The Gang's 'Almost' All Here

We're Back

7:06

Morning At The Lake, On Our Devices

Well, so much for a quiet morning with my coffee, device, and lake.  I came down at 6:45 and my grandson, Mitch, is sitting in the living room.  He had just gotten in after a delayed flight and car ride at 4:00 a.m. and was already up.  We talked about his amazing summer, a week on Mykonos, a week in London with a friends' family.  Similar to my summer after freshmen year when I got to go to Geneva On The Lake for a day.  It looks like rain later in the day and it's a cloudy morning although the lake seems busy. Tom and I just got back from a choppy battle over to Long Point and back and I took a quick swim and shampoo before coming in to finish the blog at 9:40

Kayaking With My Son, Tommy

Yesterday was D Day here at the lake, as Tom and family were arriving in Buffalo at 4:30, Beth and family later tonight.  So after a kayak paddle and breakfast and list making, Evie and Halle took off for a final 'big shopping day' at Sam's and Wegman's.  Fortunately, I stayed home although I had a 'to do' list as well.  First, I tried out Evie's new 'tres expensive' window cloths, two of them for thirty bucks.  Basically, you wipe the window down with one damp cloth, shine it with the other.  And, by god, it seems to work and is easy.  The only problem, since it's so easy, I am sure Evie will get me out there in the bushes more often.  Once that was done, it was time to launch our mega raft.  I made sure it was fully inflated and dragged it out into the water and tied it to the buoy.  It was like having another floating dock.  I also had to drive over to Chautauqua Brick to pick up a part for a kitchen drawer which broke the previous night.  Fortunately, they had the part and I was able to fix the silverware drawer before our kids arrived, just like a handy man.  By the time I was finished with my chores, Evie and Halle arrived with a car groaning with more groceries.  We quickly tried to put things away but were running out of room in both the refrigerator and pantry, so we got out an IKEA bag to store all the snack foods.

Our final tasks were to get the air conditioner out of the attic and put it in the TV room window and start arranging beds, mattresses, blankets, and pillows in various bedrooms.  Once that was done, Evie and Halle went out in the water and struggled to get on her new float while I had lunch, the last of the pizza and corn chowder.  I took a dip around 2:00, to cool off before my hour and a half drive to the Buffalo Airport.  I was there a little early, a good thing because Tom's flight was early.

Arrival, Finally In Buffalo

We were actually in the car and on the road by 4:30, supposedly the time for the plane to arrive. When we got home, around 6:00, Evie had already cut the lawn and was sitting with Halle on the picnic table with a camera, ready to take photos of our arrival.

After the hugs and alohas,  Marlena quickly got her bathing suit on and went swimming with Halle. The rest of us brought in the bags and I got out beers and Evie made up some guacamole.

A Buff Nick

All of us then went out on the dock to enjoy the beginning of the evening and watched the girls swim. Evie, of course, took mega photos of the girls and Nick jumping in the lake.

Marlena's Back

"Head Over Heels"

Nick

Nicky

Half Of The Grandgirls

Tom also got his suit on and went for a nice cooling swim before dinner.

Corn Shucking With Jill On Facetime

By 7:00, we were all hungry so we went in and started organizing for dinner.  Evie had made up pulled pork earlier in the week, so all she had to do was heat it up, add barbecue sauce and make some coleslaw and we had a great dinner, with sweet corn.

Dinner

We ate outside, of course, because it was a beautiful evening.  We didn't get inside until it got dark.
And Evie and the gang sat on the couch and oohed and aahed over the Shutterfly book from last summer.

Looking At Last Summer's Shutterfly Album

While that was happening, Mary and I did up the dishes.  By the time we finished, some of us were tired but the girls wanted to play Telefunky, so the four of them played until 11:00.  Tom and Nick went up to bed around 10:30 and I followed just before the girls finished.  Halle and Marlena were sleeping on the floor in our bedroom so I stayed up reading until they came up.  We expected Beth and Rami and family around 2:00 but they did not get in until close to 4:00 a.m.

It looks like rain later in the day as I finished this and Tom, Mary, and Evie are also now up, on their devices, joining Mitchell and me.