Highlights?
— well, just the fact that we got together, emerging from our lockdowns and sicknesses. Mission accomplished, and more.
— newcomers in Rell and Jacob who blended in right away. Also Kieran, Simon and Joao were first timers. Did they blend in? Kind of, but in some ways, they took over. Happily.
— not seen in a while we're Claire and Andrew S.
— the dynamics of the youngest generation, playing together and getting along, mostly. Swords and Star Wars chatter, pirate ship and tetherball and swimming and sand kept all these little boys occupied. And they were all boys. C'mon Luisa grow up fast. Missed Auden and Elliott in the gender balance as well.
-- rentals. David got a motor for his row boat, and I think he and Jeffrey set a record for hours fishing. Did you know David caught and released a pickerel who acted like a great white whale upon release? Tina also rented a kayak and got her exercise in.
— other records? Joao for booboos. John (moi) for consumption of Klondike bars. Claire for pages read. Pages attempted was Joe who optimistically took a book to the playground. Oliver for fastest sprint around the lake. Paula for number of plastic ware purchased. We tied the record of four birthdays celebrated - Mary, Thomas, Everett and Donald. Annie? Naps goes to Kiernan, who seemed to be either just waking up or just going down for a nap. But there were quite a few runners up. I think there were a couple of records set for decibels reached at dinner the second night with a runner up being the after party in the same cabin later that night.
— I got some good drawings for the Pops Weekly Letter project. I'm still accepting entries so just take a picture of your finished product and send it to me via email. Annie and Bill and families can also partake.
What else? Food glorious food. Who brought all those cookies? Thanks. Lots of liquid diet to spur chatting and catching up.
In the catching up department, did you know Oliver was a Ninja warrior trainer? How about that Mary spent the last six months finishing a quilt from Lur's family? That Donald was right already? That Margaret starts a new job this week? That Johanna lives in Harlem? That Peter settled his case that kept him from coming? That Sean now works for Baltimore County as a DA? That Andrew had a moustache? That Melodie can draw a martini? (Phew. Out of breath).
We'll let everyone know about next year, as I will sign up for their "same time next year" deal in the coming days.
Thanks everyone. I know it's a long drive and a lot of work, but so much fun and so important to get together.
Love from up here.
