{"id":1308,"date":"2012-07-12T22:12:18","date_gmt":"2012-07-12T22:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=1308"},"modified":"2012-07-12T22:12:18","modified_gmt":"2012-07-12T22:12:18","slug":"2012-vacation-days-11-and-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2012\/07\/12\/2012-vacation-days-11-and-12\/","title":{"rendered":"2012 Vacation, Days 11 and 12"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Boating<\/a>
Boating on the Natkowski's pontoon boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We began day 11 in a leisurely manner, hanging around the cabin, playing in the lake, playing catch with a baseball, etc. \u00a0About 2:30 we linked up with Barb and Leonard Natkowski, college friends of my dad. \u00a0They have a house on a canal leading into Houghton Lake. \u00a0This was an opportunity to catch up with them and also provided them the impetus to take their boat onto the lake for the first time this year. \u00a0We then went to dinner together at the Spikehorn bar\/restaurant, which was quite good.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An intense game of Phase 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We finished the day by completing a multi-day game of Phase 10<\/em> on the picnic table outside our cabin with a view of Houghton Lake at sunset.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The boat crew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Day 12 began with Rick and Angie Serafini, Tommy, and me driving part way around the lake to American Oak Resort to rent a ski boat for the day. \u00a0The trip back across to our side of the lake was eventful as we ran through the “middle bounds” where we fouled the propellor a few times with seaweed. \u00a0Eventually we made it through the “graveyard of ships” to our side of the lake and picked up the others who were interested in tubing and skiing.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
om on a pull-behind float<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We borrowed the float from Bob, who runs our resort, and the rope from Larry, who runs the Serafini’s resort. \u00a0We spent several hours taking turns on the inner tube. \u00a0Rick and I were smart enough to leave the tubing to the youngsters — as I’ve recently been reminded on a Scout trip that I’m no longer 20. \u00a0I drove the boat. \u00a0Tommy and Sammy had never been tubing before, but they both managed to hang on. \u00a0In fact, I worked hard to throw off Sammy after a while, but we finally had to admit defeat.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/a>
Sam on a pull-behind float<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Angie, Mia, Jesse, and Dylan all took turns on the float. \u00a0I think\u00a0Dylan had a particularly good time. \u00a0Angie was hot dogging it a bit, getting up on her knees and waving at me. \u00a0At one point, the float turned upside down with Mia on it. \u00a0She held on for a while until she realized the water was taking off her bathing suit!<\/p>\n

\"Who<\/a>
Who IS that stud on those skis?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a short break for lunch, we put away the float and broke out the skis. \u00a0I haven’t been on skis since I was a lieutenant — probably close to 15 years ago. \u00a0After a few false starts, a pulled thigh muscle, and a face plant into the lake, I got up and was able to do pretty well — even crossing in and out of the wake a few times. \u00a0I think Tommy was surprised at how well I did. \u00a0I think I was surprised too.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/a>
Tommy completing the final task for his water skiing merit badge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I did most of the boat driving. \u00a0It was difficult for Candy to take good pictures of everyone skiing. \u00a0With the movement of the skiers and the boat, many of the shots were blurry. \u00a0He didn’t get any good pictures of Rick; although, he got up the first time and did a good job.<\/p>\n

Tommy had begun work on his water skiing merit badge for Boy Scouts last Summer. \u00a0He needed to cross the wake four times as the final requirement to earn the badge. \u00a0Though he had trouble getting up at first, he did cross the wake four times. \u00a0We’ll submit that to his merit badge counsellor to get him credit for the badge.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The floating rendezvous<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We made a long, leisurely oval pattern with the boat. \u00a0We would start near the Serafini’s floating raft (which is barely enough water to launch the boat) and make about a mile oval, releasing the skier back at the float. \u00a0This provided a nice place for people to wait their turn. \u00a0Also others could help the next skier don the (ill fitting) life jacket and skis. \u00a0Apparently this is how the Serafinis have done this in the past, and it was really an excellent idea.<\/p>\n

\"Mia<\/a>
Mia Serafini showing off<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everyone who wanted to ski was able to do so at least twice. \u00a0This shot shows Mia on her second attempt.<\/p>\n

\"Tammy<\/a>
Tammy Serafini showing that Angie and Mia have "cool parents!"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Angie was on the boat as I drove around with Tammy in tow. \u00a0Tammy got up on her first try and did a great job of crossing in and out of the wake and other tricks. \u00a0She was doing so well that Angie shouted, “I didn’t know my parents were so COOL!”<\/p>\n

\"Angie<\/a>
Angie Serafini showing off<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is not the best picture, but here is Angie. \u00a0Not to be outdone by her newly designated “cool parents,” Angie got up here first time as well. \u00a0She did quite well, crossing in and out of the wake and waving to the camera.<\/p>\n

\"Jesse,<\/a>
Jesse, Dylan, Mia, and Angie (from left to right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For us old folks (Rick, Tammy, and me) getting up on skis was to demonstrated to ourselves that we hadn’t completely deteriorated. \u00a0Then we let the youngsters show us how its done. \u00a0Unfortunately we only had adult-sized skis, so Dylan and Sammy were unable to try. \u00a0The skis kept falling off them. \u00a0Rick and Tammy have nice kids. \u00a0This was a VERY fun day for all of us. \u00a0All of us got burned, and the old folks limped to bed at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

We don’t get to see that side of the family very often. \u00a0Since my grandparents died, we don’t have as much excuse \/ reason to go to Mark (Illinois) and see that part of the family very often. \u00a0I hadn’t seen them since my grandmother’s funeral, since work wouldn’t allow me to get to Uncle Juzzy’s or Aunt Dorothy’s funerals. We planned our vacation to correspond with the annual Serafini sojourn to Houghton Lake, and I’m glad we did. \u00a0I don’t know if we interfered with their<\/em> vacation, but I really enjoyed the chance to get together with\u00a0them for something other than a funeral and have some fun. \u00a0For my kids, they’ve never really had a chance to get acquainted with that side of the family except for the infrequent reunions. \u00a0I fear that since all the old timers are no longer with us that opportunities will be even less frequent in the future.<\/p>\n

\"Interior<\/a>
Interior of the Pines Theater in Houghton Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After turning in the boat, cleaning up, and having dinner, we went with Tammy and Angie to see Spider Man at the Pines theater. \u00a0The theater was built in 1941. \u00a0See detailed information and pictures at\u00a0http:\/\/www.pinestheater.com\/<\/a> \u00a0I wasn’t expecting much from the movie. \u00a0I went to see the theater, which was impressive. \u00a0The movie turned out to be better than expected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We began day 11 in a leisurely manner, hanging around the cabin, playing in the lake, playing catch with a baseball, etc. \u00a0About 2:30 we linked up with Barb and Leonard Natkowski, college friends of my dad. \u00a0They have a house on a canal leading into Houghton Lake. \u00a0This was an opportunity to catch up … Continue reading 2012 Vacation, Days 11 and 12<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}