Lizards, and horseflies, and mice...oh my!

The 2nd family vacation with Brady is nearly under our belt and by all accounts, it has been a success.  Like any good family vacation, there have been a few hiccups along the way.  The biggest came Wednesday night when we attempted to head to a restaurant across the lake.  Brady was nicely snug in his Moby wrap and we made the 96-step trek down to the dock.  We were ready to go but the boat was not.  After several attempts and much chin scratching, the boat failed to crank.  Luckily, dinner was saved when my mother-in-law thawed the next evening's lasagna dinner.  And more importantly, when Eric ventured down in the boat about 11pm that night, he was bubbling like a school boy when he came back to announce that the boat worked!  Had he not gotten these results, he would have had his first sleepless night since Brady was born.

The boat problems baffled the 4 Hoots men

Vacationing in a house surrounded by trees and a lake, it should be no surprise that we had a few run-ins with some unwelcome pests.  The second day, Brady and I left the rest of the crew down at the dock and came up so Brady could cool down and get some food.  I walked into the house and was greeted by a lizard hanging out in the middle of the living room floor next to Brady's bumbo chair.  As a liberated woman, I thought, "I got this."  I went to the kitchen and fished for something to trap the lizard with.  With a baby on my hip, I felt proud of my swiftness as I covered the lizard with a frying pan.  Swift or not, when you're trying to catch a creature, you should be sure that the container you use to trap it is flush to the ground when applied.  The frying pan was not. I think I heard the lizard laugh at me as he easily slid through the opening and scurried across the room.  It was time to call for back up and for once, I was happy Eric keeps his cell phone attached to his hip at all times.  Brady was not happy about his delayed meal, so I nursed him while (standing and) keeping a keen eye on the lizard.  Eric arrived and also sought the use of kitchen items to capture our uninvited guest.  When he came back from the kitchen with a large pot, the lizard had disappeared.  My mistake for leaving the scene thinking Eric had it under control.  Eric is "almost positive" the lizard went out the door.  Riiight...

The lizard can't find me out here

The next day, Eric and I went to take the kayaks for a spin.  We lugged the kayaks down to the dock and right before I was about to get in, I spotted a mouse sitting in my seat.  After a high squeal (from Eric), we took the paddle and urged the rodent out to the lake.  Last we saw him, he was swimming to the shore, looking much cuter than he did in the kayak.  He and the lizard are probably living together happily in the woods.  We weren't quite out of the woods from predators as Eric got "attacked" by a dragonfly during our excursion, which resulted in him falling out of his kayak.  On the trip, I got an arm workout from rowing and an ab workout from laughing.

Brady's 1st boat ride

There wasn't enough Brady to go around for the week and Brady got used to being passed around to all his loving relatives (which included a grandma, grandpa, aunt, and uncle).  While we were playing Rummy Cube one night, Eric's cell phone rang and he said "hold this" as he emptied the contents of his arms into mine.  "This" happened to be Brady, his first and only son.  Apparently, Peter Gammons was calling, and Eric got a little excited.  

Since I threw in a few low-blows to my husband in this post, I'll try to redeem myself in the closing paragraph.  Have I mentioned what a good skiier Eric is?  And while I may have beat Eric in checkers this week, he beat me in ping-pong...left handed.  For many, a week with the in-laws is torture, but mine are fabulous and I'm not just saying that because they read the blog.  My P90x and kayak workouts were cancelled out by Eric's mom's wonderful cooking and Brady will be bored with me next week after getting loved on all week by so many people.  I'll miss the extra naps.

Eric skiing into the sunset.  Note the beautiful trail.