Tuesday, July 15, 2025

How we did meals:

Cousin Bryan made a spreadsheet and each of the three families signed up for meals. Neal said he would provide breakfast stuff but people also brought breakfast breads, breakfast casseroles, and little boxes of cereal, too.

My sisters and I signed up to order pizza the first night and serve it with my salad and strawberry cake. Lunch the next day was leftover pizza. My sisters and I signed up for Friday night dinner which was a Mexican fiesta (and unbeknownst to me would turn into a retirement celebration for me!). Saturday lunch was a sandwich bar and Saturday dinner was burgers, brats, salads, and chips. It worked out great!

What I Packed:

I packed really well! I packed one dress in case we went in to town to a winery (we didn’t), one pair of pants (didn’t end up wearing), one cover up, two swimsuits, and then just my Target Wild Fable shorts (3) and graphic tees (4) which were all I wore. I only brought one pair of tennis shoes and one flip flop. It was a super casual vibe and most people just wore swimsuits all day to be ready for any fun water activities.

Did you read my post yesterday? We left off with Friday morning…

We arrived Thursday around 5:00, toured the three cabin complex – the main house came with a small bunk house up the back hill from the lake and then Neal was able to buy the small cabin next to it a few years later. There is a massive staircase leading down to the main house. So, this is how he slept close to 30 people! The people who weren’t in the main house really only left to go to sleep. I was in the main house and Tom and I were the only bedroom downstairs next to a bathroom. It was perfect. I was the earliest riser with Neal so it made sense for me to be next to the coffee machine!

Friday morning was really nice because Neal and I were the only ones up around 6:30 and we sat on the porch and talked for about an hour. You all know I like my one on one connections. Neal is 47 and a financial advisor. He is married to another Amy and they have four kids. He is soft spoken and thoughtful but also an Energizer Bunny. He did not stop from after coffee until dark. He was showing people how to use water toys or driving the wake boat at all times.

Friday morning it was overcast but a group of maybe 10 left for a kayak/paddleboard trip that took about two hours. Kate paddle boarded but Molly and I sat and drank coffee, walked to the market to get a couple of things, and cleaned up breakfast.

They came back and it was tubing time! I rode with Neal to spot and it was a lot of fun watching the kids.

The sun started peeking out when we got back and all the ladies floated on floats with an adult beverage. We also got to watch Tom learn to sail with Neal and two of the teen girls.

And, then Neal was needed for wake surfing! We had different combos go out on the boat for tubing and wake surfing. Tom got to do this, too. I joked that this was like a summer camp for Tom – he kayaked twice, sailed two types of boats, and wake surfed. The teenage girls think Tom is a character. They said they had never seen him smile this much.

We started grilling Mexican chicken, making taco meat, and cutting up all the toppings. I forgot to take a photo of the Mexican spread.

Kate brought these little taco boats and it worked out great. Everyone loved choosing hard tacos, soft tacos, nachos, or burrito bowls. I had made brownies and sopapilla cheesecake bars for the dessert.

While people were finishing dinner, it became a retirement celebration for me and there was an Amy’s Career trivia game! It was fun for everyone because they included questions about teen slang and some general education trivia. I need to get a list of the questions!

It was a little cool but I loved it after the humidity of Kentucky. We literally had this fire going day and night and young kids – like 10 years old – would go and get it started or keep it going. We had a little 7 year old fisherman that fished a bunch off the dock. The kids were ages 6-20 and they were off their phones, talking to adults they didn’t remember, and just active and engaged in whatever was happening. It was so sweet!

Friday afternoon my aunts and uncles arrived. Judy and Roger live 45 minutes away from the lake and Jim and Sal live in Cleveland. They had traveled to stay with Judy and Roger and came both Friday and Saturday and it was so nice to visit with them.

Tom and I walked to get ice cream. Tom is a big ice cream fan and I didn’t want him to walk alone so it worked out great because…

We walked back eating our ice cream…

Mine:

And the party was not over – they had set up a piñata for me!

The kids had so much fun but I got to hit first!

Then there was more fire sitting and some s’mores making:

Saturday morning – gosh, I love being near any body of water. My favorite place to hang out was at the end of the dock. Coffee with a view:

Saturday was family float day! We looked like the craziest group with 30 floats/kayaks/paddleboards. We floated from Stony Lake to Lake Michigan. It takes about an hour to go down the creek and it lightly moves so you don’t have to paddle but some did. I was attached to Molly and Kate was attached to cousin April and we chatted the whole way down.

I don’t have any photos because I didn’t take my phone! After we floated we were hungry and the first ones back had set up this sandwich bar and the aunts and uncles arrived again.

I also had a cappuccino because we got cold on the float. I spent the rest of the day in my swimsuit and a sweatshirt. Divine!

More fire time! The kids played this four square game you see in the background quite a bit and some adults played, too.

Wine on the dock while we watched the different groups go out on the boat or use the jet skis. I jet skiied with cousin April to look at houses on the lake!

Tom went out in a one person sailboat:

He looked just like Bill Murray in his tiny lifejacket.

Uncle Jim telling stories:

Before dinner, Tom and I went out with the wake boarding kids and the light was gorgeous on the lake…

Someone stole my phone – these are my nieces Lena and Mia with my sister Molly, their mom.

Niece Nora took a video of Tom walking with his nightly ice cream cone:

And, we got up Sunday and cleaned up and packed and said our good-byes.

We hadn’t all been together in a happy time for maybe 8 years. We used to have a family gathering in April in northern Indiana.

It was great to hear stories from my aunts and uncles!

My aunt went through jewelry of my mom’s to tell us their significance.

My aunt labeled some photos Kate brought.

When I looked around at the many different seating areas – there were several – there were representatives from each family in all the seating areas. Everyone meshed really well and just blended seemlessly despite not really knowing each other in recent times.

I felt like I had conversations with each and every person there.

I had another group of people celebrate my retirement – again, I must be on Amy’s Retirement Tour!

The weather wasn’t perfectly sunny but it was fine. No one let cloudy skies and drizzle affect anything they did. And, the sun was out part of each day, so that’s fine.

Neal and Amy were the best and most chill hosts. They have stuff set up so that people can make themselves at home and make their own drinks and food. They have things labeled so people don’t have to ask about everything. They aren’t territorial and have things set up so they can enjoy themselves, too – I think. We were told not to bring anything like sheets, towels, beach towels, or even shampoo and conditioner. It was all there.

I forgot my hairbrush and ended up not brushing my hair the whole time. Lol. I didn’t wear a bit of makeup I brought. I didn’t wear any jewelry!

Tom and I had the furthest to drive – Louisville, Kentucky – and there were two groups from Cleveland, Ohio, two groups from Columbus, Ohio, three groups from Kalamazoo, Michigan, one group from Grand Haven, Michigan, and one group from near Bloomington, Indiana. My mom is from Chicago and her siblings stayed in the Chicago area for many years. My mom moved to Southern Indiana.

And, that’s a wrap!

I’m so glad we went. It was a long drive that felt longer than it is but it was worth it!

Amy