Wild Man Westphal…

...in the Water.

Fletcher had a water-filled Memorial Day weekend. He got to experience all sorts of new adventures dealing with water. Fletcher has always been bathed in a bathtub only with enough water enough to get him wet, so he has never had significant portions of his body submerged in the water. Well, that was about to change…

The first episode was a lazy Saturday morning when Mommy decided to relax in a fizzy-bath using a Lush (one of our favorite stores) bath-bomb. Once Mommy was all settled in with her candles burning, the Jacuzzi jets blowing, the music playing, and the wine flowing – she was “interrupted” by Wild Man Westphal as he burst through the bathroom door (OK, it was Daddy) and jumped in the tub. At first, Fletcher was not sure what to make of all the water; it was warm, smelled good, and relaxing – so he peed.

He seemed to acclimate pretty quickly and in no time he was splashing around, laughing, and having a good time with Mommy – just like Daddy. Once Fletcher was all wet, we got to try out a few different hairstyles on him – which he did not seem to appreciate. He got lots of soap and bubbles on his head – and was all cleaned up. He then got dried off and fell asleep. Later that day, Aunt Jeana, Uncle John, and Cousin Elijah came by for a visit and a BBQ.

John and Chris went out for a walk with the boys and the Moms went out shopping (for shoes of course). On the walk, Fletcher fell asleep before we got to the end of the driveway – but Elijah managed to take off both shoes, spill his milk all over the stroller, and lose his hat (also by the end of the driveway). It was a nice and pleasant walk, the weather was perfect, and two proud dads talked about the future of their sons.

Once back home, hot dogs were put on the grill and the boys jumped into the pool. The water was a bit cooler than the bathtub (even after cranking the heater to 90 degrees). But, we had a lot of fun. Fletcher has an inflatable fire truck that he seemed to enjoy. Since he is so damn nosey, he got to look around at all the happenings and activity surrounding him. He was especially drawn to the waterfall from the spa area in the pool.

Also, we were able to do an extensive amount of “Rocket Ship Man” in the pool since it took no effort to support Fletcher because he floats like a cork. We did a lot of rounds and Fletcher kicked and splashed all the way. He even managed to swallow a whole bunch of water and then proceeded to cough it back up. Enough swimming - the hot-dogs were ready!!!

The next day, our good friends Scott, Mike, and Ginny met up with us for some good, traditional, Memorial Day Mexican Food. That’s right, we went to the local Mexican restaurant and proceeded to consume large quantities of beer and margaritas. Mr. Fletcher was at home with Frances but we soon returned to do some more swimming. This time the spa was about 105 degrees – and we settled in to relax.

After a little while, water balloons were raining down from the sky – we were under attack. Our neighbors were having their own little outing and went on the offence and cast the first stone. So, we properly returned fire with an arsenal of bottle rockets and roman candles. Every so often a water balloon would land in the pool and not break – these precious items were quickly retrieved and catapulted back across the Cedar Tree screening – but off-course because it is hard to throw a water balloon in the air 50 feet with wet hands after drinking 6 beers. The night finally ended when both sides’ supplies were exhausted. It was a good thing we didn’t run out of beer.

On Monday, the official Memorial Day, we did some more swimming. Fletcher really enjoys the water – when he is not swallowing it. After one swim, Fletcher got up on a table and started to do a poll-dance. He seemed to be dancing to the music playing outside. Good thing no one had any dollar bills.