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

Revisiting 1993 (feat. the Clumsy Hough Girls)

Set your phasers for '' 90's '', America:  we're heading back to the Roll Arena.

For those of you not in the know, the Roll Arena is Midland, Michigan's premiere roller skating venue, and has been since, oh. . . who knows.  A looong-ass time, that's for sure.

Yours Truly used to frequent the Arena as a kid growing up in the early '90s.  Our family used to frequent the joint so much during '91 - '94 that, for me, it has become synonymous with early '90s Top 40 Radio.  The Roll Arena DJs would only spin Top 40 back then, and, evidently, nothing has changed.

Fast forwarding to 2015, I once again found myself sitting in the dark, blaring-loud rink, listening to Top 40 pop crappiness accompanied by the shrieks of overly-excited children.  Only now, of course, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch has been replaced by. . . God knows what.

I don't listen to shallow dance pop music, so I couldn't tell you who sings what.

The girls each received a free skating voucher for their excessive reading achievements earlier this month, so I decided to take them up there while we were all still on Holiday break.  We ended up meeting my mom up there, and the girls finally got to try out their new skates they got for Christmas.

It didn't go well.

Behold:

We always get suckered into renting a couple of these walker thingies whenever the girls go skating.  Our kids are inherently clumsy to begin with, so adding 'shoes with wheels' and 'low lighting' to the mix definitely doesn't help things.

New decade, same vibe (I still can't help but think of Salt N' Pepa or Boys II Men whenever I'm at this place.)

(It took them FOREVER to circumvent this track.)

Mom showed up after awhile, and joined the kids in skating around the rink. . .

(She's about as bad as they are at skating.)

This was taken seconds before Abby fell backwards, pulling Mom down along with her.  I'm really pissed I didn't get a picture of that. 

Abby ignores the DJ's pointed instructions for all skaters to move in one, general direction

Alayna eventually stopped skating on the hardwood track all together, and ditched the plastic walker in order to skate along the carpet instead.  She did this for the next hour and a half.

Good Vibrations.

- Brian