Rest.

There's this scene in the movie Big Fish where one of the main characters is laying in a bathtub fully clothed. When his wife comes in and finds him, by way of explanation, he says, "I was drying out." I've always loved that movie, probably in large part because I have always related so strongly to that one line. It's in my bones, and my name...which is said to mean "keeper of the sea" in Welsh.

Growing up in Southern Oregon, we were surrounded by lakes, rivers, and the ocean (not to mention some awesome public pools). Most of my favorite summer memories involve some body of water...and now, if I spend too much time away from those bodies of water, I start to feel like I'm drying out.

On Sunday, I was feeling restless. Dried out. I suggested going swimming at my parents' house, but they were headed up to the lake up in the mountains where my brother works to have lunch with him. The same lake where I literally spent hours and even days wakeboarding in high school. The same lake where I remember watching the 4th of July fireworks as a kid. The same lake where Justin and I met. The same lake that, despite my love, we hadn't been to yet this year because we have been trying to conserve on gas. I love the lake, and it had been awhile since we visited with my parents. I wanted to go.

I asked if there was room for us to tag along in my parents' car, and there was. I knew that Justin didn't really want to go. There was laundry to be done, grass to be mowed, and a million other things to do at home. As we discussed it in the car, Lizzy was yelling, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE LAKE! I DON'T WANT TO SWIM!" from the backseat. But ultimately, Justin left it up to me to decide. And I wanted to go. I felt dried out. And I was irritated that we had stayed home most of the day on Saturday to clean but still hadn't actually done much. I was dubious that we would actually get anything done that particular Sunday afternoon either. And I was a little irritated that Justin hadn't planned a time for our anniversary date this weekend, and was feeling like if we weren't going to go on that darn date, and we probably weren't going to end up cleaning (again), we might as well go do something fun as a family. So I said, "Let's go."

And I'm so thankful that Justin happily went along with it even though he didn't necessarily want to initially. Even though I was being a little childish and intentionally pestilent in making the actual decision to go. Because in the end, I think that we all ended up having a really good day.

And our sweet little girl who absolutely did not want to go the lake and absolutely did not want to swim? Within minutes of dipping her toes into the water, she was completely soaking wet and yelling "This is the BEST! DAY! EVER!" at the top of her lungs while splashing around the shore.

Sometimes, you just have to say, "Yes, you can get soaking wet, even though you're not in your swimsuit." Sometimes, it's necessary, just like the guy in Big Fish knew that sometimes, it's necessary to get into the bathtub fully clothed. And if that's not something you can understand, then I'm just not sure we can be friends. Plus, I knew we had a spare change of clothes in the diaper bag ;) 

We also got to spend sweet time with my parents, and visit my brother at his work...I've not always gotten along with my brother in the past, but am enjoying spending time with immensely this summer, and it was fun to see what he was doing at work. It was just a really, really good day, all around. (PS-Thank you dad, for picking up the camera when I went to go play with Lizzy in the water...it's nice to be in a photo or two once in awhile! I appreciate it!)

And the water...oh, the water! Truly, the water is good for my soul. Even though I just waded in and didn't actually swim (though now I'm kinda desperate to go swimming for real soon), it still managed to leave me feeling rested and renewed in a way that little else does.

Lizzy was right--it was one of the best days :)  
 It was a blessing, and I'm thankful. 
 

On Swimming

-Yesterday was our first Mom & Me swim lesson of the year. Lizzy loved it, even though the instructor hadn't taught this class before and didn't really know what she was doing--but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to sing kid songs and spin around the pool. Plus, I'm sure the instructor will get more comfortable as the month goes on.

- Plus, I told Justin that it's worth it to me to pay for the lessons just to get her in the water twice a week, and our local pool literally only offers one open swim a week, and it's usually packed to the gills with 9 and 10 year olds who have no regard for anyone else and think it is funny to spray Lizzy and me in the face with a squirt gun. Unfortunately, their parents don't really seem to notice or care. So, considering that we were the only people in the pool at the lesson yesterday, it's worth it for that reason alone.

-However, I do have a question or two that the instructor couldn't answer, so Emily from imperfect (or anyone else who has experience in this area), if you're reading, I'd love to know when I should stop blowing in Lizzy's face before I dunk her? When I asked the instructor, she said, "Wait, why would you blow in her face before you dunk her?" LOL.

-Good News: My swimsuit from last year is now so big that when I would bounce in the water, my bottoms would float up so much that you could see my entire butt cheek. The leg holes are SO much bigger than I need this year, which is kind of awesome.

-Bad News: This means I need to go swimsuit shopping, which I don't think has been an enjoyable experience, ever.