Page 50 of A Little Campfire Blues

At the shore of the lake, well away from where all the splashing would be, Daddy shook out the blanket, and it blocked out the sun. Axis ran under it but didn’t make it to the other side before the blanket fell over his head. Spinning, he got himself all tangled up in it, little giggles coming from underneath the fabric while Daddy chuckled.

“The blanket is for the sand, not my Firefly,” Daddy said as he untangled him.

“Firefly undercover!” Axis giggled as his head popped out, binky dangling from a clip on his overalls. Ohh, smart, I’d forgotten about that. “Uh-oh, cover blown.”

“It most certainly is,” Daddy declared. Now please go stand over by Ro until I get it spread out properly, then we can weigh down the edges with our shoes, and we’ll be all set to play.”

“Yay!” Axis declared, bouncing, which made untangling him take even longer.

Daddy just laughed while he wrestled with the blanket, then Axis spun free and bounded over to Ro, who draped an arm over his shoulder and kept him pressed to his side until Daddy Mack had smoothed the blanket out over the sand. We placed our shoes on the edges, followed by our clothes and the big picnic basket and cooler daddy had carried down from the truck.

“Now can we go in?” I asked, bouncing as I stared at the balls and the spaces between them rapidly being filled with other bodies.

“Now we can all go in,” Daddy declared.

“Ruff, ruff!” Ro barked and took off for the water.

“Wait for me, wait for me!” I called out, legs churning against the sand as I raced to catch up to him, Axis floundering through the sand right beside me.

Into the cold water we splashed with Daddy Mack right behind us. I had my eye on a pink and yellow beach ball when something brushed against my leg, and I yelped and jumped back, lost mybalance, and sank under the surface for a moment. I popped up just in time to catch the pink and yellow ball that was hurtling at my face. Axis stood grinning several feet away, water streaming down his face with a purple ball in his hands.

“You scared me!” I squealed as I waded towards him. “I thought you were a big ol’ water snake or something.”

“Snake!” Someone squealed several feet away.

The cry went up across the ball pit as several littles and pets rushed for the shore.

“There’s no snake,” Daddy Mack called out, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just my Sparkle Butt being overly dramatic.”

“Oopsie,” I said, squirming under the fierceness of his gaze. “Sorry, Daddy.”

“Just watch what you say, Sparkle Butt.”

“I will, Daddy,” I replied, before sticking my tongue out at Axis, who returned the gesture, only to be pounced and knocked underwater by Ro.

“Avenging puppy to the rescue!” I declared as they popped up, laughing.

Axis had to chase his ball, so I threw mine to Ro, who caught it and tossed it back. Axis threw his to Daddy, and soon we had balls flying in a crisscross pattern, occasionally crashing together and forcing us to chase them. It was so much fun.

“Chicken fight, chicken fight,” I declared, tossing my ball aside to try and scramble onto Daddy’s back.

Daddy hooked his arms behind him, giving me the boost I needed to reach his shoulders, where I wobbled, teetering and almost tumbling over his head, until he grabbed my thighs and steadied me.

Axis floundered, trying to climb Ro, until he ducked low enough that Axis could just sit on his shoulders. Like me, he almost tumbled off when Ro stood, but soon we were steady. Daddy Mack waded towards them with me on his shoulders, butwhen I tried to shove at Axis, he just played patty cake with me until I was laughing so hard, he easily shoved me off and sent me splashing into the water behind Daddy.

“Round one goes to Firefly!” Daddy declared.

“No more patty cake!” I declared as I came up sputtering.

“Ready to try again?” Daddy asked once I was back on his shoulders again.

“Let’s get them!” I squealed. “Charge, Daddy.”

I went into battle more prepared this time, tangling up with Axis as we tried to wrestle for leverage, giggling and squirming. I felt him start to slip, but the big meanie wouldn’t let go and pulled me off as he fell in.

“Round two is a tie!” Daddy declared.

“Woof, woof, rurrrrrrffffff,” Roman barked as we shook water all over him.

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