Forget the wet hug and the cannonball, Paula wanted to go swimming. So we put a life jacket on her, gave her a styrofoam tube (called a "noodle", and Paula's noodle was named "Big Blue"), and stood her up on the edge of the dock.

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Older folks might remember the "Nestea Plunge" that was popular TV commercial years ago.

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Welp, this is Paula's version of the plunge, and she's there someplace in that big splash.

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Kinda looks like a drowned rat, doesn't she?

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Ahhhh... there we go - a refreshing swim.

Paula was willing to try just about anything - and sometimes tried to do stuff she shouldn't have. There was no "quit" in Paula.

Paula's chariot.

How do you get Paula down to the dock? Or more importantly, back up where the bathrooms are? That's Chris, Paula, and Brian in the front. My cousin Ken Jones (from New Jersey) is the guy with hair and muscles. That's me in the yellow shirt (note the lack of comments about hair and muscles). And, my nephew David is supervising.

I don't have any pictures of it, but one of my fondest vacation memories is of the time my sister, Carol, turned to Paula one morning and said "Hey Paula, wanna go for a walk?"

This was probably the same vacation in Virginia shown in the picture above. That part of Virginia doesn't exactly have flat terrain. After Paula gave her trademark "Alright!" response, Carol asked me to come along so I could "help" push Paula up and down the hills (while we were walking, I thought they were mountains).

So Paula, Carol and I went for a walk up, down, and along some roads in rural Virginia. It was a beautiful morning and a wonderful time, with Carol and Paula carrying on an almost constant conversation and Paula as bubbly and happy as could be.

Sarah and Paula

Paula at my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary party. This was during Paula's last trip to Virginia, the summer of 2003.

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