Finally, The Gang's All HERE( Fifteen Of Us)

Cousin Love

Beth and Her Nieces

Pensive Hayden 

It was another overcast and wet morning at 6;15 when I got up and now, at 7:00, it has not changed though it's not raining...yet.  It's 55º, will perhaps get in to the 70's later in the day.  I looked at the long range forecast and if it's accurate, they are forecasting rain every day.  So, we will have jump when the sun comes out, move to the outdoors, the dock, the lake or boat, then inside when it rains.

Mary Goes Hollywood

Jilly Bean

Another morning of slow rising, as each adult, then a child, would come downstairs, sleepy, looking for something to drink, coffee, or eat, cereal if Evie wasn't up, but if she was, they could just put in an order.  She's often like a short order cook in the morning, meeting the culinary wants of her grandchildren.  I went early to the Lighthouse to pick up six pounds of ground chuck, because we were have juicy lucy's, burgers stuffed with American cheese, a meal the boys found on some Food Network show three or four years ago and since then, we have made them every year.  I also picked up a couple of bags of Utz chips, a barrel of their pretzels, some ice, so we were ready for the day.

Ramiro Poses

A Happy Halle

We lazed around the house most of the morning, thinking of what we should do but I did not want to commit to anything away from the house because Jill and family were coming a day early, around noon, to surprise everyone so I wanted all of us to be at the house. After the girls got up and had cereal, Evie took both of them on her kayak, one sitting on the front, the other on the back, and they explored around the docks.

Kayaking With Marisa and Marlena

Around 11:00, all of us were hungry for some reason, so Tommy cooked a pound of bacon, fried some eggs, cut up avocado and tomatoes, and made eggs and bacon and tomato sandwiches for any of the crew that wanted it.  A great sandwich by the way.

Hayden and Jill Arrive

Drew, Too

And just about noon, they arrived to screams and yells from everyone because no one was expecting them till the next day. Hugs all around, screaming and yelling, bags up stairs, then all the girls piled into bedroom, on to the mattresses, and it was like they have never been apart, bosom friends forever.  It's fun to see.  Jill and Drew look great, have recovered from his retirement parties from two weeks ago.

Girls Go Jump In The Lake

Bosom Friends

Toweling Off

Halle, the Youngest

By 1:00 the girls were in the water, as the sun was out, then Tom and Drew took them tubing for about forty five minutes.  The lake was calm and not very busy, so tubing was easy and fun.  We were able to sit out on the dock for a couple of hours, till it rained briefly, when we came inside.  Beth and I decided to drive to Barcelona, on Lake Erie, to get some rocks for the grandchildren to paint, so that took about two hours, an hour of gathering, an hour of coming and going, picking up a Portage Pie, and stopping at Topps.  It was sunny at the beach, and sunny at home, as well, so everyone was in the yard, enjoying the hiatus from the rain. Tom, Drew, and Rami took the girls and Tyler for a cruise, parked at Bemus, had a beer at the Seezurh House, and bought the girls sweat shirts at Skillman and Wright.

The Cool Ones In New Sweatshirts

Relaxing On The Seezurh House Porch

Most of us sat out side, under the tree, before dinner, as Evie had the burgers made, though she was also making homemade french fries, so she spent a good deal of time twice frying them on the back porch. We had a typical picnic meal, though inside because it was getting cool.

Tom and Nick

Nick and I grilled the juicy lucy's,  Jill did the corn, and Evie did the final frying of the potatoes, all done around 7:15.  We put all the food and condiments on the island in our kitchen, and everyone made burgers to their own specification.  Everything tasted really good, nothing was left, which means, I suppose, we could have made more burgers and fries, but noone went away hungry.

Dinner For Fifteen

Boys Bar

After dinner, Drew and Tom built a fire in our fire pit, and we all sat outside, around it, making smores, talking and drinking beer.  We came in around 9:30, to have our all berry pie and ice cream, or brownies and ice cream.  The girls ambled up to bed around 10:00, with most of the adults to follow, as we were tired, some from the ride, others from just fatigue.  Another fun day at the lake.