Catch Phrase – gotta love it!

Grandma spoiling the boys!

Yogi & Spud enjoying some QT with Buddy on the air mattress..

Spud finds time to relax in-between play time with Yogi..

My summary of the trip.

I ate.
I slept.
I watched hi-def tv (mainly football) & movies.

That’s about it, seriously. It was just what I needed.

The support spans from the midwest (GO IRISH, Michigan State, Penn State) to the South with GT, the Vols, and all the Florida teams.

Oh, for those of you wondering what that large clump of grass is in front of everyone – it’s a chiseled “S”. A “S” for Spartans – grown to perfection, mowed to precision. These Spartan alumni are serious about their football. You gotta respect that. Except for the weekend when they play the Irish, which is approaching quickly.

Yogi and I decided to rent a car, instead of driving da Jeep up (I’m pushing 96k miles on the beast). We originally reserved a Dodge Magnum, but Dollar was depleted w/ full size vehicles – so we were given a Sebring convertible at no extra charge. Hey, we didn’t throw a fuss.

We decided to drive straight through (14 1/2 hours) so that we could get to Sesser before my Grandfather’s 75th surprise b-day party. It actually wasn’t too bad, aside from my $150 speeding ticket in Georgia. Man, that screwed up my 85 mph pace I had established. We took off from Orlando at aprx. 3am, and reached our destination in Illinois around 6pm – just in time for the party.

Party pics!! Relatives from all over came up for this, including his brothers and sisters from goo’ ol’ Virginia. He was pleasantly surprised to say the least. My fam went all out of course, getting t-shirts, buttons and three cakes made for the attendees.

Onto our little spot w/ the locals for some bar karaoke before our shenanigans on the lake officially begin!

Hey, who said it was just MY vacation? Yogi highly enjoyed himself out at my Uncle Chris and Aunt Teri’s property. They just brought another dog into the family, Nuke, an adorable little black lab. Dogs, lakes, endless fields, horses – fun for everyone involved. Yogi enjoys showing off his “ups” whenever possible..

A weekend on Rend Lake has a few ground rules, they are as follows:

Eat loads of home-cooked food and snacks
Boat until the driver is tired of captain duties
Drink Coronas, only w/ a lime though
Tube till your completely exhausted, and have a migraine
Ski till your gluts explode
Play some sort of extra-curricular activity (this year it was volleyball)
Swim, life-jackets typically required
Engage in king of the tube, someone needs to get moderately hurt
Take lots of pictures & video
Relax on the pontoon boat at some point
Enjoy family and the sun!

Of course, what would be a Rend Lake reunion without our annual chaos on the go-cart race track?? Well, we found out this year what it would be like. It SUCKED! Go-carting is truly the peak of the entire reunion, and we were terribly disappointed when it was cancelled due to some nasty tornadic conditions. To think that the cousins could have proudly worn our brand new Wal-Mart racing shirts.

Until next year boys…

Thanks to the Eshlemen’s for their hospitality, and everyone else including Luke, Jeff & Carrie, Jill, Al & Denise, and the Matteson’s for such an incredible weekend.

I’ll never again underestimate “Pina Colada Hour” boys. Lookin’ forward to next year’s rendezvous!