My grandpa is 97!

My grandpa's 97th birthday was on Tuesday, so today we all gathered at his house for a birthday party.

The party was scheduled for 5:00, but since he lives on the lake and the kids love to play on the beach and in the water, we decided to go earlier than that, so the kids and i got there at about 2:00. We stopped inside to say hello to my grandpa, and the first thing he said was, "Well, i hope you're not here to swim! Because the water is only about 45 degrees!"

And the water was, indeed, freezing. Absolutely, numbingly cold. But it was a really warm day, and when sitting in the sun, it was hot enough that i really wanted to jump into the lake for a swim. For the first hour we were alone. The kids made sand castles near the water, just close enough to get a tiny bit wet while not getting drenched. I walked out to my calves a few times to cool off.

Eventually my sisters came. Jill and i took a walk down the beach. Jackie dared me to go all the way in the lake. I tried. Katrina, Houston, and i all went in together, but we only made it up to our waists before we had to stop and turn around. It was a weird sensation to be standing in water up to my waist and be completely numb from the waist down, but sweating on my top half.

Most of the family was there, except for my brother's family (because they live in California) and my cousin Betsy's family (because they were camping with a group from church). Juanito and i were in charge of making a cute cake, and Grandpa provided the pizza - lots and lots of pizza. We ate. We talked. We caught up with cousins we haven't seen in a while. It was a good time.