The End of Summer

So sad, so true.

What's up, players.

Well, this is it:  the End of Another Summer.

So we ended up doing a hell of a lot this summer, far more than we have the previous few years, and as such this summer flew by in record speed.  No one feels quite ready to return to the Grind of work/school just yet, as there's been zero wind-down from all of the adventures we've had over the last two months.  From Disney World to flooded tents, from youth camps to lake retreats, from VBS weeks to summer classes, we've done a hell of a lot.  And now we have to set our sights on the approaching school year, which will see Yours Truly once more assume his U.S. History mantle, Abby enter the Fourth Grade, and the Cannonball heads off into. . . MIDDLE SCHOOL.

Holy f***ing Hell.

Anyway, August was slower than its predecessors, but we still kept relatively busy:  the weeks were filled with different VBS and community center classes for the girls (and yard work for me), with the weekends were designated outings with our social group of moms and dads.  Almost like clockwork.  We'd squeeze in shopping trips for Back to School here or there, and I had to set up my classroom again, but there were some other random things we did from time to time.

Without further ado, here's what our August - the End of Summer itself - looked like for the Houghs.  Enjoy:

One day Kris and I took the kids out to some local blueberry farm (orchard?) to work picking crops like a couple of field hands.  You know, 'cause Family Fun and all that bullshit.

Kris selects our buckets.

The girls show great enthusiasm for this kinda thing.  At first.

Alayna was funned out after about twenty minutes.  I think that's a new record for her.

I can't imagine picking cotton.  I mean, blueberries are easy to pick and you can eat them while you pick them.  Cotton's sticky and stringy and there are prickers that stab you and you can't even it.  Being a slave in the 1800s would've SUCKED.

One family member refuses to throw in the towel.

Waiting for Mom to check out.

Over fifteen pounds of blueberries (and some jam) later, Kris was finally ready to leave.

Kris puts on her Mom Face during a Back-to-School shopping trip for the girls.  Her and Alayna butt heads on an almost constant basis every year.

Some overhaul was done to the Dining Room and Kitchen this month.  Kris had been wanting to repaint the Dining Room for a few months, and finally got around to doing it (with my help.)  It went from a tan to a Dovetail grey.  I can't tell the difference, to be honest, but the wife is happy.  So there's that.

Ripped out the overhead vent/light to our stove in order to make room for a microwave we had purchased (ours broke earlier in the summer, so we've been living microwave-free like a bunch of Amish people all summer long - it's been Hell.)  Taking this out and reinstalling a new microwave was a pain in the ass, but John came over and gave us a hand.

Happy Wife, Happy Life.  There's a reason that's a saying, folks.

The Great Kondo Purge of 2019 continues.  We've hauled out so much crap  (like this furniture, here) it's ridiculous - I don't think I could've undergone this endeavor a year ago, as I used to be somewhat of a hoarder, but this has completely changed my penchant for 'stuff.'

I wanted to buy some Rough Riders (my favorite cigar) for our camping trip to the Jellystone in Silverlake, so I asked our buddy Brad (a cigar rep who sells them) where in town I could buy some.  He gave me this huge freezer bag full of $10 cigars for FREE.  I f***ing love that guy.

Taking the kids out for an afternoon lunch at Plymouth Park for Midland's Meet Up and Eat Up program.

Watson got stung by a bee in the face this month.  That was kinda hilarious.

Abby, showing off her new backpack.  We splurged a little on the kids' backpacks this year, each one cost about $40 and were legit, 5-star-rated backpacks off of Amazon, but we wanted them to get something that would last more than one school year.  They both understand they're not getting new backpacks for awhile now.

Sizing up bikes at Meijer.  Both kids are in need of new bikes.  I hate how fast kids grow.

We got this bike that someone was getting rid of, and I was able to polish it up to make it look new.  Had to fix the tire and inner tube, but its running smooth now.  It's a 26", mint-green, beach cruiser, so it's too big for the girls and difficult for them to ride (no hand brakes), but c'mon. . . it's a free bike.  You're damn right we took it.

Watson.  Always in your face.

We took Alayna to Northeast towards the middle of the month in order to pick up her school schedule and check out her locker.  She's been so excited to start Middle School and have her own locker, and has been counting down the days until she could get in to Northeast and check it out. 

We were convinced she'd have difficulty mastering her locker combination, so you can imagine our shock when she opened it on the first try.  Apparently locker combinations are her thing.  Who knew.

These are far bigger (and nicer) than the ones my students have at our school.

Sizing it up.

She's a Hough.  What do you expect.

Speaking of Hough-ness, check out this old letter I found from my 3rd Grade teacher as I was Marie Kondo'ing an old tote filled with past school work in the basement.  Sounds pretty legit to me.

More Back-to-School shopping.  Here's Abby trying on some not-at-all-practical women's shoes on at a Marshall's.

Back at Northeast, about a week later, installing some of her locker accessories (white board, pen/pencil caddies, mirrors, magnets, etc.)  The girl does love to accessorize. . . 

I took Alayna and her friend, Christina, up to the Great Lakes Ice Creamery for a cone one afternoon.  Anything for sugar, folks.

Throughout this whole Kondo process, we've had to bid farewell to quite a few things that were hard to get rid of, due to sentimental or nostalgic reasons.  My grandfather's jewelry box, for example, was pretty hard to get say goodbye to, but it wasn't very practical for me anymore (I needed a bigger one with more space, that was of higher quality), so I decided to let it go.

Fortunately, my little brother, Jeff, wanted it, so at least it's staying in the family (which is obviously preferable.)

Abby's bedroom has been getting an overhaul this summer, piece by piece.  She no longer wanted a Star Wars-themed bedroom - she's sadly outgrown the franchise - and instead wants a tropical/beach-themed bedroom.  Kris sold all her Star Wars room decor on Facebook Marketplace and used the money she got from that (which was substantial) to purchase new tropical bedding and some room decor (like the backpack hook, shown here.)  Eventually we're going to repaint this purple accent wall a coral color, and put in a loft bed with a desk to giver her more room.

Making some lunch with our live-in neighborhood kid, Ella.

I've been named a Top Fan for Radio Wasteland, my local record store here in town.  I've been a regular of their establishment since Day One, but this is another accolade I happily accept.  It's nice being rewarded for all of your hard work over the years.

Another Friday, another Fast Food dinner with our three girls.

- Brian

Shanty Town and the Great Flood, Pt. III

(contd.)

Ryan went to check on our tent, which we assumed was fine seeing how we've never had leak issues in all the years we've camped with it.  He unzipped the tent and found a foot-deep puddle of muddy water occupying the front third of our tent.

I rushed in and quickly pulled all of my bags out of the water:  the front third of the tent is where I stored my stuff.  My duffel bag with all my clothes and toiletries, my backpack that had my MacBook Pro and other electronics, my camera bag with multiple lenses.  All under water.

Kris' stuff and Abby's stuff was spared, as they were stored towards the back of the tent. 

While this is good I guess, it wasn't very comforting:  90% of the value of items brought on this camping trip were in my bags, and those bags were soaked in muddy water.

So how did this happen, when our tent is virtually leak proof?  Remember when I said that the rain came on so fast and with such force that it created literal rivers that coursed through the campground?  Well, one of these torrents of water slammed right into the side of our tent, directly into the zippered door at the side of the tent.  While this zipper is seven inches or so off the ground, the water came on with such force that it broke over this seven-inch height and poured through the zipper.  I'm assuming the weight of the water then kept the zippered door farther down and more and more got in.  This would end up being a huge silver lining to this whole shit-show of a night:  our home-owners insurance has shit coverage for flood damage, but this was storm damage, and that is covered.

You can see from these pictures the amount of dirt, mud and sand that was carried along by the sudden onslaught of water. . .

It stopped raining just was we discovered this disaster, and the other guys rushed in to help me salvage what we still could, and begin cleaning things up.  Morgan and Ryan were able to empty most of the water out of the tent by lifting up the corners.

I took a lot of pictures of this entire process, for insurance purposes.  We'd be calling the insurance company first thing in the morning, you bet your asses.

Surprisingly enough, despite being farther down hill (and downstream) from our tent - and standing in nearly six inches of water - this tent had zero water inside.  I was impressed.

The tarps and rugs were shot, but everything inside was fine.  Thank God.  The Johnsons let Kris and the girls crash inside their tent that night, and Yours Truly opted to sleep in the van.  I had about three hours of shitty sleep, but I wanted the solitude.  It's hard to stomach losing $5,000 worth of stuff in a single night.

The next morning, we awoke to the reality of the previous night's events.  We had nowhere to sleep, we had lost about $5,000 worth of stuff, and the girls and I didn't have any clean clothes left (theirs had gotten soaked in the storm, too.)  Kris and I decided we'd have no choice but to break camp a day early and cut our losses, but she still wanted to do the big event for the weekend still:  the Dune Rides.  I had zero interest in doing anything else (I just wanted to leave and sleep in my own bed), so I opted to stay behind by myself and start the long, arduous task of cleaning up our storm-ravaged campsite.

Ru?

Imagine how much fun this was to clean up.  By yourself.

Meanwhile, waiting for the dune ride to start. . .

That's a big-ass chair.

These dune trucks look like giant G.I. Joe vehicles.  All you need are some gun turrets on the side.

Setting off on the dune ride.  Looked pretty fun, buuuut. . . I wouldn't know.

Miles' face says it all.

 Dune buggyin'.

What the hell are those, legs?

Some kind of evil bush, I take it.  Growing right out of the sand like evil bushes do.

I will say one thing, though:  these guys had great weather for this.

(Reminds me of Niger.)

This driver of theirs looks like Wilford Brimley.  I wonder if he suffers from Diabeetus.

Seriously, slap some missile-launchers on the frame and paint it red, white and blue.  Instant G.I. Joe vehicle.

They stopped at some point so the kids could run amok in the sand dunes.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this is what the Day After looked like. . .

All that mud had been carried in when the water surged through the door zipper and left behind when the water inside the tent was emptied.

This took FOREVER to clean up.  Just sayin'.

Our group (minus me.)

Sgt. Brimely loads up his platoon back into the dune truck.

All aboard Carl's Cruiser.

That grass mat was also a total loss - no way of cleaning it up.

Always a comforting sign to see, I'm sure.

After everyone got back, Kris helped me break the rest of our campsite.  We loaded everything up into our two vehicles and said our goodbyes.  The Johnsons offered to keep Abby one more night so that she could attend Saturday night's big kids dance (a 'ball,' so they were calling it), and seeing how their daughter, Ella, and Abby are attached to the hip.  After we left they took all the kids up to the front of the campground for a meet-and-greet with Yogi.

Funny enough, this actually isn't the real Yogi Bear.  This is a guy in a costume.

They'd send us pics via text throughout the day so we could see what Abby was up to.  The kids went swimming a couple times, and even got some prison-appropriate face tats.

At 'the Ball.'  I haven't been to a lot of balls before, but I'd expect one would find a lot of princess-y dresses and shit on hand.  Perhaps crystal drink ware and bedazzled napkins.  I see none of these things here.

Wait, nope - totally spot a kid in a princess dress.  Nicely done, Jellystone.

The next morning, Abby still wearing the only set of clothes she has left.  After a couple days of sleeping outdoors and swimming and not showering, and wearing the same outfit for two straight days, I bet she smelled like pure shit.

One last picture with the kids in front of a gigantor Yogi statue, located at the campground entrance.

Headed home with the Johnsons, after a very fun-yet-very terrible camping trip.  We're still not sure how to process this weekend, but I'm sure this isn't the end of this story - we'll keep you guys updated with all that happens regarding our ruined possessions, insurance, etc.

-Fin -

- Brian