Kenny was such a great sport. We thought it was funny. Will's mother did not think it was funny--sorry Judy. My kids liked the Groom-ata but that could have been all the candy talking.
We also managed to squeeze a little visit in with some of my relatives while we were in Utah. My Dad was out from New Hampshire. One of my nephews is going on a mission in November (to New Zealand!). It was fun to see my brothers and their families.
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| My dad is the big guy in the middle. See any family resemblance? |
What a trip!
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