B-I-N-G-O

My mom’s side of the family is one of traditions- backyard volleyball, the deer hunt, Christmas Eve Bingo, camping and four wheeling, birthday dinners on the first Sunday of each month- but there’s one tradition that my family holds dear above all others, our week at the lake during the summer. This tradition has been around as long as I can remember, and as long as my mom can remember. One week during every summer, the family plans a week where we all go camp at the lake. When the tradition began, and up until a few years ago, that lake was always Bear Lake. But, with low water levels, and a far distance to travel, my grandma decided we’d try something new: Yuba. These past few years have had intermittent Yuba trips, instead of Bear Lake, but it’s all the same. My cousins and I still sleep in our tent, and wake up just after dawn when the sun heats our tent like an oven. We walk along the water and play in the sand until my aunts finish making a huge breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and anything else they thought to bring.
After eating, we start heading out on the boat. If the water’s nice, the older cousins and the aunts and uncles will head out to ski and wakeboard, but usually the water’s rough and my uncle hauls anyone who’s daring enough around on the tube or our beloved Wavecutter. The Wavecutter has been around since my mom was young. There used to be two, one red and one yellow, which they’d pull together in the vicious sport of Wavecutter wars, but the red one has since been retired, and our yellow one is approaching retirement as well. After a couple hours out on the water, my cousins and I come back to our mom’s right where we left them- sitting on the edge of the water in the sun watching the kids play. Grandma is waiting for us to come back, and pulls out chips and salsa and stuff for sandwiches.
We play in the water and boat again until dinner. Dinners are by far the best meals of this trip. They’re especially delicious and needed after a day of playing in the sun and water.
Nights are filled with fire, stories, jokes and stargazing. Grandpa tells the best stories- some of his childhood, some of things he made up about his childhood, that seem to get better and better each time he tells them, including the story of how he met my grandma in the seventh grade.
One afternoon of the trip, we all tie-dye t-shirts, keeping them in bags until the next morning when we get up and rinse them out. These shirts serve as mementos for each of our lake trips. This tradition of trips is important to me and to my family because it brings us together, and gives us opportunities to laugh and play together. I love these trips so much, and my summer would never be complete without them and the adventures they bring.