Brilliant Sunrise On A Wednesday Morning

Girls Growing Up, Way too Fast

Beth at the Park

Our College Bound Grandson, Tyler, Plunking His Guitar

6:25

 Up at 6:20 and I almost didn't sit outside on the porch  because of the sun but by the time I got my coffee and Mac, clouds hid the sun, so here I am, on the porch, no boats, some clouds, sleeping grandchildren, and only the sound of birds, a brief morning of quiet before the gang awakens, ready for bear.  It's 52º, an open window kind of night, perfect for sleeping.

Yesterday morning, the girls stayed upstairs in their beds till we finally got them downstairs, for some breakfast before going off to pick blue berries, a yearly rite of passage, where we have gotten to know the owners of the Blue Berry Farm, Dave and Margaret Smith,  a couple who left the East Coast to live the simple life, sort of, on a blueberry farm.  We thought we would be the only one's there, on a Tuesday morning, but there were at least 12 cars in their yard.  The couple have a wonderful dog, tied to their door but will do all sorts of tricks for a treat, from rolling over to a high five.  Margaret gave the girls treats for the dogs and showed them how to get him to do his tricks. The girls had a great time with him, before we walked to the blue berry fields.  Lots of blue berries this year, most, however, needed another few days to ripen, so we had to be careful to look for the dark blue berries, the sweetest at this time.  We ended up up with close to ten pounds of berries, and Evie took the usual bunch of photos of the berry picking, as it's a great venue for taking pictures, and we have photos of berry picking from the past three or four years, the classic being the photo of the family with berry picking pails on their heads.

Mitch At The Park

Grandfather and Grandson Ruminating On Life's Challenges

When we got home, the girls wanted to have lunch on the boat, so Evie and Beth put together an easy to eat lunch of cheese and crackers, guacamole and chips, apples and peanut butter, and drinks, and we went for a cruise on a surprisingly windy day.  It was fun to be on the lake, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies as the kids ate, laughed, wrapped themselves in blankets, hung over the front of the boat and fed the ducks, as we floated off of Long Point for a bit.

When we returned, the girls wanted to swim, so swim we did, playing hide and seek, tag, any other game you can come up with in the water with five rafts.  The  girls loved to sit on the raft, waiting for Tyler to come by, underwater, and try to tip the raft, throwing them off.  What fun.  We enjoyed the dock and water until about 3:00, when the girls went in to make more ring bracelets(they give the away as presents to neighbors and friends) and practice their dance routine in the yard.  They also went off to visit our neighbors, Pat Jones, with her two dogs, Abbey and Libby, and Joyce, our next door neighbor.  They love visiting them. While the girls were being neighborly, Evie put together a peach/blue berry crisp for dessert later in the evening, watched over by Mitch and Tyler as it cooked.

Halle Bissell, Eight Years Old

Marlena Davis, Ten Years Old

Hayden Bissell, Twelve Going on Thirteen

Marisa Albarran, Nine Going On Ten

Around 6:00, we took the boat over to the Casino, for wings, games, and rough housing on the playground.  The grandchildren love coming for wings, especially the boys, who devoured over  30 wings between the two of them.  The girls played the various games in the Casino, spending twenty bucks to win four cheap rubber balls but what the heck,  they were happy.  The Casino was fairly crowded for a Tuesday evening, probably because it was a nice night.  After wings, we went out to the playground, where the girls played on the swings, and Tyler and Evie took mega silly pictures, mostly close ups.  We left for home around 8:00, drove under the bridge for Hayden, then home, to play Spud in the yard before it got dark. Evie then made ice cream cones for two of the girls, as the rest of us wanted the delicious peach/blue berry crisp with ice cream.  There are few desserts better than a crisp and ice cream  during the summer.   Around 9:00, the girls wanted to watch the show America's Got Talent, so they stayed up till about 10:00 before going to bed.  The boys stayed up and watched The Untouchables but I want off to read, finishing LIFE AFTER LIFE, beginning THE BURGESS BOYS.

Halle with Her Baba