but i rock at volleyball.

we went away this weekend again. i look forward to next weekend, when we are staying home. or at least only going on a day trip.

the weekend was nice though. before we left, we had the queen's parents and two of his brothers over for a barbecue. one of his brothers' partner is pregnant, so i'm collecting a schwack of baby clothes. actually, not a schwack. i'm being merciful. more of a stack.

we lazily got ready saturday morning, and drove maybe an hour and a half to a lake where my mom's inlaws get together every year. their family is about the same size as the queen's, so there were many people and many games. the lake was great; sandy and reasonably warm, if shallow for miles out. there was a volleyball tournament i got signed up to, much to my dismay. i'm not really one for group sports. but it ended up being okay; 'anything goes' except finger-breaking, apparently that's my style. i hit the ball over the net exactly once, and my team won the tournament. could they possibly be related? sure!

we spent sunday night at the next campgrounds down, where two of the queen's brothers (one brother a crossover from friday night barbecue) happened to be camped. it was a neat coincidence, and it was nice to camp with a smaller group of people - after two festivals and a fifty-plus family gathering, i think i may be socialed out for a while.

there was a fantastic thunderstorm that came through. the peanut passed out solid (the louder the better for her; on this trip when we stumbled upon a hard rock/heavy metal wedding, she slept like, well, a baby) so after the thunder faded, three of us went three campsites down to the beach and watched the lightning across the lake. there was a second stormfront brewing up from another direction, but it mostly passed us. so there was lightning in two directions. it was really, really great. the wind was blowing hard and it had rained so much, the rainwater collected in the rut of a path - it looked like a small, still river that lit up with every flash of lightning. i don't know if i painted the picture so you can see it, but it was very raw and beautiful.

we didn't rush anywhere, and we didn't argue. it was an agreeable arrangement. the peanut expanded her fan base, hank held up, the queen and i enjoyed ourselves and the cat lived through it all - and that's all we ask of her.