I'll Have "Stupid Yost Facts for $800 Alex"

"And the Answer is 'January, February, March & December'."

"What is, 'The only months Ken hasn't swum at Grand Beach?' "

"Correct."

Well Cara went (with some trepidation) to Grand Forks with her mother, sister and Margaret for a girls weekend of sorts.  Yes, I know I have failed to be a good husband by not allowing Cara full freedom from her family.  It is truly not my fault though as my nipples are purely decorative and we have yet to migrate Margaret to a bottle.  Why then does this force the stupid opening I have written upon you?  Well, it is because the (older) girls and I went up to the cottage today, and what an adventure it was!

I am always anxious to get to the cottage and preplanned super well Friday night, but as with the best laid plans of mice and men...

Saturday morning I get the kids going, having already promised them donuts at Robin's for breakfast (I have a coupon, it will save time, and for a change I get to treat them to something special) and start packing the van with the new BBQ & mower, the food I had already packed, and the bags the girls chose to pack that morning.  We hit to road, and just past Libau I hear Frances coughing hard, look over and she has thrown up a bit.  Cuss.  No big deal though, I am prepared for this.  I packed a bag the night before with swimsuits and extra clothes.

What?  You noticed that I didn't mention packing that bag.  CUSS, CUSS, CUSS, CUSS, CUSS!!!!

Frances tells me she's doing fine though, and I tell her to let me know if she feels off so we keep going without further incident.  I pull into the cottage lot and all of a sudden the rest of Frances stomach explodes forth, literally 15 seconds before she was to be out of the van.  I think I may have sworn in front of the girls at this point.  I clean Frances off with a bunch of towels and the water I had packed.  Thankfully she had a second shirt on that didn't sustain any damage, and I was able to scavenge Teresa's tights as Teresa had packed a swimsuit for herself.

Thankfully this was the last major issue.  Yes, I know I had no swimsuit so I had to swim in my fancy underpants.  Yes, I know that Rowdy had no leash so I fashioned one from a rachet strap.  Yes, I know that we had to leave the beach early as my kids had no dry clothes to keep them warm, etc...  Regardless we spent time in the cottage, almost three hours on the sand (with Rowdy!), I got a light sunburn and the kids had a great time.  Teresa was falling asleep standing up as we went to bed.  Rowdy can barely lift himself up and Frances is feeling 100%.  All in all a great day.

Tomorrow we go to Narcisse!

Getting a little wet - before I realized she was soaking the tights.

Teresa spent most of her time building sand castles.  Frances broke many of them.  Only a few times did this cause some stress between the sisters.

I saved you the picture of me all wet and half naked.  I am the fleshy dot in the distance.  Today I trained Teresa to take pictures on the iPhone and call 911 on it (I went on the roof, just in case).  So yes, I have now definitively swum in April.  I am still miffed by the March ice...  And today wasn't as bad as some May Longs that I recall.

Frances in her skivvies getting water while Teresa gets some too.  The little bay there actually had a great temperature of water as the sun was hot.  The wind was whipping pretty hard today the girls didn't seem to mind.  I threw the ball for Rowdy almost constantly.  He's dead to the world right now.

Frances smiling with her ladybug friend (look at her cold, cold hand).

Getting ready for Grandpa's visit.  By the way dad, the 2012 skipping stone second is set at 23.  You don't believe me?  Ok, fine.  I had one go for between 7-9, so I'll go with 8.  And I am pretty sure I saw the plover.  I took a picture but it is only a dot...

Too good a picture to pass up.  Teresa ate more dinner today than I did.  It was ridiculous.

The note about the breaking of sandcastles reminded me of two wonderful moments from this weekend that I hope I never forget.  Last night, Teresa thanked God for spending time with daddy, then she cuddled into my arm and said "I love you".  I think she's buttering me up early for her birthday :)  Today, for reasons I cannot recall, Frances hugged Teresa and told her she was her best friend.  I hope these moments help me through the teenage years.