The Terrible Catsafterme

Mom, Bob, Briana, and I headed out for another over-nighter at Diana and Tom’s cabin at Indian Lake on Saturday morning August 18. This gathering was a family Summer picnic, so there were a lot more people enjoying the festivities than during our last visit. Christi and Creed had planned to make this trek as well, but Christi woke up that morning deciding that she wasn’t in a ‘lake mood.’ Ashleigh had been required to work, having requested off far too many weekends this Summer. I had had to go into work early that morning to do sales in Cincinnati so I had spent the night at my Mom’s. She and Bob picked us up at about 11:00am and we were on our way…

Upon our arrival, Briana immediately lassoed me into making an exhausting trip out into the lake in the pedal boats. I’m glad we did this because it ended up being my only time on the water that weekend. All of the Murphy clan had representatives at our lunch enjoying the grilled cheese-filled weenies and hamburgers. Most noteworthy is that Bev and Ed were present because Bev always manages to bring a huge array of mouth-watering delights, among them some fantastic cheese dip, a sun-dried tomato and bacon dip, and some hefty peanut butter and cornflake treats. Of course Diana and Tom were there, as were Cathy, Debby, Mike, and the younger Brad (who simply must change his name so that whenever I hear the name “Brad” spoken, it’s for me). Jim and Jan came along with Eric. And later in the afternoon – after getting lost – came Darlene, Brittney, Jacob, Zac, and Lauren.

 Aaron strategically feeds Adam

 Bob and Mom’s pose looks painfully familiar

 Swingers Debby and Cathy

Denise and Briana put their best face forward

But I’d have to say that my favorite guest was little Adam whom I hadn’t seen in a while. He brought along his parents Denise and Aaron…and Aaron brought along a nice Shiraz to try. Adam just gets bigger and cuter and more talented every time I see him. He was now adept at crawling and pulling himself up and standing. And that kid certainly must have my sense of humor as he was constantly laughing.

 Adam obviously enjoys orange goop

 Making my point with Adam

Eric and Jan return from a hard day’s pedal

We spent the afternoon chatting, munching, playing cornhole, nodding off, and messing around. Tom periodically took folks out onto the lake in his speedboat, Briana among them. Briana and I also went on a bike ride. I guess it’s true that you never forget how to ride a bike, as it had been many moons since I had straddled the two-wheeled wonder. Briana kept challenging me to ride without any hands.

 Bev and Ed compete in that Midwestern favorite: cornhole

Mom and Diana play cornhole on the other side. If you look closely, you’ll see Adam trying to participate as well.

A nice four-generations shot: Grandpa, Denise, Mom, and Adam

 Ed, Bob, and I take a much-needed mid-day rest

 Clockwise maidens: Mom, Darlene, Diana, Cathy, Bev

 Adam competes with Briana for silliest face

 Little Brad (not me) is sad that his ride with Darlene and Brittney has come to a close

What’s this? Briana and me astride our bikes

As the sun fell, we gathered around the campfire and some made s’mores and hotdog. Many had to don their sweatshirts as the weather actually began to turn chilly. It amazed me that we had been over one-hundred degrees just a week before and now it was beginning to feel like Fall. I wandered in periodically to check out the Bengals pre-season game with the Saints. They were getting creamed but who cares? Pre-season. I was dog-tired as I had gotten little sleep the night before, so I nodded off early trying to find a haven to nap. Eventually everyone turned in around midnight and Briana popped in the What About Bob? DVD…and we crashed. She claims I snored.

Team Robinson: Brittney, Darlene, Zac (again making lewd gestures with a large piece of wood), Jacob, and Lauren

Ed and Bev await the next occurence

The only thing that diverts my attention from Adam is an evening hot dog

The next morning Mom and Diana prepared us breakfast. I had the famous ham and egg sandwhich that Mom used to make for me daily when I was in school. After tinkering around and playing Farkle for a while, we headed out to a flea market on the other side of the lake. Most of us had an ice cream cone and browsed the stalls. As far as flea markets go, it wasn’t too bad. I found some cheap Presidential books – one about Harry Truman by his daughter, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy, and a hardback of the Warren Commision Report on the Kennedy Assassination. Total cost: $3.50. I bought Briana a red bead necklace.

Early morning Briana plays solo Yahtzee

We got back to the cabin around 1:30pm and had a little fish fry. Tom battered and fried some of his catch and I must say it was quite delicious. Even Briana asked for a second helping when she had only planned to eat a hamburger and leftovers. We headed out around 3:00pm and were nearly killed by teenaged moron driver who pulled out in front of us on the way home. Other than that, the weekend was top-notch. Cabin, I bid you adieu until next year. Take care of yourself.

2007 will continue when something happens…

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 6:26 am and is filed under 2000's - Late, Family Life, Vacations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.