Fun, Fun and More Fun

The last two or three weeks have been filled with fun, fun, and more fun in the Cushing household. 

We went up to the lake for the long Memorial Day Weekend.  Erin and Travis came on Sunday afternoon and stayed till Monday evening.  I think this was the first time in close to two years that all five of us had been at the lake at the same time.  As usual, there were things that needed to be done before we could actually relax and have fun -- yard work, some spring cleaning and installing the bimini top on the pontoon boat.  We managed to get all that done on Saturday, though, with some down time for playing in the water and socializing with our neighbors.  On Sunday we took the newly refurbished pontoon boat out for its maiden voyage.  We didn't stay out too long, however, because we immediately encountered another pontoon that had a blown engine and needed a tow back to its dock.  So our first voyage in the newly redone 'toon was more of a "putt-putt" down the lake rather than a cruise.  LOL.  We did manage a longer cruise on Monday.  The weather was fabulous all weekend, and we did manage to get some sun prior to our vacation to Fripp last week. 

On Saturday, June 2, we left for our annual Cushing family trip to Fripp Island, South Carolina.  Ken, Jenn and I were the last ones to arrive and, much to my surprise, a celebration party had been planned in honor of my finishing treatments.  Gale, Ann, Erin and Jenn had planned all this behind my back, and I have to admit that I honestly had no idea.  I've decided that chemo must have killed my intuition too, along with the cancer cells, because in years past I would have figured out or suspected what they were up to, but not this time!!  Here's a few pictures of the decorations and cake.

Cake says "Rachel, an Over-Achieva Diva"     LOL

Table with cake, presents and decorations

This is what I saw when I opened the front door of the house:

Gale's decorative touch:  A pink float with an old picture of my head, arms made out of dowels,floaties and spinners, a skinny mini bathing suit from the thrift store and the words "Rachel's Wave Rider" written on it.



My mouth open in surprise!!

 Despite lots of cloudy and rainy days, we still managed to have a great time.  We ate, ate, and ate some more.  We played games every night.  Balderdash, Rummicube and Golf were the games of choice this year.  We cheered the Alabama women's softball team on to their first National Championship and watched NBA basketball games (I don't even like basketball!)  But the best part of the week was just being together as a family and making more memories. 

As usual, we went to our favorite restaurant about 35 minutes away from Fripp, Dockside Restaurant in Port Royal, SC.  A vacation on Fripp is not your usual beach vacation.  It's a small private island -- about 3 1/2 miles long, no commercialization whatsoever, no high rise condos, just houses and a few condos.  It's a wildlife sanctuary with deer, alligators, all kinds of birds and turtles, marsh areas.  The mode of transportation once you're on the island is either bicycle or golf cart.  There are two or three restaurants on the island, but we've always enjoyed going to Dockside, and this year was no different.   This is a picture of our crew after we've filled our bellies:

Notice the satisfied looks on our faces!!

Kathleen, we missed you at Fripp.  And as always, we are so appreciative of Ken's parents who started the "Cushing Clan" vacations years ago and have provided the means to make it possible all these years.

I continue to feel good and am having no side effects from my daily hormone blocker pill that my oncologist has me taking.  I will be having my first post-cancer mammogram on Tuesday, July 3, but I'm confident that things will be fine!!

Rachel