Family Bloating

Happy 48th Birthday Charles I expected Saturday to be busy but fun. We planned to spend the day at Alum Creek with family. To that end, I was up at 630am starting my morning routine. I was thrilled to find completely clear skies in play and the temperature about 5 degrees cooler than the past five or six days. Not only that, but the humidity was much lower too. The day’s high was expected to hit 84, or about ten degrees cooler than it was Monday through Thursday. I stayed on purpose, completing my exercises, enjoying coffee, and taking care of Frankie all before 730am.We had designs on leaving for the lake by 1030am. With that end goal in mind, I left for a run around 8am. Comparably, it was a very comfortable run. I was back by 835am. I woke Mindy then started addressing all sorts of small but important tasks related to our boating outing. I gathered coolers, rigged up my new anchor, added air to the O’Brien tube, and drained the rain water that gathered in our boat over the last day and one half. Must’ve been about 50 gallons! Ashley and Olivia were heading up with us. They arrived just after 10am. Ashley seemed psyched about the prospect of boating for the first time in several years, six to be exact. We left the house at 1030am sharp, but not for the lake. Instead, we had to make three related stops first. Our first stop was at Tara’s house in the Glen to borrow their Wake board. That went smoothly. Second, we stopped at the Silverhorn Kroger to get picnic/boat food. While there, I also planned to gas up both the Honda and the boat using our Kroger perks, which Mindy was sure would save us $.50 per gallon. But like last time, the discount came up as $.10 per gallon. And to add insult to injury, their regular price was already $.26 more per gallon than it was at Thornton’s. Not a chance! I joined Mindy and the others already in Kroger’s getting the food. We stopped at Speedway on Robert’s right before I-270 to get our gas. It was $2.49 there. It was already 1130am when we finally hopped on the freeway. We arrived at the Alum Creek picnic grounds, where Bob had already procured a couple spots at 1208pm. The picnic area in question abuts to the southern most boat swim area – convenient for our dual purposed outing. After unloading our coolers, Mindy & I took the boat to the marina leaving the kids behind with Ashley. Bob mentioned that the marina docks were empty when he last went by. Not sure how long before we arrived that was because it was packed when we got to it. Must have been a line about ten boats deep trying to put-in. I remained calm reminding myself that I was in no hurry. It took about 30 minutes but went rather smoothly. The water was extra choppy even at the docks – not good. We boated over to the swim cove/picnic grounds where we greeted the rest of the family. Soon after we got back, Dad, Glenn, and nephew Shawn and niece Brooklyn arrived. Without a definitive plan, it looked like we’d be grilling and eating before any boating. The kids, meanwhile were chomping at the bit to swim/boat – mostly Jacob and Olivia. We grilled burgers, dogs, and brats. There were plenty of scrumptious sides as well. Without a formal roll call, I’m guessing there were 20+ visitors, although we lost two early. Brother Tommy and son Wally left after staying only 5 minutes. He departed while we were off to put the boat in. Not sure what that was all about, but heard Wally threw a fit. After lunch and just before launching our boats, brother Charles and his son Michael arrived. They had a baby in tow, too. Didn’t realize Michael had a baby daughter. That’s scary! I was stressed given all the people and relatively so few boats – three. I was adamant about not exceeding the recommended passenger limits for our boat and putting our safety and comfort first. Dad hadn’t yet put his boat in. He, Glenn, Shawn and Brooklyn left to do just that. We had six on our boat, our four and then Ash and Olivia. There must’ve been another 10-12 on Bob’s pontoon. I used my boat to shuttle folks from shore to Bob’s boat which was floating about 20 feet out. All along I assumed the idea was to boat/ski/tube while using the picnic ground as base, but that didn’t seem the case. After swimming in the cove for a while, Bob pulled anchor and headed back to towards his campsite. Dad followed in his boat. We took off for the open water to do some boating/tubing/skiing. Thought the others would soon join us on the open lake. Ashley and Bella tubed while Mindy skied. No one tried the wake board. Jacob withdrew his name from wanting to do any of the above. After an hour or so, I decided to head towards the campgrounds to see what everyone else was doing. And after a call to Bob’s cell we learned everyone was eating again and with apparent plans to boat. What? Hmmm? I had to question why then all the trouble. Why didn’t we have a yard party instead? Some were preparing to leave when we arrived. Bob was shuttling via his pontoon back to the picnic area where their cars waited. Nephews Michael and Shawn still wanted to tube and shared their disappointment after I told them I was tired. They headed to the beach to swim instead. I felt bad – sorta. A minute or two later, Mindy whispered in my ear that we had an opportunity to be their hero. Funny, I was already thinking as much. I had a change of heart and walked to the beach to tell them both that I would take them out tubing after all. They were ecstatic. Mindy and Brooklyn went along too. Bella & Jacob stayed back with the others. Both Michael and Shawn tubed. They had a great time doing it, and we had fun watching them. They had a “let it rip” attitude. Cool! Not used to that these days. The water was choppy all afternoon – too many boats and jet skis. That’s the problem with boating at Alum Creek on a weekend day. They still had fun, however. Mindy decided to ski again, albeit only briefly. The chop was still too rough for her liking. Shawn tried wake boarding, but since none of us had done it, we could give only very sketchy tips. He almost got up, but gave up after three tries. Brooklyn passed on an opportunity to do either. We headed back to see if any of the others wanted one last opportunity. No one did. It was already 720pm and it really made sense to get back to the marina to pull out. It was 8pm by the time we made it back. I expected the dock to be sparsely populated, but it wasn’t. In fact, there might’ve been a longer line than when we put in earlier. Making it worse, some guy was trying to pull his boat out with a mid-sized car. Needless to say, it wasn’t cutting it. He had to be rescued by another fella in a big ol’ pick-up truck. That caused about a ten minute delay. Thanks for the entertainment dude!  We got the boat out with no problem. I was annoyed with some jet skiers stirring up the chop just outside the marina boat launch making navigation around the dock treacherous. It’s almost as if they were doing so on purpose. By the time we got the boat organized, cleaned, and ready for the trip home it was near 9pm. We didn’t get home until just after 930pm. Ashley & Olivia headed home immediately. We talked about hanging with the neighbors but everyone was tired. Mindy and the kids took Frankie out. She’d been in her pen all day (1030am – 930pm). Poor girl! No accidents either.