Waiting For Our Son Tom's Family

Granny With Hayden And Halle

Halle

Hayden

Marlena

Evie and Marisa

6:15

Up at 6:00, some color off to the east, the sky, however, is mostly overcast.  We must have had more rain last night, as the lawn and walks are still wet, not sure how much.  At least it rained some both in the morning and last night.  It's still muggy, a warm 68º already, likely to rain later in the day and get into the 80's.  The sad part of the morning, however, is that Jill and family have to leave for home today after a week with us.

Yesterday we had a wonderful rain for close to two hours.  Though it may not have added up to an inch, I will take it.  It was pleasant to have our morning coffee, surrounded by some of the family, sitting in our living room listening to the rain.  It seems like forever since we have heard rain on the trees and roofs.  It stopped around 10:00, so it was time for me to gather up the trash from the week, and take it, lots of it, off to the Transfer Station.  When I got back, Jill and Drew had picked up some ice, so we iced the drinks for the day.  I rearranged our cars, putting my Pilot up the hill, as with Tom's arrival, we were running out of parking spots.

Porching It With Most Of The Family

Moms And Cousins

Tom And Son, Nick

For some reason, perhaps the fact it was overcast, we did not spend much time out on the dock.  I swam early, after my chores but that was it.  And the girls did not hit the dock until their cousin, Marlena arrived, around 3:30, to a rousing welcome.  Finally, we had all but two of our family together if only for a night.  Because we knew that Tom's family would be dressed up from their plane trip, we immediately went to the front porch for our annual family picture.  It's always agony to get the kids to cooperate, to get eveyone in their place but it was fairly easy this year.  Perhaps they are growing up.

Halle Chic

Marlena Chic

After the pictures, as I mentioned, the girls got their suits on and were out on the dock, swimming with their Granny while the rest of us sat on the porch, drinking beer or sipping wine and talking.  Tom and Jill's families had not seen each other since December, 2016.

Cousins

Ready For The Group Jump

We Are Off

Air Bound

We sat on the porch till around 7:00, enjoying each others' company, getting off it when Mitch decided to fly his drone.  And a couple of my former students and volleyball players, who were renting a house on Woodlawn, stopped over to say hi.  I don't think I have seen them since they graduated in the early 90's.  They are both mom's now, look great, and are back living in Hudson, where they grew up.  While we talked, the girls practiced their gymnastics.

Hand Stands # 1

# 2

Head Stand Perfection

Dinner was mostly easy, if they are ever easy, as Evie had made two trays of baked ziti a couple of weeks ago especially for this Saturday when we would all be together.  All she had to do is make the bechamel sauce with Mitch's help, along with corn, salad, and garlic bread, we feasted, as everyone loves Evie's baked ziti.

Dinner For Thirteen

Dishes were done quickly, some bean bag was played, and then the girls and guys played another game of Telefunky until around 10:00. We then sat around the living room, no one wanting to go up to bed, played a few rounds of charades before heading up to bed. The best part of the evening was dessert, ice cream sandwiched between two layers of a molasses cookie, a Marisa special.  Everyone loved it, wanted more, and the recipe.  Our family sure enjoys cooking.

Nick, The Card Shark

Telefunky With Funky Aunt Jill

Gentle Rain, Gentle Rain

North End Of Lake (Victoria Neighbor's Dock Visible), Photo Taken By Mitchell's Drone At 900 Feet 

6:01

7:30

It's just after 7:00, a quiet house except for the soft rain falling.  I have been up for an hour, watching the sky turn to gray, the rain blur the landscape.  It's been a long time since I have felt a morning like this, the quiet deliciousness of a summer rain, with no thunder or lightning.  A few poor guys are still out fishing off of Long Point.  Today looks like rain on and off and cooler, not quite the perfect summer beginning for our son Tom and him family who arrive from KC later in the day.

I really don't remember where yesterday went to be honest.  I know we were here at the lake most of the day, with an excursion or two but still, it's a blank until I think hard about it.  I remember Evie helping Marisa make Marisa's making special molasses cookies, the size of a cake, in which ice cream was sandwiched between the two layers and frozen for later in the day.  No runs or bike rides yesterday, as Jill and Drew drove to Lakewood, to pick up a cane of all things because Drew's knee has really been bothering him.  They also got the ice, so when they returned,  I iced the beer and water for another day at the dock.

Loving Their Granny

I remember kids spread around the house, in very phases of boredom, the kind we remember from our youth when it was too hot to go outside and there was little to do inside.  Fortunately, for this generation, they have their devices.  Some were watching shows, others instagraming.  Mitch was editing various shots from his Drone and Marisa was editing her GoPro short films.  Beth and Jill were sitting around waiting for it to cool off, Beth reading a book, then browsing her iPad.  Jill, mostly was on her phone, using it like a computer to search the web.  And Evie was in the kitchen, on and off, prepping the twice baked potatoes with Marisa and Halle while the rest of us lazed around.  I was busy, sort of,  kayaking across the lake and back early, then bringing in the floats, refilling them with air, taking them back out to the dock, swimming, then rearranging cars, taking some weeds up the hill, getting those little things done which only a host knows about.

Evie And The Weeds

Mid afternoon, we all were on the dock until it got too hot, the only hiatus for lunch. It felt good to sit inside, in the air cooled house, a relief from the sweltering heat and humidity.  The only place which was cool outside was the lake.  So Evie spent a good hour keeping cool by wading and cutting weeds while most of us relaxed inside.  Around 5:00, we went or a nice cruise, beyond the bridge and back, and the new sparkplugs in my outboard seemed to make a difference.  We actually seemed to get the old girl up to 24 mph with a full boat load.  Wow.

Steak and Potatoes, Yum!

When we got home, it was time for dinner.  Jill and Beth helped Evie get things ready in the kitchen and I grilled two marinated sirloins outside.  We were having twice baked potatoes, salad, and thinly slice steak with a chimichurri sauce, an Argentinian flair.  Every thing was delicious and Mitch's hope to make a cheese steak out of the leftover steak was too optimistic as it was all gone.

Chautauqua Belle At Dusk

After dinner we had another round of bean bag and to my surprise, Hayden and I were victorious, beating Mitch and Evie in the finals.  We were finally driven inside by the bugs around 8:45 and the rest of the evening was taken up with Telefunky.  The girls are really getting it down, so it's been lots of fun for them.  The game finished around 10:30 and the girls hurried upstairs, tired or anxious to get back on their devices.

Sunset of North End Of Chautauqua Lake

A Hazy, Lazy Friday Morning

6:16

6:24

6:25

A muted sunrise, as the haze has created a light pink morning sky and lake.  It's 6:45 and I have been up since before 6:00, sitting on our front porch until the sun rose.  It's 68º (humidity: 98%) and I assume we will be having another warm, close day, with a slight chance of rain.  Always slight.

Tres Chic

Granny And H and H

Marisa's Smile

Thursday was another busy family day at the lake.  As usual,  I went off to breakfast with the guys before anyone got up.  Four of us ordered our eggs, coffee and sides, the one time a week I eat supposedly unhealthy.  When I got home, the adults and even grandchildren were up because both Mitchell and Hayden wanted to get in a run over at Long Point.  So after a quick breakfast, five of us drove over to Long Point for a morning run or ride.  Jill and I rode our bikes, through the park and neighborhoods, all the way to Midway Park and back, and the rest ran through the woods and out to the tip of Long Point and back.  I came straight back, the others had to have their iced coffee and they shopped briefly at the Bemus Point Market.

The Bissells At Play

Dad And His Girls

Ladies Of The Lake

And that was it for trips until later in the day.  The girls were getting ready to go out on the dock with Evie and the gang would then spend much of the afternoon out on the dock, mostly lazing in their floats or rafts, the coolest place in Chautauqua County.  I did some weed gathering, took them up the hill, and mid afternoon, Evie and Mitch made a short cake, with lots of heavy cream.  Various groups of two or three would come in for something to eat or drink, but eventually head back out on the dock to enjoy the sun.

Around 4:00, Drew and I drove off to get a few things done. First, we stopped at Keystone Used Cars, to look at trucks.  I want a truck.  They had a couple that were interesting but when I checked the blue book prices, they were asking twice what the blue book said it was worth.  And so it goes. We then stopped at Wegman's and Home Depot briefly, then Hollyloft Bike shop to pick up another gadget for my bike that I don't need.  All this was preparation for the real reason for the excursion.  A stop at Brazil's Craft Beer and Wine Lounge.  Drew loved it, of course, a real local, yet upscale bar, and he ordered a flight of beers, one that had an 18% alcohol content.  Needless to say, he did not finish it.  We stayed for an hour, then headed home because we knew dinner was awaiting.

Neighborhood Duck

Up Close and Personal

Petting The Ducks

Toe Feeding

When we got home, all were in the front yard, as Mitch was flying his drone and the girls were at the water's edge, feeding a raft of baby ducks with cracked corn.  We then had some serious games of bean bag; once again Marisa and I lost in the first round to Mitchell and Evie, the eventual champions, and I got one chance to throw the bags before losing 15-0.

Bean Baggers

Around 7:15, Mitch and I fired up the grill and browned some marinated zucchini before filling up the grill with spicy Turkish koftes.  We hardly had room to turn them but between Mitch, Drew and I, we did a fine job of grilling them.  This Turkish Iskender kebab is a family favorite.  Once the koftes were done, dinner was easy, squash, green beans and salad.  And we had strawberry shortcake to look forward to after dinner.  We kept going back for seconds until we ran out of strawberries.  We then had to decide between a fire or Telefunky, a card game our family has played for years.  Telefunky won and we played until 10:30 and Mitch and Evie won again.  It seems to me as though the teams are fixed, with Evie and Mitch winning at both bean bag and Telefunky.

Dinner With Mitchell

Strawberry Shortcake

It's now 7:30 and Drew and Evie are up, talking politics, as we listen to a wrap up of the Democratic Convention on MSNBC.

Overcast And Cool

Sunset Over Woodlawn/Magnolia/Whitney Bay Taken From My Grandson Mitch's Drone at 9:00 PM

8:30 Sunset from Boat

Two Bikers And A Runner

I slept in until 7:00, came down to a cloudy morning, no striking sunrise, just a return to the good old days of Chautauqua gray.  Where have you been?  It's 64º out and today should be a carbon copy of yesterday, sunny with a high in the 80's.

Yesterday was a busy day.  I was up early as usual, waiting for the gang to arise, had my breakfast of oats, blueberries, and yogurt on the dock before any of the kids were up.  Jill was interested in getting another bike ride in, so she, Drew, Hayden, and I packed up our bikes and we drove into Mayville as I thought it would be fun to ride the Webb Trail, a well taken care of snowmobile trail.  It was a good trail to ride, as it follows an old railroad track, thus it's mostly flat though as we found out, on the way out, it's slightly up hill, thus on the way back, we really made good time.  We went to the end of the trail, to Bentley Road and back, about six miles, close to an hour of riding.  It felt good to be on my bike again, the third time this week, a record for me.  On the way home, I picked up some ice, and Evie had the cooler ready for me.  Only Beth and the girls were home because Evie was off to Wegman's for another mega grocery shopping trip, the first in quite awhile.

Evie And Her Gaggle Of Granddaughters

I took the girls out on the dock, and we sun bathed and swam until around noon, then I went in and had a lunch of pizza from the previous night.  The girls obviously missed not having Evie around, so they were patiently waiting for her as was I.  I needed the car because Beth and I were driving to Buffalo to pick up Mitch as he was arriving from Dallas a 2:45.  She got home just before 1:00 and the whole gang helped her unload the car.  Beth and I then took off for Buffalo, picked up Mitch on time, and were back at the lake by 4:15, an easy three hour drive there and back.  Everyone was either on the dock or porch enjoying the afternoon and waiting patiently for 6:00 when we would jump in the boat and cruise over to the Casino for wings.

Cruising To The Bemus Point Casino

Marisa!

Wings And Pitchers

Mitch, Evie and I had to take a swim, however, so we did not leave until just after 6:00.  We easily found a slip at the Casino despite the fact it was locals night, when wings are half price.  We found a table big enough for all of us, had great service, and within 20 minutes, had our pops, pitchers of beer, glasses of wine, and various combinations of wings and fries.  By 7:30, we were stuffed and went out to the swings before walking down to the main street of Bemus for our requisite ice cream cones after wings.

Halle At The Swings

The Girls With Our Friends From Hudson

 Surprising Ron and Linda At Lenhart Porch

As I was standing in line, a good looking guy walked up, introduced himself, and it was Frank Day, one of my English students from Reserve's class of 1986.  A great kid, he is now an ER physician in Portland and was visiting his parents who spend their summer's at the Chautauqua Institution.  His father also came up since we had gotten to know each other when Frank was in school.  At the same time, our good friend Barb C., who lives in Hudson, also came up to say hi, so it was old friends night.  On our way back to the boat, we also ran into our friends Ron and Linda, who were sitting on the porch of the Lenhart with friends from the CI.  So it was a night of running into friends for us.

Our Grandchildren Enjoying 'The View' As We Cruise Home

We took a slow cruise home on another lovely night on the lake, as the sun made its way through the western sky clouds.  When we got home, Mitch wanted to try out his drone, so all of us went into the front yard and watched him fly his drone off over Long Point, then to Tom's Point towards Bemus Point and back.  It's an amazing device and he flies it like a pro with a joy stick.  We all huddled around behind him as the camera sent pictures back to his screen, so we could see what the drone was filming.  He took a photo of the setting sun as well as filming the entire flight.  We came in, so the girls could watch another episode of the Fosters and Mitch showed Evie and I various films he had taken with his drone.  We went to be after the Fosters, tired, still full of wings, but happy.

It's 9:30 and I just returned from breakfast with the guys and everyone is up, ready to go for a run at Long Point State Park, a healthy crew.

Mitch, Our Drones-Man