Borthers Assembled, Pt. IV

(contd.)

Day III.5

"Barely Any Pictures Because Brian Hough Wasn't There and No One in the Family Takes Pictures Besides Him"

The title says it all, folks - when I'm not around, nobody bothers to take pictures, so this '3.5' segment is just a mini-installment that not-at-all chronicles the day I was away in the woods camping with my high school buddies. That morning, as I was preparing to leave, the parents requested some sibling pictures on the back deck. Here are the original Hough Brothers (in order from oldest to youngest, naturally.)

Chelsey and Bryan, getting a couple pic in the meantime.

The Borthers.

Chris had shown up in the morning, right before I left, for a day visit (without his family - Mom was watching his kids and Nicole was taking a personal day back in Midland.) Jeff and Carissa left a little later on in the morning than I, giving Kinsely time for one more dip in the lake with her cousin, Abby.

Abby does her damnedest to say cooled off in the oppressive Saturday heat.

The girls 'bobbed' in the lake for a bit today in order to cool off (bobbing being the term for buckling a life vest upside down and using the arm holes for your legs, kinda like a giant, buoyant diaper.)

Kris, Chelsey, Bryan and Chris eventually bobbed for a bit, too. I have no frickin' clue what happened the rest of that day because, like I said before, nobody took any pictures of it at all. This family would be royally f***ed if I ever passed away.

Day IV

"Ashes to Ashes"

Upon my return back to the lake following my camping trip, most everyone had gone home. Kris and the girls had returned to Midland the evening before, and my brothers Chris and Jeff had taken off as well. The Whites, who had left Saturday morning before I had for one of Jax's baseball games, were slotted to return to the lake in the afternoon, however, but in the meantime Bryan, Chelsey, the parents and I had a couple hours to kill. We decided to knock out some of the mandatory tasks that were on our weekend 'To-Do' list first, such as driving Rachel's jet ski over to the boat launch (I got it on the first try, thank you very much) and moving it over to the pole barn. With that out of the way, we set about scattering Larry's ashes around the lake, per his final request: he wanted his nephews to scatter his ashes at certain parts of the lake, and in specific ways. For example, Bryan was to dump part of Larry's ashes while driving a jet ski.

Took a couple attempts at this, because he was going against the natural flow of lake traffic (due to the direction the wind was blowing), and had to wait for a spot to clear up in order to drive in front of our dock (where I was filming and taking pics.)

Next up, was the Sandbar, so we packed a cooler and I grabbed a couple of lime-laden Landsharks to accompany Larry's ashes (shown here in one of the little plastic containers we were all given.)

The Sandbar. Pretty dead for a Sunday.

Yours Truly was tasked with scattering his ashes on the Sandbar, so we decided to do it on the Waite family's side of the 'beach,' as it'd be more appropriate. FYI, the amount of pebbles and rocks on this side of the Sandbar make it extremely painful to walk through here, so he better be appreciative. . .

With the ashes scattered, we kinda hung out for twenty or so minutes and enjoyed a drink in the sun, since we were there anyway.

Dad and Cindy

Chelsey and two Brians.

Bryan and Finley

Heading back to the lakehouse. Mission accomplished.

About an hour or two after we had knocked everything off our To-Do List, the Whites finally showed up. Immediately, it was decided we should take Brian's boat out around the lake for an adult cruise.

Bryan, Jill and Chelsey head to the boat.

Weather was absolutely gorgeous today - perfect lake weather.

Bryan demands a pause on the cruise around the lake so that he can cool off. . .

Man overboard.

Back on dry land, we set about getting dinner around. Well, I say 'we' but I, as usual, didn't help out at all.

Burgers were on the menu for this final dinner up at the lake.

I hate how much burgers flare up with their grease always catching on fire - can't stand grilling these at home.

Jax didn't want a burger, so he decided to eat. . . whatever the hell this is. . . for dinner instead.

Almost done.

More backyard sports as the sun begins to set after dinner.

Before the sunset, we needed to have Brian White scatter his Larry Ashes at the pre-determined spot of the lake while there was still some light out.

Another bad-ass Eight Point sunset.

More pics with this dog.

Brian was supposed to scatter his ashes in front of the old cottage we used to rent out (2002 - 2019.) As you can see in the video, it didn't quite go as planned. . . 

Instead of doing what Bryan and I did - scattered them low to the water, like any normal person would - Brian White threw them up into the air, where a breeze quickly blew them straight into Dad.

He realized he had messed up pretty damn fast.

It was frickin' hilarious, and Larry would've loved it.

There were so many ashes on the windshield of the pontoon that Bryan was able to write 'Larry' on it.

One last sunset over Eight Point Lake. . .

Priming the last fire of the week.

Like Friday night, we hung out here for hours, and slowly, over time, folks wandered off to bed.

(FYI - these are the Govee LED smart lights I got Dad for Christmas, if you'll recall. They work awesome, I have them everywhere in my house, I swear by this brand.)

In your face, Jill.

- Brian

Borthers Assembled, Pt. II

(contd.)

Day II

"Boating, Tubing, Jet Skis, and the Sandbar"

Morning started somewhat late this morning for everyone. We hadn't stayed up too late the night before, but there wasn't a mad rush to get up and around either. As such, this is what passes as a 'sunrise pic' this year. . . taken around 9:30am.

Jill and Chelsey were off on morning runs (seriously, WTF), and us Brians were having none of that nonsense. Instead, we hung out back at the lakehouse and Bryan made us some steak and egg burritos for breakfast.

God knows there was plenty of leftover steak from the night before on hand.

After breakfast, I finally got around to blowing up Kris' raft. The weather was supposed to be cloudy and rainy yesterday, and even by the time it turned out to be pretty awesome, we were all distracted by other crap and no one thought to blow it up. Today's weather was supposed to be even better, with plenty of sun. so I was adamant obout getting as much bronzing in as humanly possible.

A Bloody Mary goes great with this. As does my trusty Yacht Rock playlist, which I had blaring through my JBL speaker on the dock. . . until Jill and Chelsey showed up to join me and made me change it to shit-ass 'Bro Country.'

While the three of us bronzed, Jax filled this 'cooler' holder in the raft with lakewater, then sat down in it like it was his own private pool. Kids are weird.

While we had been down on the raft, the other two Brians had driven in to nearby Evart to pick up a bunch of meat at some butcher in town that's apparently pretty good. Once they got back and everyone had grabbed lunch, we loaded up some coolers and took Brian's boat over to The Sandbar for a bit (one of my favorite things to do up at the lake.)

Jill, Chelsey, and two Brians.

Suns out, guns out.

Beating the shit out of Jax. Mouthy kids get what's coming to them.

More of the usual.

The water level is so frickin' low this year that you can walk out a loooooong way without the water even hitting your waist.

Slainte.

Bryan found a piece of driftwood that he was super proud of - he's adamant about taking it back with him on the plane next week.

Another pull of tequila.

Bradley swings by on the jet ski to say hi.

After an hour or two at the Sandbar, we decided to head back to the lakehouse for some food and to meet up with Kris and the girls, who were arriving shortly (Kris was fortunately able to get out of work early today - originally she wasn't supposed to roll in until 5 or 6pm.)

Three Rowleys.

Tag-teaming Bradley, back at the lakehouse.

Once Kris and the girls (and dogs) had arrived and put their stuff away, we loaded everyone up into Brian's boat for some afternoon tubing. Abby wasn't wanting to tube just yet, so Bryan took her spot on the tube with two White boys.

Hough girls, content with just riding along on the boat for the time being.

Watching kids eat shit on a tube is always a good time.

Talking shop with the older ladies at the front of the boat.

After our tubing venture, we went over to the condo across the street to meet up with Bryan's friend, Brent, and his family, who had just arrived and were sharing the space with Bryan and Chelsey for the next two nights.

This space is going to be a godsend once the next generation - Alayna, Abby, Blake, Bradley, etc. - get older and start bringing up significant others, families, etc. to the lake.

Whipping up a charcuterie board for some mid-afternoon snackage.

Watson and Samson, making themselves right at home. Per the usual.

More dead animals, primed and ready for firing.

We generally don't eat this much meat on a regular basis - we tend to stick to leaner meat like chicken and fish - so after a few days up at the lake eating steak and burgers and pork shoulders and whatever else, we feel pretty disgusting.

Dinner prep and snacking in the kitchen.

Lucy showed up in the afternoon for an overnight visit. She was in town to check out the jet ski that Larry had purchased right before he died (and never got to drive), as well as to scatter his ashes about the lake (per his request.)

Kris enjoyed the raft by herself for a bit in the afternoon, while Yours Truly took the girls around the lake a couple times on Larry's jet ski (which is more or less identical to Dad's.)

While taking it out throughout the day, I noticed that the 'check engine' light kept coming on, so I brought it up to Dad. Brian White overheard this and asked me to go along with him so he could check it out as well. Abby wanted to go along with us, so with Brian driving we took Larry's jet ski around the lake. Brian clearly had intentions on tipping it over - don't ask me why, I think he though it'd be funny - and, sure enough, he kept making hairpin turns until he capsized the son of a bitch, right around the area of the lake in front of the cottage the Waites used to rent. Abby was pissed at first, but we were able to tip it back over pretty easily, and after everyone was able to get back aboard I took over the helm and drove us back to shore. Dad was not pleased, but Brian thought it was HILARIOUS.

While we were getting dunked in the lake, Bryan and Brent were still slaving away in the kitchen getting dinner together.

Another game of baseball breaks out on the lawn - pretty much the norm whenever Jax is around.

Spectators on the back deck.

Kris requested a picture of me in my 'shark' clothing (I had not intentionally planned on wearing the shark shirt with the shark hat, folks.)

The Houghs. Cindy got a couple pics of us on the back deck, seeing how we haven't had a family pic up at the lake in a few years.

Gearing up for dinner.

Siblings.

Abby, Cindy and Samson.

Chelsey, Bryan and Brent, overseeing the final searing of meat.

Show this to your vegan friends, kids.

Glad these guys had a handle on dinner this evening instead of Yours Truly. I can do an okay job feeding my own family, but doing steaks for twenty-plus people? Yeah, that's a bit above my punching weight.

Slicing and dicing.

Brought one of my favorite beers up to the lake this year. Just one of them, as something this heavy and strong you don't want to drink very often, but it's perfect for when the weather cools off a bit (and after being dunked in the lake an hour or so earlier, when Brian tipped the jet ski, I was in soaked clothes and had to change - this imperial stout was a welcome change of pace.)

Uncle Bryan points out the different cuts of meat to Abby.

Feeding frenzy.

They had cooked the steak at various levels of 'doneness' (for lack of better term), so Bryan wanted to make sure the kids were getting exactly what they wanted.

An hour or so after dinner was over and done with, Dad pulled me aside and asked me to get my girls on the pontoon for a 'Houghs Only' sunset cruise around the lake. Lucy was going to be scattering some of Larry's ashes in the lake, and he wanted just 'blood' Houghs on the cruise (. . .and, apparently, Cindy.)

Getting some selfies in with the girls (like Kris usually does) to commemorate the event.

My selfies involve rock locks. I'm obnoxious with them but don't care.

(Technically Abby took this one.)

Badass sunset this evening.

Abby's a huge fan of sunset cruises.

See ya, Larry.

Not pictured: non-Hough Kris.

Lucy and Cindy.

The Cottage the Waites have rented for fifteen or so years.

Alayna, wearing my sunglasses.

Cannonball snapped this pic of the moon with her phone at one point.

Another Cannonball pic of Houghs on a boat.

A little while after we got back from our sunset cruise, the younger adults (my generation) took Dad's pontoon out for a second cruise around the lake. By this point in the evening the sun had already set, so it was super dark out, and as such I didn't take a single picture of the cruise (though, if I had, they would have turned out just like those from any other pontoon cruise you've seen in this blog.) When we got back to shore, Brian White retrieved the pork shoulder (or something) that he had purchased earlier in the day from that butcher shop in Evart and prepared to put it on a smoker (for 16 hours or so.) When he removed it from the plastic, blood splattered all over the driveway. . . which I'm sure the parents are going to love.

Brians discussing smoke time for the pork shoulder in the kitchen, around 1am.

Before going to bed, we went back outside to season up the meat one last time. Brian opened up the wrong side of the seasoning and dumped half the bottle on the shoulder, so I had to spread it out the best I could with my hand. Oh well, it's tomorrow's problem at this point. Stay tuned, folks.

- to be Continued. . .