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