Sunny At The Lake

7:10

Kayak Morning

I missed the sun rise...rats, getting up later than usual at 6:30, hopefully a new routine.  It looks like another crappy day at the lake, more sunshine, blue skies, calm lake.  How tiresome.  And it's even cooled off some, making it even more pleasant to be out on the dock.  Around noon, Beth and I are driving off to Buffalo to pick up Beth's son Mitch, a soon to be freshman at the University of Texas in Austin, who is flying in for 10 days from Dallas.  We cannot wait to see him.

As for yesterday, it was perhaps the perfect day, sunny yet not uncomfortable because of the nice breeze, the lowered humidity, and lots of sun.  The girls slept in as usual, so Drew, Jill, and I decided we needed some exercise on such a great morning, so we drove off to Bemus Point for a bike ride.  We parked just beyond the bridge, then rode through downtown Bemus, down Lakeside Park and through Long Point Park to its tip and back, a great ride, just under an hour, my favorite ride by the way.  We stopped for coffee at Wired, Jill did some browsing and then I stopped at Hogan's, filling up a couple of five gallon cans of gas for the boat and getting ice.  When I got home, I drained the cooler, filled it up with more beer, pop, and wine, covered it with ice and I was done with my jobs for the day.

Hayden Instagraming

Evie and the girls had been busy while we were gone, having a breakfast of pancakes, then pulling into shore a couple of our floats with small leaks, blowing them back up again, and taking them back out to the buoy, where they form a flotilla of floats to lay on, to play on.  The rest of the day did not vary much from the previous days, lots of enjoying the sun and water, some naps, the girls watching shows on their devices when they had enough sun, and Evie mowing the lawn, making sure the clover was kept at a minimum.  Drew took Hayden out for a boat ride, letting her drive some which she loved, especially when she went fast, a hot rodder in the making.

Marisa Editing Her GoPro Film

Really, Mom!!!

Twinsies

Late afternoon, Jill and Drew drove over to Bemus to have a couple of beers at Ellicottville Brewing On Chautauqua, just missing their happy hour.  They sat outside at the lounge, as the good seats were for those who wanted dinner. When they had enough, we called Coppolo's Pizza, also in Bemus, ordered three large pizzas, and they picked them up and brought them home for dinner.  We were all hungry, so it was a pizza and salad night and all seem to think Coppolo's was really good pizza.

Working On Halle's Passing

Yea

Whack That Ball!

After dinner, we sat on the porch, played some bean bag and volleyball, as Halle, our youngest, is becoming a real volleyball enthusiast.  I worked with her some and she is getting really good for a 6th grader.  Around 9:00, the entire crew, minus Evie and me, adjourned to the TV room to watch an episode of their favorite TV show, the Fosters.  Neither Evie nor I had ever heard of it until we found out our kids were into it.  By 10:30 before everyone went up to bed.

Yesterday Morning Rain, This Morning Sun

Bean Bag Champs

The Old Smoothies

6:16

Halle And A Johnny Cash Fan

It looks like my new wake up time is 5:40, just as some light begins to invade our bedroom.  It's a peerless morning of blue skies, sans clouds, just sun, sky and lake.  It's cooled off a bit, 68º when I got up but it will get up into the 80's again, later in the day.

Yesterday began with an early morning kayaking with Drew, over to Long Point and back to the reeds and home, just a half hour out, as Jill, Beth, and I had yoga at 9:30 in Lakewood.  We left Evie to herself, as Drew went out paddling again, down to Snug Harbor and back, and the girls still sleeping. Yoga was packed, as crowded as I have ever seen it to my amazement, as I thought the warm weather and summer heat would keep the ladies away.  I was wrong.  Beth and Jill both loved the Yin class, especially, the skill of Danielle, our teacher.  We stopped at Ryder's Cup afterwards, and they got to meet all the regulars, Janice, Joyce, her parents, Dave.  So now they are regulars as well.

Morning Rain

We were home around 11:30 and Evie was making chocolate chip pancakes for the girls who seemingly had just gotten up.  What a joy it must be to sleep in until 10:30 or 11:00.  I had forgotten to get ice so I drove off to Hogan's and picked up 20 pounds, came home and set up the cooler for the day, with pop, water and beers.  We then all sat on the porch as the heavy rains hit the area, much to all delight and satisfaction.  I watched my boat, sans cover, get pelted and filled with water, the most likely reason it rained.  If I had covered it, it would not have rained.  We got over an inch in less than an hour, the Woodlawn roads filled with puddles, the Woodlawn Creek flowing.  I can understand how the indigenous peoples' looked at rain as a miracle, how what was brown after a rain turned green.  A few of us then had lunch since we were not part of chocolate chip pancake gang.  I had leftover spaghetti, Beth eggs, and Jill and Drew sandwiches.

Enjoying Beer And Lemonades At Ellicotville Brewery

Tubing

A Tubing Afternoon

And then, around 2:30, it cleared up, the skies turned blue and the sun began to burn away the rain, the air, however, filled with humidity.  The gang had decided to go to Bemus to shop when it was still cloudy, but by the time they left, it had turned nice.  So they were gone until about 4:30, hitting the Bemus stores and getting their first taste of the beers of the Ellicottville Brewery by ordering a flight.
While they were gone, I found a fit of energy, cleaned the weeds up, took them up the hill and gassed up my boat, readying it for our cruises.  Evie and I then enjoyed a brewski on the dock until the gang returned, ready to go tubing.  So Drew and I took the girls out, tubed until they had had enough of bouncing around and hitting each other, and it was time to get cleaned up for dinner.

My Dad

Crazy Cousins

On To The Viking Club

We left around 6:15 via boat for the Viking Club.  As always it seems, the lake had turned choppy, the wind picked up, so we had a slow, wet ride to the club.  In fact, Evie's t-shirt was soaked by the time we got there.  We found a table outside, got our beers, and put in an order for four Cubans and a Ruben sandwich.  Everyone loved their sandwiches and despite getting five for eight of us, we took a sandwich home.  The girls played on the playground as we talked and enjoyed the setting sun.  We left around 8:15 and because the lake had calmed down, we took our time going home, taking lots of pictures of the setting sun.  It was a lovely evening on the lake, and we were one of maybe two or three boats on the lake, the good life.

Don't Take My Picture

OK

Moi

Cruising Home From The Viking Club

When we got home, we played a round of bean bag, ending up playing in the dark and to Evie and my dismay, Jill and Hayden beat the two of us, the old veterans, in the finals.  Jill was out of her mind, throwing ringer after ringer, leading her team to victory.  We then went in and the girls and Evie watched Michelle Obama's carpool karoke with James Corden (loved it!) and then her speech at the DNC (Evie was in tears).  Most went up to bed around 10:00 but Beth and I stayed up talking until 10:45 and Evie watched more of the Democratic speeches in the TV room.  By 11:15, we were all in bed, sleeping or reading.

Setting Sun

We Got Rain (some)

Our Hayden

Our Marisa

Our Halle

7:05

I woke at 5:40, to a sticky house, looked outside and by gosh, the walks were wet, even the windows. I thought at first it was just humidity but no, it actually rained some during early morning.  It's still warm this morning, 71º, so the rain has not cooled things off.   At least I  can sit out on the porch and not worry about the sun rising, blinding me as I sit, so I have to get back inside the house.

Hayden and Her Dad

Sunday was a carbon copy of Saturday, hot and humid, with little breeze to keep us cool, with warnings of thunderstorms that never came until early this morning.  The group did rise earlier than usual for a Sunday, mostly because Hayden wanted to get a run in before it got too hot.  This meant that Drew, Hayden and I drove over to Bemus Point around 10:15.  It was crowded with cars and people as the floating dock had a Praise The Lake service.  We parked our cars and took off, Drew and I, riding our bikes, Hayden following along.  Fortunately, despite the heat, it was shady much of the run along Lakeside Drive.  Hayden was about to quit after a mile and a half out but hung in there and ran through the park as well, before we headed back to Bemus, to Wired, the coffee shop, a iced coffee waiting for Hayden as a prize for hanging tough.  She ended up running close to six miles after wanting to run only four.  What a good girl.  We relaxed on the coffee shop porch before I headed home and Drew and Hayden did some shopping, picking up a couple of cool Chautauqua Lake t-shirts at Skillman and Wright.

When I got home, guess what, Evie and the girls were in the lake playing on the floats, keeping cool and Jill and Beth were hunkered down in the semi-air conditioned house, trying to get up enough courage to hit the dock.  We needed more drinks (beer), so I drove off to Save A Lot, picked up ice and beer and 'saved a lot.'  When I got home, I started to fill up the cooler only to discover Drew had also bought ice and beer so it looks like we are set for the week and through the weekend when my son Tom and family arrive.

Rockin' the Dock

Baba With  Granddaughters

When the cooler was packed with pops and beer and water, it was time for lunch so Beth was making beef and cheese quesadillas, with the leftover chuck roast from last night.  And I have to admit, despite my unhappiness with the previous night's meat, the quesadillas were great, the meat tender, as Beth must have the magic touch.  Everyone enjoyed them, some like me with the first beer of the day. We then spent time alternating on the dock, first Evie and the girls, then me, then everyone was inside cooling off.  Then, Jill and Drew went out, I soon joined them and when I went in everyone else came out to enjoy the late afternoon, most drinking a beer, so I went back out and had a beer and swam.

Halle and Granny

Drew and Jill

Baba And Beth

By that time, it was close to 5:00, so we decided to take another pop/beer cruise down to Prendergast Point and back, taking our time, enjoying the late afternoon, the cooling breeze from the boat.

Prepping Dinner

We were back around 6:15 and Evie had already prepped most of dinner, chicken parmesan along with spaghetti and Italian sausage.  Yum.  The girls helped me shuck the corn, keeping most of the shuck on the cob so I could grill it outside.   Jill put together a salad, Evie baked the garlic bread and everyone helped get dinner on the table.  We were hungry, having snacked some during the day but had no big meal.  Dinner hit the spot, especially the chicken parmesan as the girls loved it, even had seconds.

Dinner Ala Dining Room

After dinner, the Evie and the girls wanted to play some bean bag, so Drew and I sat outside and watched a couple of roaring games, the girls getting better and better as they played.  After their games, all four of them went for a swim, as the rest of us boring adults sat inside and had Wegman's Chocolate Stampede ice cream, Drew's new favorite ice cream.  I had another helping of peach/blueberry crisp, with ice cream to finish the night.  The girls came in, happy with their swim, and all then went up to their bedroom to watch shows on their devices and then sleep.  Everyone else was up by 10:00, except for Evie and me. We watched a half hour of TV, relaxing and winding down from the busy day.

I am not sure what today will bring, perhaps some yoga or a trip to the Gorge, depending on the weather.  The one thing we are sure of is dinner at the Vikings.  We don't want to miss out on the Rubens and Cubans.

Summer Fun

Now THIS Is A Relaxing Vacation

5:50

6:15

I was up at 5:45, went out on the porch for my coffee and turned off the fan it was so chilly.  Hard to believe I was chilly after yesterday's heat and humidity, a drippingly hot day at the lake.  Today should be about the same, with a chance of rain tonight and tomorrow.

A Happy Halle

Dad's Rule

Saturday we were in full family force, girls up and at em' surprisingly early (for them), the rest of us up sipping coffee, planning the day by 8:30.  Evie and I were out blowing up floats, after having patched a couple, hoping they would hold their air.   I swam them out to our ring of floats, now numbering four, with three auxiliary seated floats for those who don't necessarily want to swim or get entirely wet.  Anyways, it's a small flotilla of sorts, ready for the girls and any courageous adults.

I took my weekly trip to the Transfer Station, lots of trash, and started my daily routine of stopping at Hogan's Hut to pick up a large, 20 pound bag of ice.  When I got home, Evie had filled our standing, outdoor cooler with pop, beer, wine and water, and I filled it with ice, and we had ice cold drinks for the day and kept the refrigerator for food mostly, no drinks, making it easier to navigate the kitchen for everyone, keeping the drinks outside.

Granny And Her Girls (we miss Marlena!)

A Pensive Hayden

Summer Fun

All of us then spent the rest of the morning and afternoon on the lake, roasting on the dock, cooling off in the water or on the floats. Drew and I took the girls tubing on a particularly choppy lake, from wind and other boats and it was almost too much for them.  And we had a few minutes of panic as the motor wouldn't start and we thought we would have to be towed in.  After about ten minutes of trying, I finally got it going.  It must have been flooded at least I hope so.

Hey, Baba

A Couple Of Airheads

Hanging Out

We all took a brief hiatus for a lunch of leftovers, pork, chicken, noodles and two soups, lentil and corn chowder.  We just about finished them off so we are going to have to be creative for lunches in the next couple of days.  The rest of the afternoon was sun bathing and swimming time until we had enough and went in to the cool house, as we have put an air conditioner in the living room, keeping the temperature at a decent 74º.  The girls and Evie played on the floats on and off the rest of the afternoon, Jill and Drew and I took naps, and around 4:30, I got out my wheel barrel and filled it a couple of times with dried lake weeds.

Loving Couple

At 5:00 the girls wanted to go for a booze and pop cruise, so we all piled in, made sure we had the requisite number of life jackets and cruised for an hour, over to Bemus, along Lakeside Drive and back home.  Everyone was hungry, so we got dinner going.  Evie had marinated three chuck roast for 24 hours, so I grilled them outside while the gang inside got the rest of dinner ready while sipping their wine.  I was determined to get the meat done just right, medium rare, took out  two thermometers to check the meat.  Both said it was not even rare but I brought them both in anyways and it was over done for the most part and tough.  This may be the last time for a chuck roast.  The rest of dinner was great, however, the roasted cauliflower, salad, and baked potatoes.  Beth had put together a peach and blueberry crisp for dessert, so we ended our day with a great crisp, topped with vanilla ice cream, a sure sign it's in the middle of summer.

Scrubbing Potatoes For Granny

Dinner Inside, Alas

I forgot to mention that much of the afternoon and evening was spent trying to save the life of a purple martin baby.  The girls found it paddling madly in the water.  I scooped it up and put it on the dock and they watched it attempt to fly back to their nest.  It fell in the water again so I rescued it and put in on the lawn.  The girls tried to feed it worms and grass but it did not seem to want it.  They left it inside a shelter overnight and when I looked this morning, it was gone, we hope back to its nest but I doubt it.

A Lost Purple Martin Baby

This morning, Hayden's going for a run early over at Long Point and some of us will follow her on our bikes, the start to another sunny and warm day at the lake.