Popped out to do some shopping. Picked up some new windshield wiper blades and had them professionally installed. Time will tell how they hold up.
Spent most of the day relaxing in various places outside while reading and trying to avoid direct sunlight. I had just received my copy of the 10th Anniversary edition of American Gods (one of my favorite books) and I tackled a huge chunk of it this afternoon.
Helped my 2 ½ year old nephew break in his new Cars-themed fishing pole. Caught four or five bluegill (or maybe the same one four or five times) right from the boat without even leaving the dock. Must be the bait — hot dog with mustard, including the bun. Bluegill are apparently suckers for the stuff.
We headed around the lake to a neighbor’s house for another barbecue. Ate a burger and chased aforementioned nephew around the yard before giving him a piggyback tour of the neighborhood.
Back to the cottage. Emily’s father built a nice bonfire and we cooked up some s’mores with huge marshmallows. As the fire was winding down some kids at the house two doors over were setting off some pretty large fireworks. Unfortunately they didn’t seem to have a clue what they were doing and had two misfires, one landing on the roof of the house next to us and the other right in the middle of a cluster of boats. Thankfully it seemed no permanent damage was done, but the revelers won’t be setting any off for a good while.
Drove to downtown Ann Arbor to park and walk around before lunch. Got accosted by a local cop for making a left turn in front of her. In reality, we made the turn well before she got to the intersection but had to stop for a pesky pedestrian (which she probably couldn’t see) which kept us in the intersection long enough for her to catch up and get testy. She may or may not have ticketed the people behind us who made the same left turn.
Walked a few blocks in the oppressive heat and humidity before turning back and checking the car for tickets. Finding none, we went into the Arbor Brewing Company for lunch. I had an “Olde Number 22 German Alt” and the cask ale with my burger. The German Alt was pretty smooth but still a bit heavy for such a hot day. The cask ale really hit the spot though.
On the drive up to Emily’s family’s cottage we hit a few little rain storms. As the first one began, Emily flipped on the windshield wipers and the passenger side blade promptly flew off into the distance. She assured me that she was not the one who installed it. Thankfully I did not need to see the road so we pressed on.
We arrived at Houghton Lake shortly before dinner. We sat on the porch overlooking the lake and got caught up with Emily’s folks and her sister and brother-in-law then some family friends joined us for some delicious pulled pork sandwiches and a belated birthday cake for Amy.
A few of us piled into Emily’s parents’ boat and headed out on the lake for an amateur fireworks show. The fireworks were really impressive, especially since they were going off on all sides of us. These folks really spared no expense and actually seemed to know what they were doing.
Up late; off to my grandfather’s house for a Memorial Day cookout. Mostly it consisted of my uncle outside at the grill while the rest of us stayed in the air-conditioned house. We had the usual fare of burgers and hot dogs, plus potato salad and fruit. My mother brought her broccoli salad, to which I’ve become addicted in recent years.
Home. Watched some episodes of Bones from Netflix streaming.
Emily made a wonderful brunch of cheese omelets with bacon.
Off to the South Hills for a Sweeny family barbecue. Lots of great food along with a bean bag game, an RC helicopter, and the usual unwise political discussions. I got to see a couple of my aunts who live out of town and as an added bonus I didn’t even get sunburned.
After we got home we took a walk around the neighborhood and checked in on our friends’ cat. He was fine, if utterly uninterested in us.
