The Houghs: Eight Point Lake '18, Pt. I

Hi folks.

So it's once again time for our family to bid adieu to the suburbs of Midland and the monotony of our everyday summer routine. To shed our pants that require belts and our 4G cell phone service, our multiple bathrooms and our healthy eating habits.

It's Eight Point Lake time.

Like the last three years, the Houghs set off half-way through the first week of our extended family's two-week reign over the cabin that we've rented annually since 2002. Kris had to work until Thursday evening, so Yours Truly brought the girls up alone on Wednesday to establish headquarters and get in a few great days of bright sun and low-80s weather (the best weather of this year's stint at the lake, actually.)

The first couple days up at the lake, it was just us, Dad and Cindy, and the Whites. Lots of tubing, lots of fishing, lots of sunset cruises, lots of grilled red meat. Thursday evening, Kris would be bringing up Watson, and the following day my step-brother, Bryan, and his new girlfriend, Chelsey, would be flying in from Las Vegas.

Par for the course, really.

So let's kick things off, one more time, with this year's installment of Eight Point Shenanigans. . .

Wednesday

July 18th
"Establishing Headquarters"

Cruising down Northshore Drive, on our way to the cabin. . .

Houghs. Morale high.

The Cabin. The Whites would once again be staying in an RV they rented for the week. Their on-board bathroom would alleviate some of the one-bathroom strain our family suffers from every year up at the lake, but. . . not that much.

For the fourth year in a row, our family of Houghs were designated the second bedroom in the cabin. Our girls were both adamant about not sharing a bed with one another, so Kris shared a bed with Alayna (on the left), and I shared one with Abby (at right.) This sleeping situation this year opened our eyes to the unfortunate truth that our years of staying at the cabin for any prolonged period of time were coming to an end - we're not really going to be able to share a room with middle-school aged girls, as they're becoming more and more particular with privacy and personal space. I sense trouble brewing in the near future.

Like the first and third year, I opted to bring up a mini-fridge to house me and Kris' beverages during our stay, as there's no room in the main cabin refrigerator and it's a total waste of money to constantly restock ice when relying on coolers for a week.

Found a decent spot for our sunglasses this year. . .

The girls love screwing around with these activity books while they're up at the lake. It's pretty horrifying.

A beautiful morning on Eight Point Lake.

Enjoying some sun.

Alayna was pouting over the fact that she hadn't been out on a boat yet. It had been about a half an hour after our arrival.

Cousin hang-out time.

Once I had situated our sleeping quarters to my liking, I hauled the ol' Cagafuego into the water and thoroughly cleaned it out. After that, it was time to start ferrying around random children until the novelty wore off.

This is, arguably, my favorite part of our annual stays up at Eight Point. . .

Abby tries, unsuccessfully, to row the Cagafuego out of port.

Bailey and Nana

Jill and Dad, hanging out by the unofficial music station.

This more or less sums up Alayna this year at the cabin. Unless she was onboard the Whites' boat as it tore across the lake, she was bored out of her mind. She spent a lot of time just lying in bed listening to music. Unlike her cousins, who thrive on fishing and swimming, Alayna would rather just listen to music or watch TV. . . so a week at the cabin can be a trial in patience.

The tablets bought us some time this year, but we don't really like allowing the girls to use them for prolonged periods of time. With the weather being as crappy as it was this year (in the coming days, especially), they had much more screen time than I would have preferred. Then again, being trapped inside a small cabin with dozens of relatives on hand doesn't really leave one with much choice.

Time to break out the Tube. Abby was anxious to get out on the lake this year, and so her first time around was with her cousin, Jax.

(It was a pretty PG affair. Abby would have preferred to go faster.)

This is what I do up here.

Cousin Blake, showing off.

Cindy and Jill

More showboating from the White Boys.

Switching riders

Back in port, later that afternoon.

Bradley caught a huge-ass fish (of some kind, I don't know) at one point, so of course we had to take pictures of it.

Releasing the beast back into captivity.

Abby tries her hand at fishing. She didn't catch shit.

Apples to Apples with a bunch of kids. Total hilariousness ensues.

Brian White brought up a cheap outboard trolling motor he had lying around the house this year, which he fitted to the back of the Cagafuego so I could give that sum'bitch some much-needed speed.

Dinner the first night we were there was steak, which was super awesome.

. . . . of course Blake had to poke at his dad, telling him that 'Uncle Bryan makes it better.'

Evening sets in.

Earlier on in the day, Blake had dropped his iPhone 8 into the lake, where it quickly sank into the muck at the bottom of the inlet where he had been fishing. Brian, Blake and Bradley made an attempt to locate the exact spot where Blake had dropped it, with the idea that Bradley would then dive down and retrieve it, but this plan was soon-after abandoned when it became obvious that Blake couldn't pinpoint the location. His phone now resides in Davy Jones' Locker.

As the sun began to dip down below the tree-line, Houghs and Whites loaded up the boat for an evening sunset cruise - something we had been sorely missing for the last two years. We'd be lucky enough to get one of these almost every single night this year, which was much appreciated indeed - it's one of my favorite things about staying up at the lake.

Cindy, Blake and Bailey would be holding down the fort while we were away. . .

Cousins, ready to set sail.

Setting off. . .

Shorts Brew does a great job with their seasonal releases. I'm a big fan of theirs.

Deep in conversation. But probably not.

The Whites.

We get some gratuitous sunset pictures on these late-evening cruises, rest assured.

Making our way around the lake (at this point in time, we're making our way around the southern-most cove in the lake.)

Abby asks to drive for awhile. This is the sort of stuff you can't really do in a car. Thank God.

More sunset.

Back on shore, we busted out some s'more stuff for the kids (I had lit a campfire before we set off in the boat, so that the coals would be burning hot by the time we got back and were ready to utilize them.)

A big fan of sugar, as usual.

Bradley summons forth the dark forces from the vast realms of the Beyond. . .

Thursday

July 19th
"The Day the Weather Was Not Complete Shit"

A very promising sunrise in the morning. Like Wednesday, Thursday was looking to be another glorious day of awesome weather. . .

Umm. . . . what beach?

Playing Apples to Apples again. Sort of.

Kids are frustrating as hell.

Guess who inherited the infamous Hough Temper?

Late morning laziness.

Order up for lunch. . .

Alayna was bit on the side of the forehead by a mosquito the first evening we were up on the lake, and it quickly turned into a hot, red welt.

Women in the kitchen.

Brian grabs himself an afternoon siesta

Scattered about the cabin yard, one can readily spot the various tools of the trade employed here.

Bradley gets his comeuppance.

Not a wise idea, kid. . .

Aunt Jill ferried kids about the inlet on the paddleboat (which I, personally, am not a fan of - too much exertion.)

Aunt Jill has lost her damn mind. You couldn't pay me enough to take four kids out on that thing. . .

Twenty-some minutes later, coming back in to port after rounding Cape Buoy. Patience totally sapped.

Later on in the afternoon, I spotted the boys (and took more pictures) while Brian whipped them around the lake on their wakeboard.

Bradley goes down. . .

Down again.

Screwing around atop the bow.

Blake channels his inner-Tebow (at the time I thought he was replicating The Thinker, but he had no idea who or what that was. Today's youth culture is garbage.)

Some more show-boating for the camera.

After watching her sister and cousins have a blast on the lake, Alayna built up enough courage to try it out for herself. Usually we have to solicit her for awhile, but this was all on her own.

Brian maintained a fairly fast speed, he just didn't whip them around like he does with his own boys.

Total confidence.

Abby decided to start flossing on the tube after awhile. . .

Carl Winegar and Dad, coming back to the cabin after having hung out over at the Winegar cabin for the better part of the afternoon.

A bit on the fruity side, but still a pretty good sunny afternoon ale.

Aunt Jill to the rescue once again. Abby's hair was a total disaster following her tubing adventure, so after I had her take a shower and start her daily mandatory reading session, Jill offered to help do her hair. I suck at hair.

Kris - and Watson - showed up around 6:30 - 7pm, and once she was settled, we all took the dogs for a walk.

Brian and I were finally able to convince Dad to sell his old Sea Doo Jet Boat and invest in a pontoon boat for the cabin instead. This was a far more practical choice, since the 'Red Boat' - as it's referred to around here - rarely gets used by anyone besides Bryan Rowley. A pontoon would suit our family's needs far better, since we're all to the age where we'd rather cruise around the lake and hang out than be whipped around on a tube at high speeds (we use Brian's boat for that anyway.) Dad took a pic of this pontoon as we walked behind the womenfolk and the dogs, as a joke to send to Brian - you can rest assured they'll both be keeping an eye out for a pontoon for next summer.

An evening dance party aboard the diving platform. Why not.

Brian takes the boys aboard the Cagafuego for an evening fishing trip.

Playing on Aunt Jill's phone (which, Abby repeatedly pointed out to everyone, "has a broken screen.")

Ah, time for another sunset cruise around the lake. . .

(. . . now featuring Kris.)

I bought this on a whim at Meijer shortly before leaving for Eight Point. New Holland - a local Michigan brewer - usually does pretty good with their beers, so I was intrigued with the idea of a 'cocktail in a can.' At 9%, it was definitely on the strong side, but holy crap was this ever good - definitely going to be getting more of these in the near future.