Eight Point Lake, Pt. VII

 (contd.)

A not-at-all scenic shot of the lake in the morning hours.  Looks kinda Victorian London, honestly.

Ava and Alayna, killing time in the morning doing make-up in the sun room.

Later on in the morning, the sun came back and managed to burn off all the fog and clouds.  Abby had expressed interest in trying her hand at wakeboarding, so Bryan and Brian took her out to the Sandbar to help her learn how to stand up in the water with it.

Bryan was a really good coach throughout this whole process.  He started by yanking her up on the board with the rope himself until she learned how to thrust her body upright as she came out of the water.

Now Brian pulled her with a long length of rope to simulate what it would be like being pulled behind the boat.  They did this a dozen or so times until she had it down.

We were very grateful they took the time to walk her through this - there would have been no way I could have helped her figure this out (wakeboarding being considerably out of my skill wheelhouse.)

Putting the boat into the equation.  While in the depths right off the edge of the Sandbar, Brian would gun the boat and yank Abby out of the water while Bryan helped her up.

It took quite a few times before she managed to get it.

I've uploaded all the short video takes (Kris was on video while I handled the SLR) of her attempts, so I apologize if they're excessive in quantity - I'm lazy and didn't feel like screening every, single one.

Almost there. . .

Aaaaaaand. . . .

She finally got it.

She was pretty hesitant to stand all the way up at first, but she eventually got herself there.

On the struggle bus.

We probably spent an hour or so doing this, but she got the hang of it fast - everyone was impressed.

Eating it once again.  She hit the water hard quite a few times, but you couldn't keep this kid down.

After mastering the wakeboard, Abby decided to take a break and we all headed back over to the Sandbar to hang out for a bit and take it easy.

They attempted to play volleyball for awhile, but that didn't last too long.

The older girls weren't really feeling the water anymore.  We had to get back to Midland in the evening in order to get the girls ready for an upcoming Mission Trip with Kris' church (to scenic f***ing Cincinnati, Ohio.)  Meanwhile, Yours Truly was scheduled to resume Cabin Counselor duties at this year's Junior High Camp at the old Sanford Campground - something I haven't done in like three years.

The bored teenager ventures out to further bug her parents.

The always-popular Sandbar. . .

Ava and the Cannonball

Brian and Kris, not really playing volleyball.

Bradley and Bryan

Chelsey and Jill

After an hour or so at the Sandbar, the day was starting to get away from us, and - despite not wanting to leave the gorgeous lake and our family in the slightest - we had to head back and hit the road.  Definitely sucked having to leave the good times for boring-ass responsibilities like packing, house-cleaning, etc.

Leaving the Sandbar

We decided to squeeze one, last tubing venture in on our way back to the lakehouse - just long enough to beat the shit out of these three a few more times.

Down they go again.

And so concludes another weekend up at Eight Point Lake.  Not our last foray out there this summer - not by a long shot - but the last for a few weeks, to be sure.  We've got a few, big other events coming down the pipeline that we'll have to tackle first - our annual camping trip up to Jellystone with our infamous Midland Friend Group, Brocation 2022, etc.  Stay classy, America - we'll see ya next time.

- Brian