Hargus Lake!

When I was growing up, there was almost nothing I loved better than a Hargus Lake picnic. Hargus Lake is a little lake on a little corner of a little Ohio State Park. But no matter its size or lack of amenities, or even inclement weather, our extended family (loads of cousins, peppered with a few assorted friends, boyfriends, and girlfriends) just had a blast there. For years.

What a joy to find out nothing has changed.

The same family, extended down a few more branches, met up at Hargus Lake last weekend with a familiar assortment of boyfriends, brownies, small boats, and lawn games. (Well, things were familiar enough - Horseball and Cornhole have replaced Jarts and Croquet.)

As we perched under the shelter during on-again, off-again rains, I realized my jaded pre-teen daughter was having a blast, too. The next day, I heard her tell a friend about how much fun she'd had. "Just a picnic," I think was how she described it.

Yeah, but it's so much more.