The weekend with the fun (and funny) family

I decided to go ahead and write the next post before I get in trouble for the Eskimo comments! It’s a short one, mostly to highlight the fun (and funny) parts of our weekend trip south. Friday night my niece and nephew (ages 4 and 6) spent the night with us at Mom’s and spent Saturday playing in the pool, except for the nephew. Christopher’s arm is in a cast and so he just “had to” spend the day playing Lego’s Star Wars on the Wii.

That is, except for when we were all gathered around with Mom’s Wii Fit and Dance, Dance Revolution. It was my first time with the Wii Fit and I have to say… I LOVED it! I agree with people that say if you have lots of weight to lose, don’t count on this to get you there (however, my Mom has lost over 40 pounds in the last few months and would tell you that Weight Watchers will). But for someone like me, already fit and health-conscious I thought it was a great challenge and tool for increasing posture, balance and strength.

My niece, Bethany, is really getting into a fun age, where she’s personable, happy and just plain funny. My Dad told us a story from the week before when Bethany was modeling her princess dress and Dad asked if he could wear it. Ever the diplomat, Bethany informed him that “this dress is probably too skinny for you.”

During my visit Bethany discovered that her grandmother is my mother. It happened as she and I were walking out of the kitchen and I addressed my mother, using that pronoun. Bethany gasped and squealed in her high-pitched voice: “MIMI IS YOUR MOMMY??!!” I confirmed this new and interesting fact and, after a brief pause she then asked (same high pitched squeal): “WHO’S YOUR DADDY??!!” I almost fell down laughing.

It was a beautiful weekend and we felt very safe in the pool, thanks to Diver, the rescue dog. My folks have a gargantuan Chocolate Lab (about 110 lbs.) who cannot sit still when we are in the pool, for fear something may happen. As I lounged on one of the foam noodles, he couldn’t take anymore, dove in, swam out and grabbed the end of it in his mouth and pulled me directly to the stairs (and I suppose to safety in his mind).

We did make it to the theater to see The Dark Knight, at Ryan’s behest. I’m simply going to reserve comment here but I will say that Ryan was not disappointed. Sunday morning was a relaxing one, before we loaded up for our return drive to Jackson, to fly the group back to Knoxville. I’m happy to be back in Knoxville, where the weather has radically improved since my departure!