Prete Reunion: Holland Lake Day 1

By the end of the reunion, we may have forgotten that there was one day at the beginning that was almost nice enough for boating. Emma, Sara & Haylee got to kneeboard, I think Joe got to ski and lots of us got ejected off the tube. Sarah only got dumped off twice, so maybe next year she can add to her P-U- an N-K. Preston and Hannah, keeping warm in the boat.

Sara kneeboarding. Good job. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of Emma kneeboarding.

The girls on the tube.

Austin, Joe and, is that Sara? on the tube.

Having a camping/boating reunion for my parents and siblings and their families was, I have to admit, my brainchild. The reality of the experience did not correspond very accurately with my vision. My vision included 30 degree Celsius (or 88 F) days spent on the boat or relaxing on the shore. The vision included teaching the kids how to kneeboard and waterski. I pictured going back to our campfire every night tired from all the fun. I imagined a little hiking and fishing on the side, and an evening game of pounce, and a little singing with Sarah's guitar, telling lots of jokes and stories and leaving with sunburns. As it turned out, the weather was cold and rainy most of the time. Several kids were sick, and we were more at risk for hypothermia than sunburn. The mosquitos also were thick enough that we drained several bottles of off.

Still, I have to hand it to you Pretes. You did an amazing job of making lemonade from the lemons. We managed to have quite a bit of fun despite the difficult circumstances. I hope the pictures I post here will help us reimplant in our minds some of the happy memories, lest the final memory of packing up in the rain, after a rainy Sunday, is what sticks in our heads.