Our view of the lake from the deck...so peaceful!
Tons of fishing was done everyday....my mom and step-dad came up for the week and my wonderful step-dad is an expert fisherman....my guys learned a lot this week...especially, my little guy!
They were able to fish from the dock...but their favorite fishing spot turned out to be a little bridge right down the road...Ronnie caught 38 fish this week! He was so proud! I'll be posting a seperate "Fisherman's Tale" later this week about a particularly exciting fishing day!
There was also bike riding all day almost everyday...at our home, it can be a busy intersection and our children cannot ride their bikes by themselves...but at the lake, these back country roads were perfect...and Ronnie learned to ride without training wheels! We're so excited!
Without any internet or tv....we read books, and played A LOT of games and cards....oh, how we laughed!!! Sara loves 'phase 10' and Meghan loved a card game called "pay me". Ronnie and Anna liked to play 'yahtzee' and 'pokeno' and of course, UNO is always a favorite. One of our favorite games of the week was 'apples to apples' junior version. We bought the normal game and don't like it nearly as much as the junior version.
We took most of our food up with us for the week, but after the 3 hour car ride up to NY, we went to our favorite pizza place. I will say....I cheated and ate gluten...the pizza was awesome, but oh, my goodness...I was so sick for almost 3 days! Won't do that again! The rest of the week I was very careful...and discovered that coffee eats my stomach (and it never used to) but a cup of tea is just the answer!
I was able to spend the week with my beautiful mother! She lives over an hour away, and between her busy schedule and ours we never seem to have enough time to spend together. It was so much fun and so special to spend the week with her!
My view of the lake from my seat on the deck. I did a lot of journaling and ....
...knitting, of course! I'm loving how this scarf is coming along...it will match perfectly with my fall coat!
Of course, we had to have a bonfire one night...and of course, we had to make s'mores! Anna's was bigger than her mouth! (I enjoyed mine with just a piece of Hershey's and a warm, toasted marshmallow...who needs graham crackers?!)
My big girls enjoyed the fire and s'mores, too!
My parents enjoying the fire..
My mom, Meghan, Sara and I set out one day for a "girls day"...what I called a field trip! LOL We drove to a little town called Westfield to find a museum called "McClurg House". We enjoyed our drive as much as the museum! After we got lost in Brocton, NY...we found our way to the little town of Westfield. Such a beautiful, old-fashioned town!Our tour guide was so knowledgable and so kind...she even took us into the basement! We saw the most beautiful antiques, including a "Lincoln Rocker" that was just beautiful...and went into the kitchen, the pantry and the weaving room....I could have stayed for hours! But....the girls were getting hungry, so we moved on!
There was so much history here including a lot about Abraham Lincoln, who had visited this town during his campaigning for president. The story goes that a little girl wrote him a letter telling him that he would look better in 'whiskers'...and he wrote her back the following week, then he DID grow the whiskers! He came back thru her town during the funeral procession, by train. It was a very touching story.
We found the cutest old-fashioned diner right on the corner from the museum where we ordered burgers and fries that were wonderful!
Walked past the apothecary(I loved the name and the sign!) .....and down to....
The Emporium!We had a blast looking thru aisle after aisle of antiques...everything from kitchen things to whole bedroom suites, linens and quilts, children's toys and books....I loved this place! We all enjoy looking at "living history".
I love these next pictures...while we ladies were off gallivanting, my husband captured my little ones so beautifully....
Best friends!
We ended our wonderful week at a little, local amusement park called "Midway Park"....which was origionally opened in 1898! It is a great little park...right on the lake...so beautiful!
There were bumper cars.....
A small rollercoaster that Ronnie and Anna particularly enjoyed!
Anna fell in love with the Carosel....and a 1946 horse named 'cotton candy'....it was a beautiful old Carosel!The park boasted picnic pavillions right at the lake...benches to sit and enjoy the view and a very cool arcade just like I remembered from when I was young...my children enjoyed pinball machines and skee ball before enjoying a lemon slushie at the end of the day.
Our last view of the lake before we went home. Oh, how we love it up there! We didn't want to come home! We are so very grateful to our cousin's Kathy and Leon for blessing us with the priviledge of sharing their lake home with us. If you ever have the chance to visit "wine country"...visit the Lake Chautauqua area...especially this time of year....grapes heavy and purple hanging from the vines....it's beautiful and serene up there!
So...vacation is over....Hubby is back to work, about to get a very crazy schedule for a short time...we are back to fully homeschooling a fun, interesting and full year....will be back to watching my nephew, Ty, again tomorrow...but God has gently spoken to each one of us while we were away...lessons learned, and now having to put them into practice. Having no internet was fine....no one really missed it. It's funny...we have dear friends without any internet, and they do fine. Also....no tv...and we didn't take dvd's either....and the kids did fine. Distractions....oh, well....off to bed...trying to get into a good, workable routine around here. Will post again soon about my son's fishing tale....I love being able to journal and "photo journal" here on the blog...for our family...for family out of town and good friends. Thanks again, Kathy and Leon! We love you guys! ~Sue~
2 comments:
That all sounds and looks wonderful. I didn't want the post to end. I sure do like those kinds of vacations that are laid bag and relaxing and of course by some kind of water. It was great your mom was there to spend time with. What a blessing that you have your cousin open their place to you all. Have a wonderful blessed rest of the week.
Jolyn
All your pictures are so lovely! I'm glad you had a relaxing time. Meghan was telling me about your trip nad it's nice to put a pictures to the places. =)
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