Fried!

In spite of the profound lack of volunteers (c'mon, people, why aren't you waiting by your computers all day, waiting to answer my call for assistance??) we went to the Indiana Dunes yesterday and had a blast! I'm completely sunburned all over my back, and the girls are less so, but a little pink. Justine is also fried, and poor freckled Lucy looked like a freckled tomato when I dropped her off. Jane didn't look quite so burned, but she has a less freckly complexion than her sister.

It was 90 and humid, but we were fine in the 60 degree water. It was cold going in, but really nice once we got used to the temperature. It was a little creepy, knowing that a young boy had drowned at a neighboring beach the day before, and that he had not yet been found. But the lake was nice and calm, and we were very safe - we stayed together, and we didn't go in too deep. Lucy and I talked about it, a bit, and I said, "You know, there's risk in everything you do. There was risk in driving up here. But you can't just hide in your house all the time. You could get hurt there, anyway! You just have to be smart and be safe, and take precautions, and be aware of the dangers in everything you do..." I never know with older kids (she's almost 12) whether I'm saying the right thing or not. I don't want to scare them, but sometimes I don't know what's developmentally appropriate to tell them, either. It's much easier with kids 3 and under - those I have experience living with. I feel like I understand how their minds work. Still, Lucy's a smart kid and she didn't seem disturbed by the things I said, so I hope I did ok.

Anyway, enough of that sad talk, here are the pictures.