As soon as I got into Strafford, I dropped my stuff off at the hotel that my parents were staying in and then immediately headed over to Portsmith to meet up with Cousin Katie (who you may remember from such long-ago diary entries as 1997's Visiting Boston With Cousin Katie, here's us with her friend Erin. ˆ kate crowelll ˆ me ˆ

Katie's a painter and we headed over to one of the galleries that was exhibiting some of her rad-ass paintings. ˆ art ˆ painting ˆ

This picture is art too. It's called "Katie and Art = Art." Noice, right? ˆ kate crowelll ˆ art ˆ painting ˆ

After art, we headed over to the local diner for some late-night grub. ˆ kate crowelll ˆ food ˆ

I only included this picture because it shows Katie's wonderful little hair knobby thingies. ˆ kate crowelll ˆ me ˆ

After food we went back to the loft Katie's staying at in the "Button Factory." (For those of you not "in the know" with Portsmith, the Button Factory is huge, former, yup you guessed it, Button Factory that they've converted into Artist in Residence lofts. It's basically the Williamsburg of NH, ya dig?) ˆ kate crowelll ˆ door ˆ

The place was frigging reeeediculous. Had two huge rooms, a very large second floor loft and.... ˆ loft ˆ

...a bad-ass third-floor bedroom that was actually a glass box of all windows up on the roof! ˆ kate crowelll ˆ best ˆ roof ˆ

We hung out late so I ended up crashing at Katie's where I surely would've gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes if it hadn't been for the battery-operated, ultrasonic mosquito-repelling keychain my parents had given me earlier on in the evening! ˆ bed ˆ loft ˆ

Who's this handsome devil? Yes siree Bob! That's B.Batch, Sr. ice-grilling in front of his ride, yo. ˆ dad ˆ jeep ˆ truck ˆ

That's Cousin Kevin Crowell (who taught me how to water ski when I was a wee lad!) ferrying us over to the island for a small memorial service and burying of the ashes. ˆ kate crowelll ˆ kevin crowell ˆ me ˆ boat ˆ bow lake ˆ

That's my mom at the bow. (If you look closely, you can see the boathouse peeking out at the very tip of Beech Island in the background). ˆ me ˆ mom ˆ beech island ˆ boat ˆ bow lake ˆ dock ˆ

The Steinmuller Boathouse. ˆ beech island ˆ boathouse ˆ bow lake ˆ flag ˆ

The view from the dock. That's Popcorn Island straight ahead. We used to snorkel out to it and explore when I was a leeetle kid. ˆ bow lake ˆ dock ˆ popcorn island ˆ

Here's the champagne toast after the conclusion of the service (That's the main house in the background). ˆ beech island ˆ bow lake ˆ house ˆ

Here's my Aunt Kathy, Stephen's wife, in the main house by the jukebox. Along with Stephen, she was co-conspiriter in the toleration of my family during the many summers we invaded their otherwise quiet, island summer home. Thanks, Kathy! (PS - That jukebox had the 45 record of the Laura Brannigan song Gloria. People used to play that song over and over again. Funny how it ended up being my all-time favorite karaoke jam). ˆ kathy steinmuller ˆ bow lake ˆ jukebox ˆ

Cousin Katie and I at the dock. Starting to liven back up after 3 hours of crying our eyes out. ˆ kate crowelll ˆ me ˆ smile ˆ

After the ceremony, we all headed over the Grange Hall on the mainland for a much larger memorial service in Stephen's honor. Brian and Brian in the back of the boat! ˆ brian crowell ˆ brian kelly ˆ boat ˆ bow lake ˆ

Me, Katie, Brian Kelly, and Brian Crowell. (We all grew up together spending our summer on Beech Island with Uncle Stephen.) ˆ brian crowell ˆ brian kelly ˆ kate crowelll ˆ me ˆ

After the Grange Hall, the family all headed back to island for some food and final bonding time. ˆ dad ˆ kate crowelll ˆ me ˆ boat ˆ bow lake ˆ

Which included fucking around on....THE BONGO BOARD! My dad and his brother grew up spending his summers at a different lakehouse with Stephen and his brothers where they would get drunk and see who could stay balanced on the Bongo Board the longest. ˆ kate crowelll ˆ beech island ˆ bongo board ˆ bow lake ˆ

Uncle Donald shows us all what's up. ˆ donald steinmuller ˆ beech island ˆ bongo board ˆ bow lake ˆ

Goodbye, Uncle Stephen. We miss you and we'll never forget you. ˆ me ˆ beech island ˆ bongo board ˆ bow lake ˆ