Swimming in green soup

I do love the thought of living in a place with lakes. I love the thought of going for walks to just look at the water, reading by the water and hearing the waves, throwing rocks in it and swimming in it, but I have to admit that after having been literally spoiled by pool swimming, lake laps does take some getting used to.


We only got to swim in one twice this summer, once a month ago maybe and the other time last week. The first time, it was painfully cold, but mostly clear. However, the kids had a blast playing in the sand and after an hour of my getting used to the water, I actually got to swim a bit.



It was fun to swim with the cousins that day.


My next swim was in this green sludge. My cousin-in-law Janet (seen above with her kids) explained to me that as the temperature of the lake rises throughout the summer, the algae gets thicker. It was basically like swimming in pea soup. While it was warmer, Emora still screamed the entire time, now due to the nastiness of the experience. Dominique didn't care though and was spotted jumping off the dock while holding on to a loose float pool. That made me nervous. I am glad she has a bit of swimming skills at least, but could relax more if they were better swimmers.


But there was something to swimming out far to the swim buoys that rang with awesomeness. Way out there, everyone is far away, the water is crisp and cool, the hills rise up around me and scream out their beauty as far as the eye can see. It's a feast for the eyes and soul, if you can just swim past the 50 yards of sludge.




We had camp cousins this week which was way fun. We did songs, games and crafts. Jenn took the pictures, so I'll have to try and get some from her. We have also been enjoying special library programs, puppet hour at the Pooh corner and sleep overs. The Wallace's house is one step down from a hazard zone with all the construction, so she and Immy have been staying at mom and dad's with us. It's a cousin party everyday!!!