“I was going to write about G-Dragon Day 2 but I don’t want to write about G-Dragon while I’m so fucking pissed,” I said to Henry, on the tail end of yet another nightly rant about TRUMP AND THIS FUCKING COUNTRY, FUCK YOU MAGA!!!! “So, I’ll just write about you and Chooch instead.”

“Wow, thanks,” Henry muttered.

On Memorial Day of this year, Henry and I spent the day at Twin Lakes, a really pretty park about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. We had such a nice day but I was bummed that Chooch wasn’t with us, especially because he was ignoring all of my texts that day because he was playing football which is way less important than responding to Mother, but OK.

That day, I vowed to come back here while Chooch was home for the summer. I ALMOST forgot about it but he goes back to Philly in two weeks and I am scrambling to spend all of the time with him, so I decided that we would take a family day trip here on Sunday, and bring food for a PICNIC.

“Mmm, great,” Chooch sighed when I told him to block off time on Sunday for FAMILY. Like it was a threat??

We stopped at Sheetz and got sandwiches to bring with us. Not a very fancy or well-planned picnic but it’s us, The Oh Honestlys. We are known for half-assing these things.

Henry brought a small bag of pretzels – the nugget ones – and Chooch and I cried out in disgust when he started eating them. Chooch tried to make him move to a far away picnic table while I likened his pretzel-mastication to the sound of gravel being chewed.

Ugh.

Then it was walking-around-the-lake time! It’s so beautiful there. I was actually surprised that it wasn’t more crowded because it was an absolutely perfect day. Sunny and low 60s. We love to see it. Turns out there were some geocaches there so Chooch was mollified, at least while he was searching for said geocaches. But in between those times, I was annoying him with G-Dragon gushing (he actually lectured me recently on being irresponsible when it comes to blindly throwing money at fandoms like who is the parent here??) and requests for picture-posing.

He was acting completely put-upon because he had to carry the reusable straw with him for the whole walk after he threw away his Dunkin’. SORRY FOR CARING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT.

Chooch lurking like Michael Myers over there.

Chooch is wearing a Men I Trust shirt, having just gone to see them last week, but I am always going to relate them to THE DEAD LADY ON THE SIDEWALK, UGH.

(My sweatshirt is DANCE GAVIN DANCE in case you care. The battle of the bands, via shirts.)

“Wait why do you have BLUES CLUES SHORTS?” Chooch cried.

“Uh, because I bought them last summer?” I shrugged.

“Why didn’t you get me any???” Chooch bitched.

“I dunno, because it’s not always about you??”

“You two fight over the dumbest shit,” Henry mumbled.

Geocaching.

“HOW MANY PICTURES DO WE REALLY NEED???” Chooch cried when I made them sit at a picnic table for this one.

“As many as it takes before I get one that I like,” I answered calmly, taking a second one with my sunglasses pushed up. (This one was the keeper though.)

It was a fun day of Chooch criticizing my every action. I’M GOING TO MISS HIM. :(

I love this place. And I love my dumb-dumb family.

After a solid hour-long stroll around the lake, we went to The Meadows for custard – I got peanut butter explosion which felt just like regular custard with some mini-Reese’s pieces sprinkled on top but both Henry and Chooch tasted it and said that the custard was very blatantly peanut butter too but it tasted like just vanilla to me, am I dying??

Ugh, what a good day. I am clinging on to these moments.

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