There is no place more special than the 4th of July on a lake, but ours was double the special this year with the addition of a new family member. Our firstborn son Kyle, wife Liz, and foster son arrived on the 26th of June. As they picked up their luggage and hopped in the car to head north, they opened the email announcing that their foster son was now their officially adopted son! What better place to celebrate than Camp Maqua, the place that holds so many memories for his new parents! (Kyle was eight when we bought the lodge and he and Liz were married at Maqua.)

I painted a chair with his new name, Flynn Troy Baker, which is a tradition I started at the birth of each new grandchild. I hand-painted a sign announcing the days in foster care and the date of his official adoption. Let the celebrations begin!. Liz and Kyle’s friends in Tampa pitched in for the most wonderful gift to honor this special time. A local photographer showed up for a photoshoot of the new family by the lake, and he was all smiles, hamming it up for the camera with bribes of gummy worms and bubbles for his efforts.

With jobs furloughed, on hold, and in transition, the new family decided to stay an extra week. We have had record heat, but low humidity and warm lake temperatures. Loon Lake comes alive for the holiday week, but more so this year with the isolation factor still looming over the country. Everyone wants to get outside and the shores and lake were filled with boats, floats, jet-skis, kayaks, tubers, and skiers.

We had our annual boat parade, with twenty boats participating this year. We have already captured a Loon Lake parade flag for our win a few years ago, so we decorated for Flynn, but not competitively. With an under the sea theme, complete with balloons, sharks, dolphins, and a shark bubble blowing machine, operated by Flynn in a shark hat, we set off in the stream of great themes. A Michigan/ Michigan State boat, with kids dressed in mini cheerleader and football uniforms and a goal post at the front of their boat; a double-decker pontoon with a dozen kids in troll headdresses, and rainbow balloon decor; patriotic themes and flags galore paraded for the spectators onshore. The winner was a college kids’ entry of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The week has been a series of festivities with family picnics outdoors, fishing, loon spotting, tubing, jumping off the top of the “Mothership”, campfires and a night on the water under a full moon watching the fireworks. Memories have been made to last a lifetime, and the next generation with the grandchildren guarantees that the summers will hold more memories as they all grow up together, despite the distances between the families during the winters. Summers on Loon Lake, holding fast to family traditions, are the best.