Belated Beach Birthday Party Post

This post is for Reagan. I realized last night that, in addition to not posting anything about the family birthday party at The Ark, I hadn't even put the pictures on fotki. How rude. Here, RayRay travels all the way down from DC, waits patiently all week long for the BDP because we Bairs were in Kanuga, spends super quality time with the babes, sees my flash going off all the time (because, Lord knows, that's what I do), and then never sees the pictures on the web. "What could have happened?", she wonders. "Perhaps Kak has been kidnapped or her computer has blown up, or all of her fingers were cut off, because certainly, those are the only things that would keep her from posting those pictures that she knows I want to see." I imagine she was in a state of near panic and worry over what my fate might be. But then, in September, she checked fotki and was crestfallen. "What is this? She has posted pictures from Hartsville? But that was long after the family BDP. What has happened? Is Kak deliberatley trying to be mean to me? Why is she taunting me with these pictures I care nothing about? WHERE ARE THE PICTURES OF THE BABES!?!" Oh, Reagan, a million and one apologies. I don't know what I was thinking. It was terrible of me to withold these photos. Please know it was because of no reason other than absentmindedness. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. And now, my captions...

This is a picture I will always treasure. Looking at makes me think of how lucky we are to have four generations together. Here is Grandmother pushing Reeves in the hammock on the front porch of The Ark, and while the hammock may have been replaced, thirty years ago, you could have found her doing the same thing with me, and fifty-odd years ago, she would have been a new mother herself, pushing my mother, Reeves' grandmother, in the hammock on this porch. There is something about this porch. It forces you to relax. And having your great-grandmother push you in the hammock *almost* makes you close your eyes and take a nap.

We have told Poppa that we don't want Reeves drinking until he is old enough to open the bottles himself, but he just doesn't listen. At least he puts it in his sippy cup so Reeves isn't all "in your face" with it. I think it still counts as an open container violation if he gets on his tractor.

Leeze and Reeves. Don't they look precious? What you don't see is that they are precariously perched on the edge of the steps, only taking these few seconds out of their up and down continuous loop to pose for this picture. Me, I'm fine with it until they get up to about the seventh step, then my fear of heights kicks in, and my fanny starts to tingle. Why couldn't Reeves have inherited a bit of prohibiting caution from either one of us?

Well, we finally had a pool put in at The Ark. It's one of those above ground ones. You wouldn't believe how the insurance went up because of it. I still can't believe they haven't fenced it in. Here you see the chilluns performing for anyone who would watch. Oh, and I'm sure any one of us would jump in front of a speeding bullet to save our children, but sit in the sun on a hot day to watch them? You MUST be kidding!

Reeves may not have inherited my fear of heights, which I had inherited from my father (currently being called Pops), but he did inherit Pops' tongue-sticking-out-during -periods-of-deep-concentration trait. I remember, as a child in particular, seeing my dad doing this while hammering nails. It's funny, the things that stick with you.I'm pretty sure this is Big Laura's first appearance on the blog. Congratulations, Laura! I hope it's everything you thought it would be! Don't you just love how Reeves' towel coordinates with her shirt?Finally! Time for the cake! Not so fast, Reeves! There's butter and eggs in that thar cake. Ah, yes, the caramel cake made it's umteenth-hundred appearance. Thank you, Gams, for starting this tradition!

Happy Birthday to you, all you summer Andersons, Phillipps, Moseleys, and Bairs!