The Houghs: Eight Point Lake '19, Pt. III

(contd.)

Day I

"Cabin Fever and the Great Flamingo Rescue"

The big rain storm that had been threatening us on and off throughout the course of the previous two days finally arrived in the early morning hours, with tiny windows of respite scattered here and there so one could sneak out to take a quick picture of the lake.

Everything was soaked, and two of the girls' floaties - the Swan and the Flamingo - were both missing in action, despite being placed over a dock pole so they wouldn't blow away (yes, the overnight storm was that intense.) We assumed at first they had blown further into the inlet, and would make it a point throughout the day, whenever there was a break in the weather, to go out and look for them.

Killing time while it comes down in buckets outside. Bradley and more of his f***ing magic tricks. . .

Another round of pure garbage rolls in outside. Not that you'd know it by this picture, but it's late in the morning here.

Watson keeps a close eye on a passing flotilla of geese. Just in case.

Bored games.

We should've counted ourselves lucky: most of the lake was without power, but we were miraculously spared.

Chris and Nicole, who usually only come up for one day every year, drove up with their twin boys later in the morning. Seeing how the weather was absolute garbage, though, they decided to hang out for an hour or so and then return tomorrow, when it was supposed to be nicer out.

Cooking with Nana.

Papa and Samwise.

Uncle Bryan tries offering Louis a mushy banana. 'Cause kids love that sorta shit.

Showing Sam (or Louis, I can't really tell) the new boat.

A lazy, blah day in the cottage.

Bring it on, Michigan. . .

This Jungle Cruise-looking boat randomly drove by the Cottage early in the afternoon. Who the hell owns a boat like this?

Kids and screens. Anything to keep them entertained at this point.

Still super crappy out. Just in case you were curious.

Jax sucked at this game.

Christina appreciates my camera flash. You can totally tell.

Teenage boys and this frickin' hand sign. . .

Catching a nap, 'cause honestly what the hell else is one to do? If anything, this day produced some damn fine sleeping weather.

During a brief period of clear skies, the kids went out to fish a little. Fish like rainy weather, or so I'm told. I guess. I don't know, I'm not a fishologist or anything.

More of this.

By this point in time, late in the afternoon, we had all been cooped up in the cottage all day, with only brief moments of respite to go outside and get some fresh air. Dad and I took the pontoon out halfway around the lake in order to look for the missing floaties, but sudden bursts of lightning cut our quest short and we were forced to high-tail it across the lake at top speed in order to avoid being electrocuted. We were also able to take the dogs out for a walk, which was nice 'cause you were able to stretch your legs out a little bit, but, for the most part, this was our day.

The younger adults (I'd say 'young adult' but we're all pushing 40 now) went out onto the pontoon boat to listen to music and have a couple drinks under the boat's canopy, no longer able to stand it indoors anymore.

Bryan and Chelsey ran into town earlier in the afternoon and were nice enough to pick this up for me, knowing that imperial stouts are my absolute favorite type of beer. This one was incredible.

Bryan and Brian grilled us some beer-can chicken for dinner this evening, an annual Cottage staple. All the more appreciated this time around because they grilled in the frickin' rain.

These birds were killed so I could put them in my belly, and I'm 100% cool with this.

The weather FINALLY broke in the late evening, just in time to light a fire and load the boat up for an evening cruise around the lake.

Glad to be out of the f***ing Cottage at long last.

Bryan at the helm for the evening's cruise. Bro Country it is. . .

What the hell's going on with Jill's face here?

The previous storms made for some decent cloud formations for our obligatory sunset pictures. . .

We had the girls keep an eye out for the missing floaties as we made our way around the lake. The game was afoot.

(I like to think I do a pretty good job with these.)

Still on the lookout. . .

Why isn't this your desktop wallpaper yet?

As we approached the far-side of the lake, the girls spotted something bright and pink along the shoreline. . .

After a day's worth of searching, we finally found Christina's Flamingo, caught between a random cottage's dock and boat. The current at this point in the lake was too strong for Bryan to be able to park the pontoon close to the dock without having the it bash against it, so Bryan was forced to pull into the shallows and try and keep the boat in place - going forward and backwards - while I jumped off the front, ran over, climbed the dock, and rescued the floaty.

It was really caught up in there - I was surprised it wasn't punctured.

Nothing short of heroic, folks.

Success.

Victorious, we continued to putt around the lake, keeping an eye out for Alayna's swan.

Storm clouds were beginning to roll in again, threatening us with yet another storm system for the evening, so we sped up a bit and made our way back to the Cottage.