I'm On A Boat

After a good night's sleep in the not-so-haunted hotel, we were up and at 'em for our first day of official vacation. Before we left Hot Springs, we ate breakfast at The Pancake Shop. Ty says during his college years he met Bill Clinton's mom there, but Clintons aside, this place finally satisfied my craving for blueberry pancakes. The big juicy blueberries and from-scratch batter made them sensational. I ordered two, and after only eating half of my stack, Ty lovingly informed me that my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. But one lonely pancake just doesn't seem like much.

Hours later and following a miserable shopping trip to Sam's (why don't guys make shopping lists?), we were headed for the lake. Fast forward a few hours through the unpacking, making of beds and other getting-settled activities, we were finally there.

I can't officially call this a weekend in nature. After all, we were on a six bedroom boat with two working bathrooms. But I can compare the weekend to our own version of "The Great Outdoors," one of my favorite John Candy movies. At night the raccoons came out, and after days of being annoyed with them, on the final night we decided to feed them and watch from inside. Turns out, watching raccoons eat a bag of chips and a can of bean dip is very amusing.

And let's not forget John Candy himself. We had our own John Candy character. Let me introduce Clark. He was full of one-liners: "Turns out, I'm a shootin' star." "I'm allergic to low fives, let's go high." "Why are you scared of that bee, Lauren. You're at the top of the food chain." Hilarious stuff. For our Saturday night glo-stick dance party, Clark pulled out this gem.


A skull and crossbones eye patch. Who could go on vacation without THAT? There were several other wardrobe treats. Lauren's sexy cover-up was a hit.


And let's not forget Walt's P90X muscle shirt.


Sorry your eyes are closed, Walt.

From Catch Phrase to the rooftop dance party, guitar sing-alongs and diving competitions, we had an excellent time. Although at the end of three days, my stomach became quite disgruntled by the slightly swaying boat. By bedtime Sunday, nausea had set in. I rubbed a little Phenegran on my wrists (thanks, Amanda) and passed out soon after.

It was definitely time to go home. My skin was fried and my stomach was done. A week later, I'm still tired and my skin is starting to peel, but all in all, it was a great time with friends.