Trip to the Lake

We spent the last weekend in June with Sam's dad and stepmom. They have a campsite on a lake between Fairbault and Mankato. It is a great place to spend a night or two and play on the water. At least, it is if you don't take an 8-month old baby with you. Here's a timeline for the 27 hours we were out of the house:

Saturday 5:30 pm: We leave our driveway (Sam works on Saturdays)
6:30 pm: Anne begins screaming in her carseat for no reason. Blankie is no help.
7:30 pm: We arrive. Anne cries. We set up the pack-n-play and try to get settled.
8:30 pm: Anne eats and lays down. Cries herself down and sleeps
9:00 pm: Anne is startled and wakes again. Mom comforts her, but she won't sleep.
10:30 pm: Anne back down to bed, Mom asleep, Dad galavanting around campsite.
11:00 pm: Dad comes to bed, family sleeps
1:00 am: Anne wakes, Anne eats, Anne cries
1:30 am-3:30 am Anne cries, we drive her in the car, and we end up sleeping in the car with Anne on my lap. Happy fun time!
3:30 am: Anne wakes to eat, cry, and go back to sleep
6:00 am: Anne is up for the day. Dad takes her so Mom can sleep an extra hour

The morning went fine after that; Annie got a good nap in around 10:00 (Do you think she was tired?!?)

Drama began again around 11:00 when we headed out on the boat. Anne HATED her life jacket and cried the whole time she had it on. We discovered that Little Swimmers are not actually swim diapers, per se. How did we learn this? When pee ran all over my lap and down my leg. Apparently the ability of the "swim diaper" to not bloat in water like a regular diaper comes from the fact that they are not actually absorbant at all. They are just a holder for poop, should that be necessary. Eeew.

So, we continued our boating, Anne screaming through a chanel lined with houses on either side and a 5 mph speed limit. She slept, she ate, we swam, she cried all the way back to the campsite. So much crying! Thankfully she slept when we got back so we could play a few games and have dinner before packing it all up and going home again.

Lessons learned: Little Swimmers are gross and useless, babies hate different beds, babies hate life jackets and boats, and babies like coming home for Tylenol and prune juice to make their problems go away.

Annie with Grandpa and Grandma and a rare weekend smile

Anne models her pink swimsuit with Daddy

Driving Grandpa's golf cart

In the evil life jacket (with swim diaper, swimsuit, swim cover-up, and sun hat)

Taking in the lake with Dad

Three generations of Westphalls driving the boat (not really; we weren't moving)