Breaking Out the Old Skills

It occurred to Troy last week that he hadn't been up on a waterski in over six years and that was just too long a time to go without skiing.

We adore our friends the Burnettes and we get fewer opportunities to hang out with them than is desirable so we have been searching for more chances lately. Miracle of miracles, they have a ski boat. Two birds with one stone! Hang with the Burnettes, and go skiing in the process.

Ok, confession. I was super excited to see our friends. I was super excited to see my family ski. I was so not in the mood to get in a chilly lake and get pulled behind a boat doing something I haven't done in a really really long time and I'm not that good at anyway. I reluctantly put on a swimsuit and hurridly put on pants and a top and hoped the suit underneath would be for emergencies only. Ahhh....wishes do come true. I stayed dry and out of the water all evening long. I might as well have dressed in a pink polyester pants suit, a large sun hat, dark red lipstick and brought a martini with me.  I felt a little like the crabby old gramma on the boat.  Don't splash me!  But you know what?  I loved it so don't judge me.

Troy went first - he did great and I was excited that I caught a picture or two of him revisiting his skier self. He still has the moves, I tell ya. Well, mostly. The photos I took (and instantly posted on facebook and instagram) were shot about 15 seconds before Troy took the first of two wrecks. Or shall I call them underwater cartwheels? Either way....not pretty. SO not pretty that he basically got a mild concussion and spent the rest of the trip leaning over the side of the boat and leaving a trail of seagull treats.

It was scary. He recovered in a few days but....we're hoping to not make a repeat of that event.

Despite the rocky beginning, we did have a lot of fun getting Bitty and Stomper up. Bitty took her first ride on the Burnette's very child friendly double ski that basically sends the kid off the back of the boat without them even having to get wet. Stomper did that a few years ago - I think he wasn't even wearing a swimming suit when he tried it out. She had a great time - both with the skiing as well as her other activities which included teaching the three Burnette kids one of her camp songs (which they sang at the top of their lungs for the rest of the night) and spending some time on-shore playing in thick goopy mud.

Stomper's daddy thought it was time for him to try skiing by being pulled out of the water - an extremely challenging thing to learn. I have such memories of trying to learn how to water ski. Stomper did great - he tried and tried, and we finally tried to get him started from the shallows with Mary B. holding on to him. He did finally get up. It was only for a few seconds, but we count it as a major victory and look forward to trying again soon.

Thank you, dear Burnettes, as always.