Going “Up North” to the Mahoney Cottage and S’More Experimentation

On August 9, McKenna, Laura, and I went “up north,” a Michigan phrase meaning “farther north than we already are in our far-to-the-north state but not so far that that we go to Canada.” At any rate, we traveled “up north” to the Mahoney Cottage in Hale, Michigan to spend the weekend with Kristen and Matt and their kids and Shannon and Aaron and their kids.

McKenna wanted to look her best for the trip.

It was a cool weekend, with temperatures in the low 70’s. That didn’t stop people from going in the water.

By evening, the saner people were out of the water and partaking in other activities, leading McKenna to co-opt the neighbors’ trampoline for long stretches. She also managed to co-opt Kristen and Shannon for long stretches.

Some of the activities were drawn from another place and time.

Aaron built a time machine to bring back a hackysack from 1992

In the evening it was time for the serious business of making s’mores.

These people are clearly not serious about making s’mores.

Aaron and Matt picked up supplies for some s’more experimentation. Earlier this summer, my family and I had failed to exploit the use of multiple candies when making s’mores, and Aaron had previously tried the Reeses s’more and was willing to experiment s’more. Get it?!