You can't have your cake and eat it too....

The girls had another baking day today. We decided to make something that Pop would like for dessert....they decided on a chocolate cake with homemade chocolate frosting. Rachael then added pecans. Pop is still working and the girls are drooling, waiting for him to come home!!!

It seems they are always hungry after all the swimming they do.

They are headed to bed early tonight as tomorrow is going to exhaust them. They have their craft school, swim lessons, Potter's Beach and fireworks at the Adamson's. Rachael is waiting (impatiently) for Friday as she is going to have her first lesson on driving the 4 wheeler.

Salt found a trailer for our Logic, so looks as though we will be trailering it to Florida for the winter. After boating with the Jackson's through the Dora Canal (where the African Queen was filmed) www.lakecountyfl.gov/boating/the_dora_canal last winter we are anxious to have a small boat in Florida. Along with fishing expeditions, we will look forward to grabbing friends and cruising to some of the many waterfront restaurants along the different lakes. We were very surprised at all the fresh water lakes in our area! It should not have come as a surprise since we live in "Lake County".....duh!

We are still undecided about what we want to do about a boat in the Bahamas??? We are just so busy this summer, we know it won't happen by this winter!!

Yeah...and in the end, if my ship doesn't come in, I'll just buy a big boat...

I tried to get Rachael to drive the boat but she was a little hesitant. When I told her I NEEDED her to so I could put the bumpers out she took the wheel....I may not get it back!!

You're gonna miss this...you're gonna want this back!

The kids are back home and busy as bees! They started 2 weeks of swim lessons (5 days a week) and will be going to the School House for craft classes on Tuesday and Thursdays. I am so grateful to have this quality time with the grandchildren and know the memories they are creating on the river and the island will stay with them forever.

Rachael started out in the same swim class as Emma, but since she is more advanced, they moved her up to another class. Yesterday she was bored, today she was TIRED.....but she loves it!

I caught Em going off the board, but Rachael went so fast, I only caught her splash!


After swim class we took them to the Riverside Cafe for lunch....Rachael needed time to review the menu. Emma however, will probably start growing feathers soon as once again she ordered
"chicken fingers".


This is one of our favorite summer time restaurants....sitting on the deck you can watch all the big ships travel the shipping channel.....

Here are the girls this morning at the school house. This is the one room school house where Mike went to 5th grade when we first moved to the island. Emma's Aunt Urch teaches the classes and is a gift to the island children. She has the patience of Job, is so talented and gives so much love to these children. The classes are growing larger every year. She now has two different age groups and the one Rachael and Emma are in had over 20 kids in it today.

Here is Rachael with her finished face plate. She is SO proud of it.....I tried to get her to leave it for our house but she is taking it for her bedroom. Actually I think that's pretty cool....now every night when she turns off her light she can think of Grandma and Pop!!!

It's much prettier without the plate but it was still not completely dry so she didn't want to move it!

It is extremely hot here today....we're headed down to the river to cool off!!!

Let freedom ring....Happy Fourth of July!!

Happy Fourth of July to all and Happy belated birthday greetings to my brother George. Sorry we missed your birthday George, but it would appear you had a good time without us. We will catch you for dinner in the Cape next week!!

Love your gift!!

Before we left for our trip we took pictures of the girls and ironed them on shirts so they could paint them while at the park and have them for the the 4th celebration!

Finally we are in the boat and on our way to the state park (Grass Point) where we spent the first 2 nights. Pop stayed on the island and worked while the girls and I stocked the motor home.

While we were at Grass Point, Pop came over to have dinner with us. We took the girls to Foxys, to carry on a family tradition. When Betty and Mike were little we took them once, every summer to this restaurant on the water. They ALWAYS ordered a mud pie which comes with a fishing bobber on top.....I know Mike is chuckling as he reads this because the trip was always such a highlight of their summer on the river. He is also probably wondering why the bobbers are only half the size.

And here they are modeling the new T-shirts They were insistent on getting them large enough to use as sleep shirts!

Starting their hooked pillow projects.....

This is Patty....she and her parents were camped next to us at the state park. Patty's parents were both Colonels in the Army. Her mom was stationed at Fort Drum for a couple of weeks.
Her father was joking about the tough life Patty had being raised by 2 Colonels. Our kids would not think it was a joke!


This is the morning we finally left for Tag-a-Soke. the girls thought it was so cool that they didn't have to get up and get dressed before actually taking off.


Here they are about half way there when they decided to go in and take a nap. This is definitely the BEST way to travel with kids!!!

Campfires every night....and of course smores!!

And after the kids were all tucked in the adults were still enjoying the fire.....


I love this picture of Emma....she wanted me to take a picture of her with her shirt after she had finished painting it. I guess she figured if she puffed her chest out I wouldn't miss any of the name or picture.


While a the campgrounds, the girls took advantage of a ceramic class. Here are the molds they picked out. The finished product will render puppies.....


Here are the "guys" bonding over of all things....Limburger cheese, onions and rye bread! The wives made sure they were way away from the site of the clambake!!


Donna, cutting onions getting ready to prepare her Italian Greens....


And here are the girls with their finished ceramic puppies. check out the matching 4th of July bathing suits!!

In keeping up with their cooking classes...we planned a whole 4th of July theme. Here is the "flag cake" they made and decorated. Notice Grandma (with her A personality) did not sort through the blueberries to make sure there were 50 perfect berries nor did she measure the slices of strawberries. Everyone loved it!

Here are their fruit kabobs which were inhaled before they even hit the table!

and the girl's favorite.....jigglers!!

On Saturday we visited the amusement park at Sylvan Beach. Emma still is not keen on the roller coasters....she prefers the smaller rides. Rachael and Mia, however rode the roller coaster several times.

Saturday night was the scene of a large dance.....while Emma showed her skill with the "Cotton Eyed Joe"

Rachael and Mia preferred to be "wallflowers". That won't last long!!

Fourth of July camping trip was a huge success. We missed so many activities on the river but enjoyed our time with our Florida friends. Thanks Dave and Diane Kone for a great time!

Down by the Riverside, down by the Riverside....

Rachael had her first "cooking lesson" today. She made banana bread and I think she and Emma have consumed most of the loaf. She loves to cook and catches on quickly. It is so much fun having the girls here.

Rachael and I took a long 4 wheeler ride around the island; Rachael had her first experience in pumping gas the Grindstone way!!

Queen of the kitchen....

Rachael and Emma out on the raft. The water is still freezing as far as I am concerned but it didn't seem to phase them....the joy of youth!

I heard them yelling..."Grandma, Grandma, we hit the jackpot". They were digging for clay and hit the mother load! Now they think they are going to make pottery. There is never much downtime at the river. Yesterday they collected sand, sifted it, colored it and made sand art in bottles. I would surmise that I will not have a very clean/neat house for the next 5 weeks!!!

I wouldn't change it for anything!!

Tomorrow we head for Grass Point State Park, where we will stay for 2 nights before heading for Sylvan Lake.

Her toes dig deeper in the sand...she's seduced by the sunsets and her new life at hand...

We are back from VA Beach...Rachael is settled in! She walked in the new house and said.."Grandma Kitty, call mom and tell her to bring ALL my stuff with her when she comes. She is a trip! We will see how long before she misses "mom". Robin will be flying out for a weekend in 3 weeks. I am sure Rachael will have lots of island stories to relay.


The trip to VA was a quick one. We did get some quality time with the kids (Mike, Robin and Sarah) before heading home.

We ran into some horrendous traffic jams on the way back....consequently, we ended up stopping in Endicott, NY and spending the night with my brother Joe and his family. It actually turned out for the best, as we had not seen them in over 6 months. The kids were out of the car and in the pool within 10 minutes. They needed the break!!

Emma and Rachael at the Country Buffet in Vestal, NY


Ice cream for breakfast....of course, it's the grand kids!!!

Rachael, enjoying the water after the long ride......

Matt and Bella at the evening swim.....

Dave Reinke (Rachael's dad) joined us at the Texas Roadhouse ...

Breakfast at IHOP...Sarah got a chance to join in before heading off to work....


Emma having fun walking Sampson and Molly....

Betty heading to Potter's Beach with Emma and Rachael....

Robin will be flying in for a weekend on the 25th of July. Then Mike, Dave, Sarah and Rob will drive up the following weekend to pick up Rachael. It will be Robin's last hurrah for the summer as her nursing classes start on the 15th of August.

Like I always said....I can sleep when I'm dead

I am so behind in blogging...I hate when that happens but life is crazy. We are getting a lot accomplished but the time is flying! I will try and briefly catch up on the week, as we are off to VA Beach tomorrow to pick up Rachael...that if she lives that long. We have had text after text telling us she just COULD NOT wait any longer. We will be there in less than 24 hours Rachael...hang in!

Thanks to Jerry Durand, Jim Adamson, Rex Ennis and Chad, I have HIGH SPEED! I cannot believe the difference! I LOVE it. I also love the new Dell computer!

Shane and Rita arrived from Richmond, Va the same day the Internet was going in. Shane reminded me I had promised homemade pizza so they stayed for dinner, along with Jim and Ellen.

The following night, Shane and Rita cooked (YUMMM...fresh St. Lawrence bass and perch).

Shane...the master cook!

Yesterday Shane and his brother Daryl (no...he only has one brother Daryl) came and helped Salt clear the waterfront. I have told Hazel and Dan on several occasions, but I will reiterate once again...what a great job raising those two boys. They are two of the hardest workers you would ever want to meet....very skilled and always willing to help in any way they can.

Daryl and Rita.....

dueling chainsaws......

And at the end of the day, we even had a pile of firewood for our riverside campfires.