A Streak of Pink Over Long Point As A Two Dad's Head Off

The Girls at the Casino

6:10

Up early, 5:50, with Evie and Drew not far behind, took Cody for a walk while the coffee brewed, got the paper and am settled in, ready to take on the morning, then day.  It' 53º outside, mostly cloudy except for a streak of light over to the east where the sun is rising.

Yesterday we had a leisurely breakfast, an 'everyone make your own' which works pretty well for except for the girls and the boys who like Evie to make them their breakfast bagel.  I cannot blame them; it is nice to be taken care of.  Around 9:30, Drew and I drove to Chautauqua Brick and Home Depot.  He brought his mitre saw and air hammer to the lake and has volunteered to put up some bead board on our kitchen wall, opposite the island, to give it a  finished look.  So we ended up buying the board at Chautauqua Brick, the trim or moulding at Home Depot. Since he has to go to Allentown Tuesday and Wednesday for work, we will put off hanging it till Thursday morning  Evie is very excited, having wanted this done for years. Thank goodness for handy son in laws; Rami hung a ceiling fan on our front porch last summer.

Late morning, Mary, Jill, and Beth went shopping, to pick up a birthday cake at Wegmans, to do some shopping for dinners this week.  Tom took the girls and boys out tubing for an hour, Nick and Drew ran to Hogan's Hut and back, and Tyler went to work out at the gym  Only yours truly did nothing.

Lunch with Linda and Rich

Docking It

My sister Linda and her husband, Rich stopped for lunch, having been in Sarasota Springs for the weekend with some old college buddies of Rich's.  We had Linda's recipe for sloppy joe's for lunch, always good, and we went through two batches easily with this crew.  It was fun for the kids to see Linda and Rich, who try to come by for a lunch or day each summer.

Mid afternoon, just about everyone went swimming, despite the heavy seeds which turned the lake green in areas, and they had a great time, the guys throwing the girls over the tubes, dunking them, playing tag, like a bunch of puppies.  The girls, especially, seem tireless, always ready for more fun.

At 4:30, Rami started setting up for the annual family picture ordeal.  He brings all his professional equipment, including two flashes on towers, to illuminate faces.  It's always a chore to get all the kids together, in one place, smiling, as well as the adults, who complain about the kids complaining about having to take pictures.  Anyways, we got it done with a modicum of angst.  So now we have a family portrait, as well as portraits of each family, just the girls, just the boys, and Evie and me with our grandchildren.  From what I could see, they turned out well.

Ready for Wings

Casino Ready

Father and Son

For dinner, eleven of us boated over to the Casino, for another bout of chicken wings.  Bemus was swarming with people because of Chautauqua Idol, so Rami, who drove over, had trouble finding a place to park.  We ordered a record number of wings, 140 at last count, and 15 of us ate them all.  The Casino was strangely quiet, I suppose because of the Idol  but  that made it nice for us.  We boated home around 7:30, to celebrate Hayden and Marisa's birthday.  Hayden went crazy when she opened her gift from her parents, a 4S IPHONE, the envy of her cousins.  I think Evie and I are the only two over twelve who don't have an IPhone, just old fashion cell phones, no Internet, no camera.  After presents, we had cookie cake and cookie dough ice cream before watching the final episode of The Bachelorette, to the laughter and most, setting us up for the next show, Shark Week, which everyone watched.  The girls were crazy last night, not getting to sleep till 11:00, mostly because Evie was in a wild mood as well, laughing, telling them stories, just being a kid like them.  A good day for all.

Drew and Jill Boating Home at Dusk

Heavy Fog Arising on A Cold, Cold Monday Morning

Enjoying Dusk

6:15

 Up at 6:10 and Drew was already up and had taken Cody for a walk; I did took him out as well.  Rami was soon up, the three early risers on their computers.  The lake is beautiful this morning, steam rising, so that I cannot see Long Point, just bits and pieces of Tom's Point.  It's a clear morning, and the sun will burn the fog off soon enough and it's a cold 48º.

Yesterday was unseasonably cool though pleasant enough, a good day for the girls to play inside, outside, even watch a movie which they did.  We had an easy breakfast, for us, as Evie made bagel and English muffin egg sandwiches for all.  We even had a few left.  We decided to go to the Chautauqua Institute for a walk for most of us, a run for Tom, Mary, and Nick, the healthier ones in the family.  We avoided the book store and library and just walked the grounds though we spent most of our time in the green, down by the Bell Tower, where they had an art show.  The kids loved looking, wanted everything, got nothing  but we all got ideas for birthday presents for them.

A Serious Hayden with Mom

The Cool Guys

Rami, Nick, Tyler and Mitch decided to go golfing at the Chautauqua Golf course, so the rest of us hung out at the lake.  It was cool outside, so we did swim but not for long and no tubing.  For some reason, we didn't fish but it would have been a good day to do so.  It's almost as if we forgot about it as an option.  The girls were happy to stay in the house and watch a movie both Evie and I have loved called The Man On The Moon.  It's about a fourteen year old girl (Reese Witherspoon's first movie) who falls for an older boy who spurns her for the older sister, heartbreaking for her.  The girls liked it well enough but seemed bored at times with the slowness of it, especially the kissing parts.  It's funny to watch them bury their heads in blankets at these moments.  While we watched the movie, Tom, Jill and Mary went to the Lighthouse to get our dinner, probably the favorite for the entire family, teriyaki steak.They bought six pounds of Delmonico steak (prime rib) cut a quarter of an inch thick, so it cooks quickly on the grill, a minute or two a side.  But first, you marinade it in a home made teriyaki sauce, the recipe we have been making since Hawaii, where we were first introduced to this type of steak. And over the years, it has been our kids favorite, now out grand children's favorite.

Returning From a Booze Cruise

The Old Boys

Around 5:00 the adults, san grandparents, went for a booze cruise.  Evie and I stayed home with the grandchildren and Mitch and Nick and I spent a good half hour grilling vegetables, which was fun because the boys really got into it.  Around 6:00, the party animals returned and once again, the boys and I grilled the steak, taking about ten minutes to do all of them.  We had a dinner, then. of teriyaki steak, rice, grilled vegetables and a salad, and the wind had died down enough for us to eat outside though we all had fleeces on, to stay comfortable.  Everyone tried to be nice about sharing the steak, waiting to make sure everyone had enough, eyeing what remained till finally the guys jumped up and finished it off.

Teriyaki Steak Dinner

Marlena and Marisa Sing the Cup Song

After dinner,  Marlena sang us the Cup Song, with Marisa's help and we then built another fire, with wood Drew had cut up from the dead fall in Kinney's woods.  We once again roasted marsh mellows and blue berry squares with ice cream.  Our goal last night was to get the girls in bed early, which in this case meant by 9:30 which we did.  The boys were excited by the beginning of Shark Week so most of the adults and boys watched the first episode till 10:30  All of us were in bed by 11:00,

Dusk with a Fire

Today, we have decided to celebrate the girls' birthdays, by going to the Casino for wings at dinner time, which they love, mostly because of the game room and playground nearby. This is also Family Picture Day, alas, the last day everyone will be together since Rami leaves tomorrow morning, Drew, too for a day and a night.

The Gang's All Here On a Cool Sunday Morning

Our Kids and Their Spouses, Enjoying Dinner Together

6:25

Up just before 6:00, took Cody for a walk and when I got back, Drew was up so we spent the past hour in an unusual way, talking with each other rather than jumping on the Internet.  Strange!  It's going to be a cool day, high of 64º, and I love it.  Great sleeping, a good day to take the kids for a walk or hike somewhere, perhaps just to the CI.

Boys Fishing

Mary and Tom

Yesterday was another great fall like day at the lake, lots of playing out side for the girls, swimming a couple of times, no tubing for some reason, and getting dinner ready though it was made easy because Evie had already made lasagna.

Jill, Mary and Nick

We started off with a great breakfast yesterday, eggs with pea meal bacon, and home made blue berry muffins by Beth.  Nothing like pea meal to start the day off right.  While  Rami went for a bike ride around the lake (got and fixed a flat tire), Tommy, the boys, and I took out the boat and went fishing to a couple of hot spots, with little luck unfortunately.  Still, being out on the like is enough to get you excited about the day.  While we fished, Evie and the girls went swimming.  Just before lunch, Tom and boys decided to work at the Turner gym for a couple of hours and Nick played some basketball. Jill and Drew arrived about 2:30, so we were had a full house for the first time since last summer.  That means the boys don't have a bedroom and have to sleep either in their parents' room or on couches or air mattresses in the TV room.

Gangs All Here, Plus Mc Clures

We invited Ron an Linda Mc Clure over for dinner, so at 5:00 the festivities began.  We sat in the yard, drinking beer, playing bean bag, talking, and enjoying appetizers until about 6:30.  For dinner, Rami had a corn on the cob recipe, where you make up a butter sauce with cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder, dip the corn in it, wrap in tin foil, and put on the grill for about 15 minutes.  As I mentioned, Evie had made a couple of lasagnas last week, so we had that along with three rotisserie chickens from the Lighthouse for dinner and with a salad and bread, it was more than enough to make us all happy and full.

The Bissells

Rami and Beth

Dance Performance

We ate outside, fleece like weather at 7:00, and all of us enjoyed eating together for the first time since last summer. After dinner, the girls put on their dance routine, Linda got a bracelet from the girls (Ron's to come), and the Mc Clure's gave the girls a joke book, the same for the adults.  We then sat around a fire, making smores, having a dessert of lemon squares and blue berry squares, before heading into the house around 9:30.  The girls were in bed by 10:00 and most of us were in bed by 10:30, though the boys stayed up and watched a movie.  It's easy for them to stay up because they tend to sleep in late. How nice it would be to sleep in like a teen again.

Bonfire

A Neat Saturday Sunrise(if a sunrise can be neat) As Another Busy Day Begins

Swimming at Dusk

6:40

Up at 6:20, like I have an alarm clock, and Cody greeted me with his happy dance, so I took him for a walk before settling down on the couch, this time inside, not the porch...don't want to get in a rut.  Actually, Cody didn't want to come on the porch so I stayed inside with him.

Not a lot of different action yesterday, more of the necessary, the fun, as the morning started off with Beth making a large blueberry scone (we still have three or four pounds left from Tuesday's picking).  It was enough to feed most of us for breakfast, sweet and crumbly, like a scone should be.  She also went recipe hunting, found another recipe for blueberry bars, almost like pound cake with berries, so she quickly put that together and baked it for last night's dessert.

Girls Gone Wild

Halle Bissell

The girls stayed upstairs, as is their habit now, till around 10:00 AM, when they came down en masse, ready to eat, play, swim, tube, fish, make rainbow ring bracelets, and practice their dance routine.  They never tire, never get bored, and never fight, just jump from one activity to another.  The boys, however, are another animal.  Tyler and Mitch are either baking, swimming, fishing, tubing, or watching reruns of Cheers on Netflix.  Evie introduced them to the series and now all of us may sit down and watch an episode together, laughing like idiots, at the antics of Sam and Diane.  Funny writing, great timing and acting.

We fished and swam, as I said, off and on most of the day, breaking it up with an occasional tubing, which the girls are starting to love, becoming fearless, raising their thumbs constantly to indicate they want to go faster.  Mid afternoon, Beth went off to the Lighthouse to pick up ground chuck, buns, zucchini, and some pea meal bacon, for breakfast of course.  While she was there, Mitch and Evie cut up potatoes, for french fries, to go along with our burgers.  It's an involved process of cutting, soaking, drying, frying once, then frying again just before we want to eat.

Hugging Couple

Tom, Mary, and Nick arrived from KC about 5:15, to applause, as everyone was excited to see them. Neither family had seen each other since last summer.  The boys grabbed Nick and took him into the TV room, and the girls pulled Tom and Mary into the yard to watch their dance performance, a rehearsal for tonight's opening, when Jill and Drew arrive and  Linda and Ron come for dinner. Just before dinner, Beth made zucchini fritters while I cooked the burgers and Evie and Mitch deep fried the french fries.  About 7:00, we finally sat down to dinner, of juicy lucy's, burgers with cheese in the middle of two patties, first seen on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives three or four years ago by the boys and made every summer since then.

Enjoying Juicy Lucy's 

After dinner, all the kids went swimming with Evie, Tommy started a fire in our outdoor fire pit and it started to drizzle, but not hard enough to send us inside, as we sat under the tree, around the fire, talking and telling silly stories, playing word games till it was time to go in and have dessert, of Beth's blueberry squares with Wegman's French Vanilla ice cream, the best ice cream by unanimous acclaim. The girls went to bed around 10:00 (though they could not get to sleep so Evie ended up making them warm milk, downstairs in the kitchen around 11:00), the boys stayed up watching The Longest Yard remake with Adam Sandler, and Tom and Mary went to bed early, having gotten up at 5:30 for their flight to Cleveland, then driving to the lake.  We left the light on for Rami, who was flying into Buffalo at 10:30, getting here after midnight.

After Dinner Swim For The Gang

Overcast, Humid, A Heavy, Liquid Feel to The Air

Making Krispy Kreme Donuts With Tyler and Mitch

6:40

Blue Berry Pie Made

Up at 6:10 and now that we have Cody, Beth's dog, for a few days, I took him out for a brief walk before getting my coffee and computer and sitting on he front porch.  A dampness to the air and I am uncomfortably warm with my fleece, so off it goes.  It's only 60º out, some rain forecast for the day.  I left the cover of my boat off overnight so no doubt it will rain.

Rami Arrives with Cody

Frying Krispy Kremes, as Fans Wait

Yum, Hot Krispy Kremes

A Work of Art

The days are beginning to blend, a sameness to them as it's now been a week since Marlena and Tom arrived last Friday.  Yesterday morning was waiting for Rami, as he left CT at 4:00 in the morning, getting her about 10:00, just in time to see the girls when they came downstairs.  Since their dog sitter fell through, he brought Cody to the delight of all the kids.  Evie and the boys decided to make Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, which took up a good part of the morning, making the dough, cutting out the donuts, letting them rise, making the glaze, regular and chocolate, then frying them on the back porch, with the entire gang watching, waiting to have a donut hot from the fryer.  Making donuts has become a yearly custom, and each year  they get better and better.  While the boys made the donuts, the girls performed their dance routine for Rami. After the donuts, Tyler and Evie, never tiring,  put together the crust for a blueberry pie, and put it aside till later for the filling.  I showed Tyler where to get ice, Hogan's Hut, which is going to be his daily chore, filling up the cooler with a new bag of ice each morning, keeping the drinks cold, leaving more room in the refrigerator for the food.  One never has a big enough refrigerator when this gang arrives.

Tubing

Watching Mitchell Stand

We had leftover pizza for lunch, devoured in minutes by the kids, and the girls worked on their bracelets while Tyler went to work out at the gym. The rest of us cleaned up the kitchen, the house some, and thought about dinner.  Fortunately, Evie had made a huge batch of pulled pork barbecue last week, so all she had to do do was pull in out of the freezer and heat it.  While she and Tyler made the filling for the blueberry pie and baked it, I drove off to buy a dozen ears of corn and dinner was set.

Most of the afternoon it was sunny and pleasant, so we swam, fished on the dock, and just enjoyed being outside in the sun and water.  After yesterday's kerfuffle with the prop, it was great to have the boat up and running, so Evie and I took the girls and Mitch out tubing for an hour at least.  Although the boat does not go fast enough for Mitch, it seems perfect for the girls, bumping them around, as I looked for the largest wakes of other boats.  Mitch tries to do acrobatics on the tube as we pull, eventually going to far and falling off but having a good time.

Barbecued Beef and Cole Slaw Dinner

Ready to Cut the Blue Berry Pie

We had dinner outside, a cool evening, just right for sweats and the kids and adults loved the barbecued pork sandwiches, with cole slaw, a must as far as i am concerned.  We played Spud after dinner until it got dark.  Mitch and I went out and fished but had little luck so we came back from the dock for the blueberry pie which was amazing, firm enough so when you cut it, it stayed in one piece.  Tyler and Evie, the two pie makers, were super happy with their result.  And we had it a la mode of course.

The girls talked us in to letting them watch Pitch Perfect, a newer movie, and Marisa had the film on her IPAD so Rami was able to show it on our TV screen via my Wifi and Apple TV.  Amazing technology.  Unfortunately the move lasted until 10:45, so the girls went straight to bed, no stories, no karate, just brush you teeth and in bed.  By the time I got to bed, around 11:10, they were all asleep, exhausted no doubt from a full day.

It's now 7:00 and Evie and I are the only one's up though Rami had to fly to Florida this morning so he left for Buffalo around 3:45 to catch his flight.  He will return this evening at 10:30.  And Tom, Mary and Nick fly into Cleveland today, about 1:30 and should be here at the lake in time for dinner.  We cannot wait to see them.

Gentle Rain, Gentle Rain

Home Made Pizza Dinner, Al Fresco

View From My Porch, 6:40

Up at 6:45, to, guess what, a gentle rain, overcast skies, not a whisper of wind, just the sound of rain on the trees, an occasional caw of a crow.  It's warmer, 65º, high in the 70's today, with rain forecast on an off during the day.  A good day to fish, watch a movie, go shopping, anything to keep the girls happy.

Yesterday was a full day, lots of busyness, beginning, for Beth and me, with yoga at the Eight Limbs Studio, then coffee at Ryder's Cup, then a mega shopping trip to Wegman's, getting ready for the rest of the family, Rami who is driving in this morning, Tom, Mary and Nick on Friday, Jill and Drew on Saturday.  While we were shopping, Evie made the girls pancakes; unfortunately, when they helped to pour the batter, the bottom was not on tight and all the batter spilled on the floor, an auspicious way to start the day.  So, Evie made more batter, and this time, the girls got their pancakes.  Afterwards, Evie, the girls and Mitch went to the petting zoo, part of the Chautauqua Campground, a short walk from us. They love going, feeding the animals corn cobs, and getting ice cream cones at the camp store, the real reason for wanting to go see the animals.  Kids never change.

At Petting Zoo, Chautauqua Campground

When they got back, we all went swimming, playing wild games on the rafts, tag and hide and seek, like always.  They love it and it was a sunny afternoon, maybe the last in a while if one is to believe the weather report.  The weather, even the cool days, doesn't seem to bother the girls, however, as they seem oblivious to the cold when they want to go swimming with Granny.

Frolicking On The Tubes

When they were finished, we decided to take them tubing.  That's when the fun, or lack of fun began.  I had trouble getting the boat to go in reverse, so Mitch jumped in the water and pulled us out beyond the dock.  I then could not get the boat to go forward, so we both jumped in the water, brought it back to the dock, and pulled the motor up out of the water to see what was the matter.  And, Einstein like, we discovered the problem...the prop or propeller was missing, having fallen off some time either in our aborted tubing trip or last night when we returned from the Casino.  We had no idea where it lay, so Mitch and I got out weed rakes and carefully scoured the lake bottom, looking for the prop for well over an hour.  I finally found it, out beyond our dock, in the middle of our property, in close to six feet of water.  Amazing to have found it since we probably dropped it the night before.  While I was looking for the prop, Evie called Chris Kent, one of the young men who put in our dock.  He works at Chautauqua Marina and Evie talked him into coming over, bringing a prop kit, and fixing the boat after work.  He arrived about 5:30, discovered the parts guy had given him the wrong kit, so I drove him back to the Marina, got the right kit, and within five minutes, he had it fixed, a life saver.  I thanked him profusely, paid, and off he went in his boat, a little richer.

Marlena's Rainbow Ring Bracelets

While all this was going on, Evie and boys were putting together pizza, with home made dough and sauce, four kinds, Margarita, Cheese, Pepperoni, and Mushroom Margarita, all with fresh mozzarella. Mitch baked them on a pizza stone, on the grill; Evie puts them on parchment paper and we even cook them on the paper, as it makes it easier to get them in and out of the grill.  After eight minutes, they are done.  We cooked six of them, took them over to the picnic table, and we had a dinner worthy of any pizza parlor in New York City.

Margarita and Mushroom Pizza

Granny With Two of Her Girls

After dinner, the girls continuing working on their dance routines; Mitch and I put the cover on the boat and fished for about an hour, and later, the girls came out to fish as well.  Mitch caught a nice bass, over a foot, but we threw it back in.  We came in off the dock at 9:00, just as it was getting dark, and the girls ran in and put their bathing suits on, ready to go for one final swim, their favorite thing to do since last summer, when Evie taught them the joys of skinny dipping at dusk. They call it 'dip cones',  a code word, so no one knows what they are talking about. All we could hear were screams and laughter as they paddled around in the water, sans suits.

The Gang Fishing At Dusk

Mitchell's Bass

They came in tired but happy.  Beth made them ice cream cones before bed, and up they went, having had a full day of fun, food, sweets, dance, and skinny dipping. Granny, as usual, is totally out of control.  Some TV, reading, and up to bed where, for once, the girls were all asleep.  Miracles.