We were the first to arrive (shortest drive), followed by the Bakers (Gus, Abbey, Maggie, Ben & Annie), Dave Strattons (Dave & J’aime), my brother Doug, and then the Jeff Strattons (Jeff, Leisa, Caroline, Teddy). The two cottages were quickly assessed to be perfect for this group at this time in our lives, and even welcomed us appropriately:

We got right to work putting away groceries and setting up supplies.

Note the conveniently located children’s toys below the bar. That’s how we roll. And of course, bug spray for the children to keep themselves safe. J’aime quickly created a spirit of inventiveness by integrating a lone M&M into an apple – a moment of brilliance to kick off the week.

Gus took a moment to get intimate with a toucan for some reason.

With many adult beverages onboard, J’aime and Abbey cranked up some tunes and led the girls in a dance party, with vocal support from David:

Quote of the Week: Ben with an early lead

With many coolers full of beverages, Ben looked through several coolers and the fridge, then came over with a disgusted look and said loudly, “How come there’s so much beer and no kids’ pop?!!” which of course drew laughs from all the ‘adults’. At this point, we headed back out to the lake and took full advantage of the beautiful day.

Gus is quite the friendly type and will chat up near anyone, including a passing boat. There were actually four shots in this series, but I didn’t feel it was necessary to include them all here, but trust me that this conversation stretched much longer than you’d think possible while a boat passes.

From there, the action on the swim platform got a bit more aggressive, with flying kids followed by adult grappling and king of the platform.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what happens when the kids appear on the swim platform in the middle of the manly wrestling. Answer:

Soon, the manliness turned into worn-outliness and the swim platform was transformed into girl game central. J’aime swam out a deck of cards to entertain the group of kids.

Then Abbey upped the ante by swimming out both a pair of drinks and a child at the same time.

Then There Were Two: Teds

Around this time, the Jeff Stratton clan arrived, which caused instant clamoring over eight-week old Teddy.

Of course, normal hijinks resumed from there. And then things go really WEIRD

It started normally, with men at a grill.

But then I was witness to this atrocity:

Young Caroline saw it as well, and it put this expression on her face:

Leah decided to work off her confusion over the incident with some cornhole. Everybody ate some dinner, including J’aime, who invented the Walloon Dog:

Because there had been much drinking at this point in the day, it was natural at this point to

Light Things On Fire

Boy Scout Gus built a fire from the kindling collected by Camper Aly and all were pleased. The kids (and David, known as Uncle Sparkles in this crowd) burned off some sparklers left over from 4th of July.

Then Uncle Sparkles lit bottle rockets and used his digital launcher to send them aloft, with an assist from Uncle Monkey (Doug).