September 9

We spent part of this (hot!) morning at the  lake again, this time with Amber and her kids.

Caleb and Daisy started out playing nicely, getting their feet in the water occasionally. Just a normal day at the lake.

Of course, Lily enjoyed the shade, as she always does.

Amber and her darling children arrived, and the kids all played happily at the lake.

And then, an unspoken sort of dare or competition emerged. The kids went from getting their feet in the water to wading in up to their ankles.

And then they went in and the water was halfway up their shins.

And suddenly the water was up to their knees.

And suddenly the boys' shorts were wet.

And then Caleb was getting his chest wet and Catherine was dipping her hair in the water and Daisy was sitting in the water and... oh, my.

I guess it was a good lesson for me in the pesky ways of peer influence. If one kid is doing it, then it must be okay. And if it's okay for them to do something, then I can do it just a little bit more...

Or maybe it was all my fault, because I was content to sit on the blanket in the shade, chatting with Amber, while my son was immersing himself in water of questionable cleanliness, next to a sign that read, "NO SWIMMING".

Yep. Probably my fault.

And then an already-wet Daisy did this.

And this.

By the end, she was like a cinnamon-sugar donut.

Totally my fault.

Gussie was the only child who obeyed the "NO SWIMMING" sign and stayed out of the water.

I think Daisy appreciated that about him.

Last time we were at the lake, we noticed some children playing on this MacGyver-style see-saw. Caleb and Daisy were fascinated, so today Daisy was excited to try it out.

That was about as far as she got.

She was still pretty pleased about it.

And then, once the children were soaked through, we headed back to our house to dry the clothes and eat lunch. What a fun morning!