'Merica

Happy Fourth of July, America!!!

(HUGE record shopping day will be coming up in tomorrows' installment.)

Gang, we had a pretty chill Independence Day this year; kinda cobbled together considering so many others - family and friends - were busy with other plans. In years past, we Houghs spent the entire weekend up at Eight Point Lake with my parents, my siblings and their families, aaaaand a potpourri of dogs. All that changed last year, thanks to (shitty) weather, when we were forced to hang back in Midland and squeak out a Fourth of a July party over at the Bos residence with the Tribe.

The Houghs (and Sebastian) were first to arrive at the BBB (Bos Backyard Bar.)

This year, believe it or not, we ended up repeating this course of action. Mitch threw out a Facebook invite way back in early June, announcing to the usual 10 or 12 families we associate with that they'd be grilling and hanging out poolside all day on the Fourth. Several of us signed up immediately, because we're always down for a pool party, not to mention the fact that many of the guys in our group are grill ninjas. 

 Smoked pieces of hickory bacon for burgers and whatever else. . .

A day or two before the party, however, some of the families suddenly had to back out due to a double-booking the date (family vacation, somebody else's frickin' pool party, out of town, etc.), so this year's affair ended up being scaled down a smidge from last year's. The weather was far better, though, and so those of us who ended up coming out were able to get nice and bronzed without having to duck under their gazebo for shelter.

That's always a plus.

So yeah, another Fourth of July in the books, folks. Enjoy. . . .

Sebastian took a family picture of the Houghs right when we arrived (I wanted to do it before we all forgot as the evening dragged on, which tends to happen.) I have a new default Fourth of July shirt, which I picked up on Amazon a couple weeks back in anticipation of today's festivities. It's a polyester button-up shirt but I was able to cut it into a more-ideal-for-sunny-weather cut-off ('sun's out, guns out,' you know the rules.) My roommates, as you can see here, are more boring that I.

We were the first ones there, so Mitch wanted to send the rest of the guys a pic of us so they knew folks were starting to show up.

Gottta be careful on our Kings of the Hill thread, because folks will take your pics and do weird shit with them. Like, here's me and Mitch at a Gay Pride Parade somewhere. . . 

Here's another one, with us on the Moon. There were others but I'll keep it PG-13 since this is kind of a family blog. . .

It's cool, Abby - walk anywhere. Not like we're trying to get a picture taken or whatever. . . 

We brought a few sides for the day, since Kris and I aren't really the 'grill masters' that some of these other guys are. Everything you see here was consumed by various kids throughout the course of the day.

Burgers and dogs for Lunch

The Larsons showed up shortly after me and Mitch's pic went out. So Mission Accomplished, I guess.

Tom and Rob - sans families, who were busy doing other stuff for the day - swung by and hung out for a bit, but eventually they left to go golf 18 holes up at Curry.

The Griffins rolled in as the afternoon was wearing on - folks hadn't really gotten into the pool quite yet.

Baby Driver and The Pro

The sun was getting hot out, so it was time to get our collective asses into the water.

The Bos fam has a saltwater pool, which I'm not sure if I've mentioned before or not. It's pretty awesome.

As it heated up outside, so did the water - was like bathwater after awhile.

Playing some games around the table as folks go in and out of the pool.

Morgan, Mitch and Danielle

(It's cool to wear your hat swimming, kids.)

The three of us spent nearly six hours (according to our wives) circled up like this in the pool, talking over drinks. I've spent far shittier days in my life, that's for sure.

We hadn't hung out with Morgan in a long time, since he lost one of his finance managers at his new dealership and has had to pull double-duties (he's the general manager) until the spot is filled. Dude works like six-day weeks, it's nuts.

As evening drew on, it started to get cooler out so we finally got our prune-y asses out of the water at long last.

Snacking on various meat offerings (pork shoulder, pork belly bites, bacon, etc.)

Womenfolk, still circled up around the table.

Kelli and the Bos' newest family addition, Penny.

Abby and Sophie went back into the water and were there for most of the evening. The water had to have been basically at 'hot tub' levels so I'm sure they were fine.

Later on in the night, Mitch broke out this VERY pricey bottle of Booker's for the three of us to try. Probably not the smartest thing to do after drinking all day in the sun, buuut. . . . whatever.

Watching the Detroit Tigers barely squeak out a win over Cleveland. It's been hard to watch this season (so I'm told - I'm not a sports guy.)

This was a damn fine bourbon.

Kris, Abby and I went home around 11:30pm, and both dogs were freaking out over the ensuing fireworks being shot off by locals all over the neighborhood. Samson slept with Abby in her bed and we had to bring Watson into our room, since Alayna was out on the town with friends still. So that was our slightly scaled-down Fourth of July this year with the tribe - we'll keep you updated with what happens to the Houghs on next year's Independence Day.

- Brian

'Merica

Happy Fourth, America!

We Houghs mixed it up this year. I'm sure you're aware that, for the last four years or so - since Covid, that is - we've celebrated Independence Day up at Eight Point Lake with my extended family. It's been our go-to for years because, with good weather conditions, one can't beat being on a lake for the holiday, and the lake association's annual flare thingy and its members' personal, firework displays, while not rivaling Midland's by any means, is enough to scratch the itch that you're doing something for the Fourth.

'Good weather' is the kicker, here. This year, we did not have good weather for this weekend - it was to being on-and-off rain all weekend, with my birthday (July 5th, greatest of all calendar days) nearly solid rain all, damn day. This prohibited us from spending our usual extended weekend up at the lake this year, because none of us wanted to be cooped up in the lakehouse for days on and end. If we're up at Eight Point, we want to be out on the lake - we can sit around indoors at home.

A collection of abandoned smartphones at the Bos residence. 

Fortunately, our good friends the Bos family threw out a last-minute invite for a Fourth of July, poolside grill-out, which worked out perfectly. The weather was partly sunny and cloudy for most of the day, with a chance of sporadic rain around dinner time, before ultimately clearing up in the evening. This meant we could hang out by their pool for most of the day, seek temporary shelter under their backyard pavilion if/when it rained, then take the kids downtown for Midland's fireworks.

And, if the weather holds out on Saturday, July 6th, we can always hit up the lake for their annual flares at that point. We'll be crossing our fingers.

So here you go, folks - a change in plans for 2024, which, you know, seems to be the continuing trend for this year.

Enjoy. . .

Folks began to arrive at the Bos' house around 1pm - we were starting early because. . . why not.

Damn It Tom, Erik the Red, Morgan 'Baby Driver' Larson, and Mitch the Pro hanging out under the Bos Backyard Bar (The BBB.)

Grilling up assorted dead animals.

Johnsons were the first to arrive (featuring Ella, who's recovering from knee surgery), followed by us and the Larsons, then the Sheahans.

The Nadgaudas were also able to show up, as they haven't left for Indiana yet.

Kris and Danielle catch up on teenage girl gossip.

Cooling off the dogs in Mitch's pool fountain.

Hot Dads by the pool.

Rocking my usual Fourth of July outfit.

The rain held off for most of the day, but it was pretty overcast for most of the afternoon. Oh well.

Kris, Danielle, Courtney, and Deanna by the pool.

Rob MacLeod - our newest recruit to the tribe - showed up in similarly festive attire.

If it's one thing the Bos' have a lot of, it's pool noodles.

Pretty sure Mitch was the only dad that got in the pool today.

We had a couple hours of solid sunshine at one point, so the adults circled up around the pool and drove the kids away.

Kris, Susan, and the Cannonball.

Danger on the horizon. . .

The Hough girls with Bos' new dog, Charlie.

The girls were getting bored at the Bos' house, so Alayna offered to drive them up to Taco Bell and Starbucks. Of course.

Devouring their spoils at some local park.

Meanwhile, the rain had finally kicked in, so the adults hunkered down under the BBB.

Abby, riding around in the back of The Black Pearl (what Alayna is calling her car these days.)

Rock and roll.

So then Alayna went ahead and did something stupid. According to Michigan law, a teenager can only have one non-family member in their car at any given time (excluding to and from school-sanctioned events.) While her, Abby, and Ella were driving around, it was decided that they should swing by the Larson residence and grab Jackson. Instead of dropping off Abby and Ella at the Bos' house on the way there, Alayna - being a thoughtless teenager and everything - decided instead to just swing by and grab Jackson straight away. When they arrived back at the Bos' house, you can rest assured we tore her a new asshole, and she ended up losing car privileges for a while. Parenting rules.

Erik retrieves a dead shrew from the Bos' pool filter.

(Not sure what she's losing her shit over, here.)

Ella and Abby, catching up on snacks.

Later in the evening, after most of the other families had gone home (most folks had to work on Friday), Kris and Courtney took the girls downtown to the Tridge in order to check out the city's annual firework display (while me and the remaining dads continued to hang out back at the Bos'.)

(These firework shots were all taken from the Cannonball's phone.)

Abby and Ella, watching the city's display. Happy Fourth, America - hopefully next year we'll be able to make the whole Eight Point thing happen again, but this year was still pretty damn fun. Until next time. . .

- Brian