A Half-Assed Attempt at Reunion

Hey gang.

You guys remember last year when my mom took the girls up to the Community of Christ Campgrounds in Sanford for Reunion?  She had them for, like, four or five days, and they got to camp out in Mom's pop-up camper and run around the grounds, just like my brothers and I did every summer for the duration of my childhood.

Abby's about as bad as her mom when it comes to selfies. . .

Well, this year, Mom once again extended the offer to host the girls up at Reunion, and once again Kris and I were totally supportive.  The girls get a week of camping out and running around the quasi-outdoors with kids their own age, in a positive enriching environment that's loaded with kid-friendly activities and three healthy meals a day.  Kris and I get a week off of parenting.  Everybody wins.

(Each kid brought their own cameras again this year.)

Alas, this year didn't go as smoothly as last year.  Abby only made it two days before she started asking Mom if she could go home.  Alayna had made a couple friends, and Abby - although their were plenty of kids there her own age - only wanted to hang out with her sister and the older crowd.  When she was ignored and ultimately rebuked in these efforts, she unleashed her Hough temper and Hulked out on all those around her. 

The bickering sister thing, while old news to Kris and I, is relatively new to my mom, who raised three boys.  It takes some definite getting used to, I guess, 'cause I don't think Mom could've packed up Abby's things fast enough.  I ended up picking Abby up late in the morning of Day 3, and picked up Alayna the following evening.

Good times.

Anyway, here's a quick look at this year's briefer-than-usual Reunion. . .
 

Can you tell Dad is excited to ship his kids off to camp for a week?

The kid looks possessed.

Their friend from last year - I forget her name - was a frequent visitor to the camper.  They hung out with her most of the time.

They took a lot of poorly-framed pictures like this, too.  Seriously - how hard is it to take four steps to the left to photograph the tent without the f***ing tree blocking your view?

Grandma, working on church stuff.  As usual.

Again, Photography 101.  If the kid wanted to photograph the shower house, they should have walked a little closer to the building.  Perhaps shot it from a 45 degree angle, I don't know.  I need to have a sit-down with my children, this sorta shit is unacceptable.

Seriously - what the hell is going on here?

This kid had a hand-me-down iPhone, and happens to be in Alayna's grade.  You can imagine how fervently the Cannonball pushed the phone thing when we picked her up.

Abby recorded a ten-minute Fingerling production on her camera.  It's the creepiest thing I've ever seen.

Hanging out in one of the quonset huts while Grandma sets up her class stuff.

Dueling cameras.

The girls created a skit with their friend - completely on their own, without prompting - and performed it at the Reunion Talent Show.  They wrote a script, practiced their lines, and then acted it out in front of the audience.  I'm pissed no one thought to record it, but I heard it was really good.

Decorating bird houses with Grandma during arts and crafts time.  

- Brian

Eight Point Lake '17, Pt. I

Hey guys,

We've been looking forward to this week since School let out a month ago:  our annual family vacation on Eight Point Lake. We've mentioned this a time or two before, if you'll recall.  This week of boating, fishing, tubing, Cagafuego-ing, and otherwise not working is without a doubt the highlight of my summer.

This year was back to the usual after last year's more muted affair:  more siblings and their respective families were on hand, the weather was better, and we were able to see a lot more extended family come up to the lake this time around.  Kris had to work more often than she had hoped, but she was still able to get an extended weekend stay this year, which was cool.  As for me and the girls, we set off for adventure Wednesday morning. . .  

Wednesday

July 19th

"Establishing Headquarters"

Cruising down North Lake Shore Drive, en route to the Cottage. . .

Not at all excited to be heading to the lake for a week.

The Cottage.  Enjoy the hell out of this picture, America:  the mosquitoes this year were HORRIBLE, and in shaded areas like this - even in the middle of the day - they would chew you up alive.  This can be easily attributed to the deluge of rain - and flooding - mid-Michigan sustained over the course of the previous month.  Mosquitoes would definitely be one of two main drawbacks that befell our family this week (the other I'll get to in a little bit.)

The cache of firewood we barely touched this year.  Campfires were hard to enjoy with all the mosquitoes about - we ran low on bug spray fairly early on in the week.

The Cagafuego - I made it a point to enjoy it more this year, as last year I was on Uncle duty pretty much 24/7 and spent more time behind the helm of Brian White's boat than I did at my own.

Like always, the second bedroom served as Hough 2.0 Headquarters this week, as the master bedroom belonged to Dad and Cindy, and the third bedroom - which shares space with the washer/dryer and contains three twin beds instead of two doubles - was once again used for nephews and uncles.

I brought up the mini-fridge again this year, after not doing so last year (a fateful mistake, as I spent way more money than I should've on ice for my coolers. This is definitely the way to go.)

Here's a shot of the usual stash of coloring book and indoor craft activities for the girls we always bring up, year after year, and never touch.  Kinda hard to use a coloring book when you have a lake and a speedboat on hand.

We had gorgeous weather nearly the entire week, so most of our days at the Cottage ended up looking like this.

The girls suited up immediately upon arrival, and took up their usual spot on this yellow, swimming platform (or whatever the hell it's called.)

After swimming for awhile, the girls wanted to go boating, but Brian and the Whites weren't coming up to the Cottage until Friday, so we told them we weren't taking the boat out quite yet.  As you can see, this was met with no small degree of resentment.

While the girls swam in the lake, I put the Cagafuego to berth.  Wiped it out, fit it with an anchor - and a CUPHOLDER - and stocked it with a life vest in case some crappy DNR officer stopped me.

Taking a break from barking at splashing kids all afternoon.  He leads a hard life.

They decided to fix the leaky sink this year, so we had that going for us. . .

Some artwork the girls commissioned for the Cottage.  I'm not sure where theirs is, actually, but they wanted everyone to draw a picture of what they were looking forward to doing during their week on the lake.  The girls each drew a picture of the boats we'd all be using all week, while Kris (top) drew a picture of her favorite, the cottage swing, and I (at bottom) drew my favorite Eight Point pastime:  smoking a pipe and reading in the Cagafuego.

Cindy and Bailey were the only other two up at the Cottage when we arrived, and it'd be just us up there for the rest of the evening.  A nice chill start to what would eventually be a pretty chaotic, busy week.

Back in the water.  The girls were a little more adventurous this year in the lake - and we were a little more relaxed with them swimming without life vests - now that they had completed swimming lessons at Plymouth Park Pool earlier in the month.

A rare display of sisterly affection.

Crazy faces.

Sunbathing with Nana.

Watson attacks splashing water.  For whatever reason, it's one of his all-time favorite things.

Taking a breather.

Taking the girls for a short boat ride in the Cagafuego.

. . . aaand now pulling them in a tube, making the trek around Cape Buoy.

During the duration of our boat excursions, this is where you could find Watson - not-so-patiently awaiting our return to shore. 

Upon returning to port, Abby had a meltdown, wailing that 'we didn't go fast enough.'  She apparently didn't realize that Yours Truly can't row a boat at the same speed as a speedboat.  This kid's a pain in the ass.

After a day in the sun, we headed inside to bathe the girls and wind them down somewhat.

Kris showed up around dinner time, and played a few hands of cards with the girls and Nana.

We're fully stocked at the Cottage with a crap-load of '90s-era board games and puzzles.

After dinner, taking the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood cottages.  We put the girls to bed relatively early tonight, since there wasn't much going on and they had thoroughly wore themselves out after a day full of swimming in the sun.  That, and there was going to be an influx of nephews coming the next day, and we wanted these she-demons well-rested for the ensuing chaos that would surely engulf us all.

Thursday

July 20th
"White People"

I was the first to rise the next morning, as usual.  The benefit of this is that I was able to capture yet another gorgeous sunrise over Eight Point Lake.

The girls get their morning dose of Netflix while they continue waking up and wait for their breakfast.

The Cannonball and her new tablet.

Later on in the morning, once Cindy headed back into town to go to work, pick up Dad (who was returning to Michigan after working out of state), and grab the second boat.

Captain Whitebeard and his ever-enthusiastic crew set out. . . with a very reluctant dog.

Headed out around Cape Buoy once again. . .

(Not sure if she's saluting or scanning the horizon, here.)

Swim Time for the dog.  Whether he likes it or not.

FYI - Watson hates the water.

Heading back to dry land as fast as his pitiful little legs can carry him.

Drying off.

More barking at water.  'Cause our dog is an idiot.

The Whites roll in.  Bradley immediately busted out a swimsuit and fishing pole. . . the Nephew Uniform.

In the afternoon, Brian took the boys out wakeboarding on the lake (and I manned the telephoto lens during spotting duty, as usual.)

Bradley goes down.

Standard Kris face.

I found the fishing pole (at right) in the attic of our old house in Florida, and it's been in storage rooms ever since.  I brought it up to the lake this year to donate to the White's fishing arsenal, as they're all avid fishermen, and I. . . well, I just hate fishing.

Bradley drew a portrait of me at work.  Gotta love nephews.

Another shot of Watson trying to chomp spraying water.  It never gets old.

Dinner of Day Two:  grilled cheeseburgers and dogs.  We ate a hell of a lot of meat this week.

A couple portrait shots, courtesy of Abby and her camera. . .

Remember when I said the mosquitoes were one of two things that were crappy about the Cottage this year?  The other was the Septic Tank, which had overflowed prior to our arrival, filling the bathtub with feces and waste.  Frickin' disgusting.  As a result, we'd have technicians coming out to the Cottage on multiple occasions throughout the week to empty it, and people couldn't pull their vehicles in as far as they usually do (this grassy area, here, had to be off-limits, as that's where the Septic Tank is - definitely inconvenient.)  We had to be conservative with our showers, our toilet use, and laundry, but we made it work.

The Whites rented a camper to stay in for the week, as they'd be the one other family - aside from us - staying up at the Cottage for the duration of the week, and needed the extra space with their three boys and tons of stuff.  This freed up that third bedroom inside for the older boys and their visiting friends, and Bryan Rowley, who was making the trip in from Las Vegas again this year.

Itchin' for a boat ride.

Blake and a big-ass fish. We have, like, dozens of pictures of this.  But here's another one.

First campfire of the 2017 vacation (we didn't have one the previous night, as the mosquitoes were terrible and the kids were too tired for it.)

S'more time.

Sunset on the lake.

Shannon and Abby, in full-blown campfire mode.

Post-campfire viewing of Sharknado 2.  Wouldn't be an evening at the Cottage without some cheesy B-movies with the cousins.  Stay tuned for more. . .

- Brian