Weekend Recap: 5/25-5/28
This weekend was so wonderful, it was a sweet taste of what’s to come this summer. I loved it all so much. There were definitely moments where I was not having the best of times, but the good outweighed the bad.
It started on Friday, I had Mr. VHS, like I said earlier, I will create a post about it soon, because it was so great and I want to share all the amazing photos one of the parent’s took.
On Saturday, I woke up early, packed up my things to go out to my lake house and we were out of the house by 9:30. I thought we were going to be going straight to the beach when we got there, but I was informed that would not be the case as soon as I got into the car. My parents had hours of chores planned for us, to make the house summer-ready. It was okay, working outside, but it was incredibly hot. SO so hot, creeping up to the 90’s by 11 am. We did a lot of yard work, it’s definitely not my favorite thing, but it needed to be done. We finished up by 1pm and I hopped in the shower and got ready for an open house. My parents had me drive back to Valpo. I only have my permit. Yes I am 18 years old and only have my permit. Can you blame me though, driving is scary! Or maybe I just overthink driving like I overthink everything else. I don’t want to put myself and others into danger. I have trouble trusting others, let alone people I don’t know on the road with a huge machine that I’m still not comfortable controlling.
Anyway, I drove to Valpo. It didn’t go well. Let me just say, I HATE driving in roundabouts. Don’t get me wrong, I know that they are great, and improve the safety of everyone immensely, but I don’t know how to drive through them. The drive into town ended with me in tears, both of my parents yelling, and me storming out of the car as soon as I had parked it. Driving is scary and I’m not good at it.
My mom ended up driving us to the open house after my parents got ready at the Valpo house. The open house was for my friend Megan. I’ve gone to school with her since the 6th grade and have spent countless hours singing with her. It was an adorable open house at the YMCA Pavilion. They had a hotdog stand, a popcorn machine, and a make-your-own sundae station. I definitely smashed everything. TIP: a double-chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream is so so so so good. We left about an hour afterwards, I was getting restless and wanted to go to the beach so badly. They made me drive back home, and that went much better. I’m still not the best at driving and definitely not ready to get my liscense, but I’m trying my hardest.
As soon as I got to our lakehouse I changed into my bathing suit and hopped on the golf cart with my sister. The beach was so nice. All of my oldest friends were there: Adeline, Ricardo, and Kevin. All of their parents were down there, too. It was so nice, these people are apart of the village that raised me, and being with them all is its own version of therapy in a way. It’s not like we talk about any profound things, it’s just so comforting and stress-relieving to be together.
I ended up hanging out with my friends until nearly 1am, which is less problematic than in Valpo since we’re at my lake house with a population of 600. There’s really no danger and my parents trust me whenever I’m with these friends. We’ve all grown up together and would have sleepovers all the time, so they’re pretty much like siblings at this point. We hung out down at the beach, Adeline and I ended up falling asleep on our towel for an hour or so while Kevin and Ricardo caught up. The boys made fun of us for this, but we like to joke that we’re old maids. We like our sleep, what can we say?
The next day, I did my chores and headed down to the beach by 2pm. I’m trying my hardest to get some sun for graduation. We had a big cookout and our friends from Fort Wayne came. It was a pretty chill day. I started a new book, “Eleanor Oliphant is Just Fine.” It’s actually pretty good! I get really fidgety on the beach, since I don’t have service on my phone when I’m down there. But, I personally love it! It forces me to stimulate my mind in a different way, so I always either bring my journal or a book. Gives me an excuse to clear my head in a way.
My boyfriend ended up coming out after he got off of work. He was really nervous around all of my friends, I felt kind of bad. But, I can completely understand. My friends out here are nothing like the friends I have in Valpo. Nick was quick to point that out. My friends out there are incredibly chill and just downright cool. They’re less uptight and so smart. Adeline and Ricardo are at Purdue for Mechanical Engineering and Kevin is an Environmental Science major at Denison, so you know their intelligent little beans. That’s not to say that my friends in Valpo aren’t amazing, these friends are just different than the ones in Valpo. I love them all the same.
We ended up having a bonfire that night. It was sweet and everybody was having a good time. We made s’mores, but didn’t have chocolate, so we used Nutella instead, which let me tell you, it’s a MOVE! So good! Nick ended up staying the night, but do not think it was anything saucy! He stayed in my brother’s room and I had a sleepover with the girls from Fort Wayne. His parents were just really nervous about him driving back alone so late at night, so he bunked with my brothers.
The next morning we all got up around 8:30. ABSR or the Association of Beverly Shores Residents had a Memorial Day breakfast on the beach. Well, it wasn’t exactly on the beach, more like in the private parking lot for the beach. It was cute, we thought there would be donuts, but we were sadly mistaken. All of us grabbed a couple of the mini muffins that were offered and some juice pouches, and walked back to the house to put on our suits. We all walked back to the beach and laid around for an hour while we waited for our friends from Fort Wayne’s brother to come pick them up. We all took a couple dives into the water, even though it was freezing. It was much needed though, the temperature by 9:30 was creeping up to high 80’s. We were only down there for about an hour when their brother arrived and we all walked back to the house. It was a sad departure, but they’ll be back in a couple weeks. It’s just hard considering one of them is like a little sister to me.
After they left, we all started to work on our study guides for our finals. Not exactly the most fun thing to do on a day off, but it was becoming unbearable to be outside anyway. After an hour or two, I made Nick and I a big lunch. While that was happening, Vivaldi was playing, so after feasting and listening to some soothing music we got so tired. We went and sat on the couch with my little sister, and we all ended up falling asleep. I became the pillow, both of them on either side of me. It was cute from the outside, I’m sure. A small girl in the middle acting as the pillow for a tall teenage boy and a small seven year old. We probably looked like a criminally young family. When we all woke up, Nick and I went right back to our homework. He finished before me, causing me to become anxious at the fact he was waiting on me and the urge to go down to the beach overcame me once more. So, I vowed to finish the chapter I was on and do the rest when I came back. So off we went to the beach.
At the beach, everyone but Kevin’s family was there, they usually go to a different beach for Memorial Day and Labor Day to celebrate with their family. We all sat in a big circle of chairs and towels and cooked out once more. We snacked and tanned and joked until everyone but Nick and I had to leave. Nick and I stayed down at the beach and just talked about life and past relationships for a good hour or two before we realized we had to go back. It’s very calming being at the water's edge with someone who you’re very comfortable with. I don’t know, I’ve never felt like this with anyone before. It was sweet, and he commented how we’re like an old couple sitting in beach chairs watching the sunset. He wasn’t wrong.
We finally walked back up to the house and he helped me pack up all of my things. I helped my mom clean up outside and asked if it was alright if I left with Nick so I could get home faster. She agreed and even let John, my brother, come back with us. Nick had aux on the way home and we were soon back to the trivial ways of Valpo life with Alabama Shakes as our soundtrack.
It was a great weekend, and one that makes me excited for what is to come this summer. I am so thankful for my parents for allowing me to call Beverly Shores my home. I’m thankful for everyone who lives in Beverly who have become family. I’m thankful for my brothers for being constantly entertaining, and I’m thankful for Nick for not getting sick of me, even after spending more than 24 hours straight together. It was a great time and one I will cherish for years to come.