StressBash '22

Hey gang.

God, I hate September.  If August is truly the Sunday of the Summer, than it should go without saying that this butthole of a month is the Monday of the calendar year, folks.  And I'll fight you if you disagree with me.

Sure, maybe that's just for kids and us folks in the education field, but still.

I inherited this horse skull for my classroom this year.  Pretty rad.

This September was fairly busy, seeing how Alayna's involvement in school now that she's a Freshman is considerably higher.  Between her drama engagements (she's a stagehand again this year, along with several of her close friends) and Abby's pom practices and performances, our weekdays were filled with shuttling kids back and forth between various schools and performance centers.  Our social calendar took a big hit this month, as all of our friends' families equally took a hit this month with Back to School nonsense.  As such, there wasn't a whole hell of a lot to document this month, and, as such, this month's post is pretty sparse.

But here's some weird shit for you guys to check out anyway. . .

Kris and her coworker, Nicole, along with their kids. . . somewhere.  I forget where this was and what they were doing, because I was not involved.  But here you go anyway.

Kris' church - First United Methodist, downtown - held their annual Fall Kickoff for families towards the beginning of the month, with a bounce house and a ton of other such carnival attractions for kids. . . but then it decided to rain (again) and everyone was forced indoors.  As such, the turnout was dramatically lower than anticipated.

Abby and Gabby square off in whatever the hell these things are.

First fall beer of the season.  It was decent, but I wouldn't go out of my way to order it again.  I'm kinda 'meh' when it comes to most German-style beers.

Both girls are pretty heavily involved in orchestra these days, and have improved quite a bit over the years.  These evening practices are like mini-concerts now.

Abby and Ella - and some other random kid - take a selfie during one of Northeast's first home football games.  As always, the pom team performs their routine during the games' half-times.

Our buddy Mitch recently put in a backyard swimming pool, and had his whole backyard renovated.  He bought some pre-fab gazebo thing from Costco, and needed a whole team of strong dads to assemble.  Enter the Fighting Hellfish. . .

This was fairly simple to put together, it just required a lot of hands on deck to do so - not sure how someone could have managed it with only two or three guys.  It was definitely a multi-day job.

For every guy working, you need at least two standing around with a beer telling others what they should be doing.  That's how dads do construction, folks.

Mitch photobombs once again. . .

The moms came out to 'help', too - thank God they were all there. . .

My brother recently returned home to Midland, buying a house up by the Chippewa Nature Center.  We had planned a Saturday evening hangout over at their place one weekend, but Nora decided to puke up all over the place and they sent us this pic to see if we were still comfortable coming over if someone in the house was sick.  At the time we were like 'screw it,' it's fine, but probably should have passed in hindsight - Chris and I would later both catch whatever it was Nora had, and I'd end up taking a day and a half off of work for it.  Not fun.

Later that morning, I returned to the Bos residence where Tom and I helped Mitch construct the roof panels for his gazebo.  It was slow, tedious work assembling the panels - way more confusing than the initial framing had been.

Mitch consults the Holy Instruction Manual. . .

I had to leave in the early evening so Kris and I could head out to my brother's place for our scheduled hangout, but we had managed to assemble all four panels.

In-laws

As much as I like to give my kids shit for things, they're both ridiculously intelligent (that's from my genes, mind you, not the Farwell side of their make-up.)  Alayna's NWEA scores for ELA and Math are off the charts.

Kris accompanied Alayna to Midland High one evening for a parent/student drama event where the crew assembled props and stage crap for an upcoming play based on The Outsiders.  Here Alayna spray paints some barrel for a scene. . . I guess. 

She also decided to spray paint the soles of her shoes.  'Cause why not.

Abby's old glasses broke multiple times - because we were idiots and allowed her to get wire frames, as that's what she wanted at the time - so this time when it came time to get new glasses, we made sure she got some sturdy-ass frames.

One Friday, before I got home from work, Kris got up on the roof of the house in order to use a foam sealer around the chimney in order to prevent a minor drip from continuing.  Abby, of course, wanted to join her (you definitely won't catch me up there, that's for damn sure.)

Mitch and Kelli had wanted to have their pool up and running at the beginning of the summer so that the friend group could utilize it for months.  Multiple pool parties, grill outs, etc.  Unfortunately, due to labor and supply shortages - and many, many delays - it wasn't until late August that the pool was finally finished, and by then the weather was starting too cool off.  Mitch had tried to plan at least one pool party towards the beginning of the month, but in the days leading up to it the temperature plummeted, and that idea was sadly nixed.  Instead, we just had our usual meat fest with multiple dead animals charring up on various grills and smokers. There was also sushi on hand, which is always appreciated by this group.

Omkar and Mitch hanging out by the grills under the recently-completed gazebo.

A bunch of dead animals.

This is a pretty good cider, right here.  Fall is definitely cider weather.

Abby and I went out to the local Halloween store (which opened up in the old Yonkers area of the Midland Mall) in order to give Abby some costume ideas, but the store sucked and they didn't have much (the Spirit store in Saginaw is definitely better.)  While we were there, however, we did find some sword/shield combos for Chris' twins, Louis and Sam, who are going as knights this Halloween.  So the trip wasn't a total loss.

Kris has been working on sanding down and removing rust from the whiskey barrel that we got from her Uncle Wayne upon returning from Florida back in June. It's one hell of a process, but it'll look pretty awesome once it's completed.

We had asked the girls to empty the dishwasher and put the dirty dishes from the sink into the dishwasher one afternoon after school, when Kris and I would be coming home later in the evening.  Instead, the girls continued to pile up dirty dishes in the sink, and this is what we came home to.  Teenagers suck.

I made this chicken pot pie all by myself, believe it or not.  But it ended up being more like chicken soup with a crust.  Still, it was edible.

At a recent Fellowcraft degree put on by our lodge's Past Masters.  A rare look inside a Masonic meeting (I figured I could share this because our Worshipful Master - the guy who runs our lodge for a year-long term - already did on Facebook.)

One Friday, towards the end of the month, I met Kris and Abby over at the Spirit Halloween store (this year it was over in the mall) in Saginaw.  This is by far the best Halloween store in the area, and we bought multiple new home decorations and a few costume pieces while we were there, including this cavalier hat for my upcoming costume (which you'll see pics of in a future post.)  See ya next month, Internet. . .

- Brian

Eight Point Lake, Pt. IX

What's up, folks.

Well, here it is - the last installment of Eight Point Lake for the Summer of 2022.  We definitely made it up there more than in previous years, as is evident from the previous eight posts that have been made since Memorial Day Weekend.  I think this is definitely going to be our go-to move from here on out:  whenever we have some decent weather, and an open weekend (which, honestly, is pretty rare around these parts), we're going to try and get back up to the Lake in order to make good use out of the lakehouse and its many amenities. 

Dad, the Cannonball, and myself take the pontoon for a spin. . .

This time around, we coordinated with the Whites once again, timing it out so we could get some use out of Brian's boat (the girls would rise up in revolt if not presented with the opportunity to go tubing while up there.)  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as cooperative as it had been on our previous trips this summer, so there was some rainy and dreary weather for the majority of our stay up there, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits (nyuk nyuk.)

So anyway, Internet - here's one, last hurrah on Eight Point Lake. . . at least until next summer.

Enjoy. . .

A hive of bees was discovered above the ceiling of the bottom level of the lakehouse, right above where the girls always sleep.  The kids had been complaining about the number of bees flying around the basement so Dad foamed the holy hell out of the crack the bees kept emerging from.

Upon arrival, Kris went immediately to her floating sanctuary in order to bronze and listen to music.

Back from our short cruise around the lake, the Cannonball and I came out to join her.

The usual mid-afternoon lull.  It had grown cloudy outside, so no one felt like lounging around on the water.  I had killed some time buzzing the kids around on the jet ski, and that had worn them out a bit.

Lazy-ass Hough girls.

Kris gets off her ass (figuratively, not literally) and helps out in the kitchen, shucking corn on the cob.

At one point, I came back outside to relax by the water after dinner and listen to music for a bit.  Trying to get as much out of this lake as possible, what with the school year in full swing now and everything. . .

Kris and the girls (including Sophie, whom Abby had invited along this time around.)

Time for the evening sunset cruise.

Alayna spent the majority of the time we were cruising the lake on her phone, coordinating a last-minute hangout with her friend, Lexi.  She had waited until the last minute to invite someone up to the lakehouse (because God forbid she actually hang out with her sister), so naturally all of her friends couldn't come out to the lake with her and she was forced to be up here friendless.  Then, as we were preparing to set off for the sunset cruise, Lexi called her and said her parents were willing to drive her up here - to Eight Point Lake - all the way from Midland.  There is no chance in Hell I would do something like that for my kids - that's like 45 minutes each way.

Alayna gave her the lakehouse address and stayed on the phone with her for the majority of the time Lexi was en route.

Abby takes a brief nap.

Accidental renaissance.

A legit, purple-y sunset this evening, I didn't touch this one up that much.  Usually the sunsets have an orange hue to 'em, but I'm guessing the dreary clouds and incoming showers had something to do with it.  Then again, I'm not a licensed cloudologist, so what the f*** do I know. . .

Texted this to the dads in our friend group, who were all off hanging out with their own extended families this weekend.  We tried getting the Larsons and Johnsons to drive out here for a day or two, but they weren't quite feeling up to it.

Buzzing the Old Cove. . .

Coming back into port.

Back on shore.  Lexi was dropped off about fifteen minutes after we got back, and Alayna was happy to have a friend up here again.

The next morning, bright and early (-ish), Abby and Sophie busted out the crappy, soon-to-be-replaced kayaks and paddled down along the southeastern stretch of the lake.  We tell them to stay within thirty feet of the docks, because even though it's early and traffic is pretty light on the lake in the morning hours, there's still plenty of dumb assholes about not watching where they're going.

Today's forecast was supposed to be pretty awesome. . . until the mid-afternoon, when the clouds and rain were foretold to sweep in. The Whites were finally getting their asses up to the lake, and were trying to do so as quickly as possible in order to capitalize on the good weather.

Lexi and the Cannonball, ready to bob.

Alayna decides the dog needs a baptism. . .

Not a fan.

Kris and Jill spent the majority of their morning right here.  Which is no shocker.

Jax catches a frog.

Alayna's been wanting one for a pet lately, but she comes and goes with stuff like this, so we're just not going to say anything and in a few weeks she will have forgotten all about it.

After I had whipped the kids around the lake a few times on the jet ski, Brian took over with his boat to provide the ungrateful, little shits with some tubing time.

Abby, Sophie, and Lexi on the tube.

As if anyone on that tube is going to hear a damn thing she's yelling. . .

Kris took this to send to the Johnsons in order to coax them out to the lake - at this point they were still on the fence, the Larsons having backed out the day before.  Ultimately it was in vain, but it never hurts to guilt-trip your friends in order to get what you want.

In a moment of bad parenting, I may have taught my daughter the gang sign for Bloods.

The weather was still pretty decent, so we decided to take a trip over to the Sandbar to let the kids mix it up in the shallow water a bit.

I had some sunscreen on my phone camera lens and had snapped a few pics before noticing it.  My apologies.

Jax's remote control boat, which he had just gotten for his birthday, was a frickin' menace.

(She's thrilled.)

We brought this volleyball along with us for the girls to use.  Alayna wasn't really feeling it, though.

You can probably tell, but I didn't get around to touching up any of these pictures from Day Two of this Eight Point trip.  So I guess y'all are just going to have to suffer.

Putting the nephew in his place.

Abs and Sophocles.

Forced to come back from the Sandbar as the rain clouds swoop in and the temperature plummets. . .

Cousins

Cindy's mom and Jax have birthdays close together, so today was another combo birthday celebration.  Slight difference in ages, here. . . 

Grandma Jones and Jax

Cake and ice cream happens in the mid-afternoon, before dinner, when senior citizens are on hand. . .

Shortly after this, Cindy and Dad ran Grandma Jordan back into town (because, you know, old people need to get to bed at 4pm), and all the kids descended downstairs into their basement lair to digest all that sugar and binge-watch TV.

Cozy and content, these guys clearly didn't need their parents for anything for a little while. . .

 . . . so we decided to take the golf kart around the lake and have a few drinks while listening to music.

We had to take Jax along with us, but he spent most of the time on a screen.  The rain was just a drizzle, so with an umbrella for the wives and the windshield up for Brian and I, you didn't even notice the wetness.

Stopped off at the pole barn to poke around there and kill some time.  Jill wanted to take another posed picture of her 'telling a joke' again. . .

Brian and Jax scale the wall to look down into the cavity about the side door. . . for some reason.

West Coast.

Jill and Kris demanded we back up the golf kart to pick them up so they didn't have to walk through the rocks in the rain.  Couple 'a prima-donnas, right here. . .

We came back to the lakehouse in time for the Greatest Pizza on Earth - Buccelli's - which Dad and Cindy had picked up while dropping off Grandma Jones in Clare.

We may have gorged ourselves slightly.

After dinner, we drove back down to the polebarn - this time armed with my JBL Bluetooth Speaker and a cooler - in order to play some corn hole out of the rain (which was stubbornly persisting into the evening hours.)  After a long, back-and-forth match, Brian and Jill defeated Kris and I by a measely two points.  A solid battle, for sure.

'Sunset' over the lake.  The clouds didn't let up in the slightest, and unfortunately neither did the rain.

Dad felt bad and offered to take the kids out for a late-night cruise, but the rain forced us to cut our ride short (it was so dark it was hard to see the shoreline anyway.)

Couple of dogs, snuggled up for the night - we kept them in our room on the main floor this time around, just to make things easier when letting them out the next morning.  We ended up leaving the next morning, since the weather was supposed to continue being abysmal for the next day or two.  A soggy ending to a pretty solid run of stays up at Eight Point Lake this summer.

 - Brian