Labor Day!

I decided that I needed to get a post out about what we did over labor day while the memory was still fresh. Teasing about upcoming posts is just a bonus.

Over labor day we went up to my mother's lake house on the lake of the Ozarks. This house was owned by my grandparents before her and it's a place I've been going to since i was a small child. I'm happy to have had the chance to share it with not only her but also her mother and brother.

We headed up to Tulsa on Friday evening, spent the night, and then left for Missouri the day after. It's a 5 hour drive to get there plus a bit of time stopped for groceries and gas and such along the way. We arrived in the late afternoon to the humid heat characteristic of places near water and set about cooling down the house from sitting unused with the thermostat up since the last visit my mom had made several weeks earlier.

After all the unpacking finished it was time to prepare dinner. We made a pretty typical labor day weekend menu of hamburgers and sausages with corn on the cob. It was rather enjoyable. The next few days followed a simple pattern of waking up whenever we felt like it, playing games, cooking, some light baking, and enjoying the company.

As usual, Karen cleaned up at Ticket to Ride, winning every game we played. There was also a very tense game of Forbidden Island that we somehow managed to win with 6 or 7 of the initial locations remaining. One or two games of munchkin were played as well, being one of our favorites.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, though Karen's brother experienced an acute lack of internet, given that the remoteness of the lake house prevented stable cellular connection. Personally I have grown to enjoy that fact much more than i would have in earlier years. I imagine the prevalence of handheld video games to fill evening board game gaps has something to do with it though.

I doubt we'll get back up there again this year for much more than cleaning, winterizing, and storing the boat. Those tasks are a small price to pay for all the enjoyment we get out of vacationing up there. The only downside at all is that i constantly want to invite all of my lovely internet friends to join me but they are too scattered to make that a viable reality. Perhaps at some point I will be able to organize a grand gathering. Until then, I'll just have to enjoy it with family.

-R