There is no greater majesty that spotting a wild Junie in her natural state chasing balloons.
One must take great care as not to be spotted less you be implored to "come here a second."
Then she wants you to pop them.
Back inside, Tessa was caring for her baby. June and Tessa played so well together all weekend. They pretended they were doctors and mended many scraped knees. Then they took their babies to school.
While Grandma and Grandpa were at church, the crazy kids stayed behind and blew up 60 balloons to fill Grandpa's truck. We all climbed in, but Evie immediately got back out because the rest of us were acting too crazy and we were intentionally trying to knock balloons out of the car.
I couldn't figure out how to get the windows down until mama told me the trick. You have to physically roll down the windows?!?! What were they thinking in 1984?
Later we got a group shot in the truck. (Where's Oliver?) Bet you never thought you'd have a girl in a bikini on the hood of your car, Grandpa!
Georgie was in a bikini because Aunt Jenni brought up a teeny, tiny baby pool for Georgie to swim in. Everyone was eager to play with her.
We don't often think that Georgie looks like the rest of us kids, but she really takes after June in this picture.
Everyone was lounging in their zero-gravity loungers and enjoying themselves in general, but Iknew something was missing. I made a beeline for the camper and came back with...
...cold Miller Lites for everyone. A little early, don't you think, Henry?
June abandoned the pool and resumed playing wearing only a t-shirt and no shoes. You can imagine how filthy she was by the end of the day.
Things got wild when Uncle Kevin started drinking straight from the 2-liter.
Georgie got in on the action.
Aunt Jenni busted out more ice cream bars. I think we all ate at least 3 each.
Mama wanted to host a 6.0 k Grandpa Celebratory Run, but no one really wanted to jog after that 3rd ice cream bar. So she dragged papa out and they slowly ran down the old railroad tracks before they realized running in Northwest Ohio is hot and boring and someone was grilling brats back at the house. At least they got to see a fox on their run.
This kind of unabashed fun can't continue without consequences. We should have seen this coming as we were all back in Northwest Ohio after a long time being gone. Northwest Ohio has a way of sneaking up on you like that. Things are going great and suddenly a euphoria seeps over you and you think its a great idea to go 4-wheeling on a stone road at night.
Our euphoria peaked when Aunt Jenni grabbed a pair of clippers and declared Uncle Kevin's hair to be much too long. Papa, in his altered state (plus he was eating a brat), stepped up for his summer haircut as well.
With awesome results.
Aunt Jenni, I think you have a future in head shaving. Papa shaved off his mohawk after a day, and has since expressed extreme regret at shaving his luscious, long locks. Mama liked it because it's seriously the first time papa has changed his hair since she met him 11 years ago.
Did you notice that we all were wearing matching shirts? Aunt Jenni bought a kit and made us all shirts for the party. We even dyed a pair of my socks and a pair of Grandpa's underwear!!
The big girls club.
The Tallers pose on the fallen tree. (We told you things get crazy when we're left to our own devices!)
I was the only one to keep my cool and in the end I paid for it. I came down with one of those 1- day fevers. While everyone else was outside playing, I stayed by the front window watching Uncle Kevin and Grandpa chop up the old tree. Later I moved to the bed, which had an equally good view. It was a rough way to end an awesome vacation, but after a good long nap, I was back to normal and we piled in the van and made the long drive back to the south (with a short stop in the 'Nati to see Mister Paul and Miss Susan for the third time on our trip). Now that's what I call a vacation.
Happy birthday Grandpa!
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