Father's Day

Whew. Another busy day. But satisfyingly so.

Picked up Dad's climbing rose today (a Don Juan--I'm seriously considering getting another one for myself), then went to my grandparents' to say howdy (Dorothy immediately handed me the Maine Sunday Telegram crossword for me to help her with). Then took off to pick up my sister and meet the parents at Crockett's Beach (my FAVORITE beach, which I haven't been to in ages, no idea why, I have GOT to go back soon) to do Father's Day presents. Lynn wasn't able to come up to camp today, since her son was supposed to visit. Haven't heard yet if he actually made it and how that went, hmmm...

I was only able to spend about 20 minutes at the beach before I had to leave to go to church, which went well. Then off to the grocery store, back home to put groceries away and change into capris and off to camp to hang out with Mom & Dad for awhile. Popped back home to bake Mark's birthday cake (and incidentally get a little laundry going, empty the trash, play a little FreeCell), then back to camp for burgers. *Then* back home, water all the outdoor container plants, frosted the cake, X called to see if he could bring the kids home a little early (although by the time they got here it was right on time). They had gone up to Waterville today to D's aunt's house to have a combination Father's Day/birthday celebration for all the dads, Mark & D's aunt, who both have birthdays around now. Apparently there is a pool, which the kids spent the day in, and Mark got a really bad sunburn.

Now, ordinarily this would not be a major point for me, except that when X picked up the kids last night, I made a POINT to tell him that Mark had gotten too much sun that day, and SHOWED him the sunburn Mark had. He said, "Ah, that's not too bad" but agreed to watch it and keep it treated etc.

SO. His idea of taking care of it was to put sunscreen on him, which he didn't have on even two minutes before he dove into the pool (which probably washed it all off 'cause it hadn't had a chance to soak in yet). Didn't even make him keep a shirt on. The kid went bare skin, all day, already WITH a sunburn, and surprisingly enough, burned to a crisp. (of course, with Mark's amazing powers of healing, he'll probably wake up tomorrow with just a gorgeous tan....I absolutely kid you not, the kid has an incredible immune system) I felt so bad for him. He was hurting when he came home. I gave him some ibuprofen (again, X hadn't done that--said Mark didn't want any. Um, who's the parent here?), and he was able to get to sleep. X stopped at his house on the way home so D. could apply some after-sun lotion with aloe in it (I'm horribly allergic to aloe, so I don't have any of that here).

So tomorrow is Mark's birthday, and we're having the party at camp. With swimming. And Mark's got a mega-burn. I'll definitely keep a shirt on him, but his arms and legs got burned a bit, too, so we'll have to see how that goes. He might be shade-bound for the day.

Anyway. Busy day. I really should get to sleep, as tomorrow will be busy also. :D



**later note: Mark's "really bad sunburn" and "burned to a crisp" is a bit of an overstatement on my part. He is not blistered or anything. But it does hurt. It's more a frustration on my part that a simple protective measure such as keeping a shirt on, was not taken. grrrrrr. But it's not a *severe* burn. mk =)

And before I get any comments about skin cancer, I KNOW, I KNOW. My dad is currently dealing with skin cancer (in fact, is having some spots burned off tomorrow). I am aware, thanks. Plus, my mother is hypervigilant.