Hanging Out With A Three Year Old Great Grandson

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Preparing Our Parking Area For Asphalt

Our Boy Loving Watching The Digger

With Baba

6:51

It's just after 7:00, and I've been up since 6:20, waiting for the sky to lighten. The lake is perfectly calm, so I'm excited to get out on the water despite the gray, overcast sky and 56º. As I pulled into the yard, I noticed a "digger," as Rhys calls it, and a dump truck sitting out back, ready to excavate our parking area for asphalt. Rhys is so excited that he's sitting outside watching the guy begin.  

Kayak Morning

North

Long Point/Prendergast Point

Morning Heron

Prancing Heron

Monday began with an early coffee, and Rhys rose around 6:40, ready for bear. I then took a 50-minute paddle with, fortunately, a fairly light north wind. When I got back, everyone was up, and Rhys was playing with a new farm set Evie had set out the night before. He is amazingly good at playing on his own and doesn't seem to need adult attention or favor. By 9:30 we were hungry, so Tom volunteered to make scrambled eggs and toast. Rhys shoveled the eggs into his mouth, usually with a fork, occasionally with his hand. He's a good eater, at least of the things he likes.

Loving Books

Hat Man

Having Tom around has been great because he's so much more adept with computers and with putting things together, something I seem to lack more and more. First, Evie was given an amazing birdhouse for her birthday by her sister Claire. It has a camera inside that takes photos of the birds and sends them to your computer and Photos. Putting it together wasn't hard, but syncing the camera with the computer was difficult for me and easy for Tom, so we were done in half an hour and ordered a bird pole from Amazon, which arrives today. Yippee! Then we tackled a Skylight Digital Picture Frame, a gift to Evie and me from my Robert College students a year ago, which we never got to work. Tom figured out how to reset the password and connect it to our computer, and now photos from the past 60 years pop up on our frame. Two Yippees!

Loving His Nani

Meanwhile, Rhys played with his toys, including the new farm set, and took advantage of two grandmas willing to read to him whenever he got bored. He had lunch around 11:45 and went down for a two-hour nap at noon. We had a choice of chili or tuna and macaroni salad. After lunch, we were either on our devices or napping. By 3:00 Rhys was up and we wanted to do something, so we drove over to the Chautauqua Institution and browsed the bookstore because Mary wanted to get a sweatshirt for Tommy. Unfortunately, none were small enough, but Rhys talked Evie into buying a fire truck, so he was happy. We then drove down to the Bell Tower, where there's a playground made mostly of old tree trunks, and Rhys loved exploring the various apparatus.

Loving His New Fire Truck

Mary, Tom, And Evie

Playing At The CI Beach

Crossing The Swinging Bridge

Once he'd had enough, we drove home and relaxed with a glass of wine or two until 6:00, a nice way to end the afternoon. Earlier, Evie had made Turkish koftes, so Tom and I grilled them for about ten minutes and brought them inside for Evie to assemble into a Turkish Iskender kebab: pita, koftes, and tomato sauce, topped with yogurt, a family favorite. With corn on the cob, it was a feast. Rhys went to bed around 8:00, and we watched the first half of the NFL game before joining him. What a fun day.

Overcast And 56º

Go Chiefs, Go Bills

6:47

It's 7:00, and I've been up since 6:20. The dark sky has turned gray, with not a hint of sun at the moment, and a 6-mph wind from the north might make my paddle back more difficult if it picks up. I'm getting tired of windy mornings. It's 8:25, and we're all up, watching Rhys play with his trucks. I was out for 50 minutes on a cloudy, gray morning. It didn't rain, and the northern wind was light enough that I had no trouble kayaking back to Woodlawn.

Kayak Morning

Great Blue

Eagle

On Woodlawn Dock

Yesterday was a full day, thanks to Rhys and the Bills and Chiefs game. It started with an early wake-up and a brief 15-minute paddle because of the wind. Once everyone was up, we decided on buttermilk pancakes, and Rhys helped Granny make the batter. We sat down and devoured them, and Rhys, of course, ate his share. We weren't sure what to do with the day, so I suggested driving to Lakewood, getting coffees at Ryder's Cup, and then taking Rhys to the playground just down the street. It's a great playground, with two levels, one for older kids and one for younger. Rhys loved it, and we stayed close to an hour before heading home.

Rhys And Tom and Hydrangeas

Getting Coffee

Walking Down To Playground

The Great Grandparents

The rest of the afternoon was organized around NFL football. The games started at 1:00, so Evie volunteered to stay home with Rhys while he napped. The three of us went over to 14 Main in Bemus, a sports bar with four games on various TVs: Bills, Steelers, Browns, and Chiefs. We wore our Chiefs shirts into the bar, but I wore my Bills hat, so we were welcomed. We ordered beer and lunch: soup, loaded fries, and a sausage sandwich for Tom. Fans sat around the TV of their favorite team. Most of the patrons were Bills fans, although there was a loud contingent of Steelers fans. Evie called just after halftime, so I went back and picked up her and Rhys and brought them to the bar. We sat around for another hour, ordering more beers, some onion rings, and chicken tenders. Rhys was happy to sit on Mary's lap for a good half hour before he and Evie played with the bowling machine. It was a good day for the fans, because all four teams with viewers won: Bills, Chiefs, Steelers, and Browns.

Loving His Trucks

Putting Together The Puzzle With Rhys

After the game, we walked down to the Casino, which was closing for the season, and Mary and Evie took Rhys to the playground for a bit. We then headed home and relaxed from our afternoon of viewing with a glass of wine or beer. While we were at the game, Evie had put together eggplant sandwiches and had already made artichoke soup. That was our dinner, and it was just right after all we'd eaten during the game.

Our House At Night, Photo By Our Neighbor, Joe

We kept Rhys up until 8:00 to keep him on schedule, and he went quickly to sleep. About 9:00 Evie and Mary then went up to bed, and Tom and I watched the first half of the Rams/Broncos game before joining them.

Swaths Of Color Fill The Morning Sky

Airport

Rhys Arrives At The Lake

6:45

6:16

It's 6:42, and I've been up for a half hour on a 50º morning. Rhys is sleeping in so far, which is great for his grandparents. It looks like another windy morning paddle, with a brisk northerly wind, alas. It just turned 7:00, and the roar of bass boats fills the air as they fire out of Long Point Marina. It's 7:43, and Tom, Mary, and Rhys are up. Rhys is full of pep while the three of us sit around, nursing our coffee, trying to wake up. I kayaked for 20 minutes into the wind. It took me close to 15 minutes to get halfway down Woodlawn, into the fierce northerly wind, then I coasted back in 5. I did manage a moon shot, as well as a heron on one of the neighbors' docks.

Kayak Morning

Heron On Woodlawn Dock

Rhys Morning

Making Buttermilk Pancakes

Saturday was a busy morning, putting the finishing touches on Tom, Mary, and Rhys's arrival. I did get in an energetic paddle because of the wind, and had the blog written and published by 9:30. My last two tasks were to vacuum and clean both porches, something I usually do every month or two. Thinking back over the past few days, having company makes us give the house a good cleaning — something we ought to do every month or two but don't. Instead, we wait for company. While I was porch-sitting, Evie was cooking and cleaning as well. My final task before lunch was to vacuum upstairs, an easy 15-minute job.

Lunch was great: BLTs and soup, and I watched some football before reading and trying to nap. I took a shower, then left for the airport around 1:45, knowing their flight was on time. I arrived around 3:15, a half hour early, which was fine. Both flights were easy, and I met them at the gate just before 4:00. We got the bags, strapped Rhys's car seat into the car, and drove home the back way — the scenic route, a little over an hour and a half drive. Evie was sitting outside waiting for us at 5:45, and Rhys couldn't wait to see her.

Rhys And His Papa

Rhys And Nani

The living room was filled with toys, and somehow Rhys remembered from two years ago, because he went right in and started playing with trucks. The three of us sat around the fireplace area, watching Rhys and Evie play with trucks, puzzles, and all the other kids' stuff Evie's saved from when our grandchildren would visit.

Tommy

Tommy

We had dinner around 6:45 — chili with fixings, corn on the cob, and cornbread. Rhys had grapes, mac and cheese, and loved the cornbread. Dinner was perfect, just what we wanted on a cool Saturday evening. Afterward, Rhys went upstairs, and Mary put him to bed fairly easily, despite it being a new bedroom. The four of us then sat around on our devices, occasionally talking and sharing a funny meme, until 9:00, when all four of us went up to bed, tired but happy from our day.

Harvest Moon

It Looks Like A Good Saturday

Rhys, our great-grandson, has just gotten a haircut for his trip to visit us. We can't wait, and he will be here for five days with his grandparents, Tom and Mary.

6:23

7:12

8:03

It's 7:00, and I have been up since 6:30. I usually walk out on the porch and take a photo of the morning sky. Well, the last couple of mornings, a pontoon boat has been parked in front of our yard. In fact, he seems to have been there on and off during the summer. If I walk out on the lawn, I can usually hide his boat behind a tree. It's funny that there are over forty miles of lakefront and this guy chose to park in front of our house. This time it was lit up because it was still dark. Since it had just turned 7:00, the bass tournament began as one bass boat after another roared out of Long Point Marina. And just as I was paddling home, duck hunters fired their shotguns, scaring the heck out of me because they must have been close. Whatever happened to a quiet, empty lake? I did get in a good paddle for 50 minutes, although I had a tough paddle home because of the heavy northerly wind.

Woodlawn

Into the Sun

Kayak Morning

Friday was a busy day, starting as usual with my paddle, blog, and breakfast. We enjoyed our coffee and spent most of the time putting together a list for Wegmans, trying to anticipate all we might need for the next five days when Tom, Mary, and Rhys visit. We were off for Wegmans by 9:45, and I dropped Evie off and returned a shirt I'd bought at Walmart because it was too large. I then returned to Wegmans and followed Evie around aisle after aisle as she loaded up the cart to overflowing. In fact, I had to get a second cart when we checked out.

We were home by noon and spent a good half hour putting things away and making sure we knew where we'd put them. We are getting older! We had cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch along with Evie's soup, and I watched another episode of Lioness. While Evie continued to work on getting the house ready, I tried to nap but ended up reading for a half hour instead. I then went out and spent the next hour mowing the yard, edging the brick walkways, things like that. Finally, I helped Evie by washing the porch windows just as it turned 5:00 — time for a glass of wine.

Earlier, Evie had prepped dinner, baking potatoes, making a salad, and getting two steaks ready for grilling. By 6:30, we were enjoying our dinner and watching a couple of shows, happy with what we'd gotten done during the day. Once Evie went to bed, I tried to find a show to watch and ended up with a series called The German. It's about a couple of Israelis who survived the Holocaust, and the husband has to go to Germany for business. It's good so far, and hard to watch at times when it cuts to the concentration camps.

Full Moon

Moon Rise