Our New York Vacation Part I

Since my family lives in upstate NY, we ventured out there this summer for a wonderful week at my parents' home on the lake. We were blessed when the trip turned out also to be a business trip for Aragorn so we didn't have to completely empty our wallet on gas and tolls!

We borrowed the company 15 passenger van and the trailer for hauling an x-ray machine that Aragorn just so happened to sell to someone an hour from my parents' home, great timing or what? This extended our trip for a couple days.

13-1/2 hours later we arrived at my parent's home. A lovely place on 2-1/2 acres with a beautiful 200 feet of private lake frontage. This is also, of course, where I grew up from the time I was 7.

The drive went well considering the CD player decided not to work! We had bought a very long list of books on CD. We had only 1 book on Tape but we did enjoy it!

This bridge goes over the stream that zig-zags across the property... fond memories of frog catching for me (and now the children)!

Pippin also had our only tragedy on this bridge. He sat down, leaned back to fall right down through the side rail on the rocks below, it isn't a long fall but he got a nice gash to the back of his head. Being Pippin and all, he was up wrestling with Merry 5 minutes later.... very obviously no worse for wear! I am convinced he has at least an archangel for a guardian angel.

Across the stream is a darling cottage. The original cottage was torn down a few years ago and rebuilt, it's really pretty.

A view of the lake.

Sam enjoyed catching crayfish just as my sisters and I did when we were children.

Swimming in the crystal clear lake. You can see all the way to the bottom for quite a long ways out.

Merry sporting swimming goggles and Pippin

Frodo

Aragorn and Sam fishing.

Pippin quacking away at that duck that very much excited him.

He wasn't of course able to catch the duck.

Aragorn takes my parents' ol' boat for a spin. This thing is rather ancient, I think I was in all of 10th grade or so when we bought it.

Merry giving Pippin a push in the $2 garage sale car my sister picked up. It was a very handy vehicle to have!

Grandma sitting with my 2 neices who had just arrived from England. Notice how they sit so nice and sweet!

My neice C in her "I survived Katrina" t-shirt. She was all of a couple months old at the time they had to flee their home in New Orleans. Their dad was still in school and finished up in Germany, then they moved to England where he had gotten a job (long story short!) C is absolutely adorable and an intelligent little cutie pie!

When Pippin turned 1 he figured out how to open the doors in our house; Grandma and Grandpa however have ancient knobs that keep even a Pip in! Poor forlorn Pippin!

One of the greatest highlights of our trip was taking a venturn to Uncle B and Aunt M's house!

Cousin M made a special appearance to give pony rides!

Galadriel and Eowyn.

Uncle B taking some up to the blueberries. Those were by far the best blueberries I have ever eaten. I think I ate a quart and took a quart home! I had to share with my sister who is also a blueberry fanatic.

Merry picking blueberries.

Galadriel picking raspberries, they were huge!

Pony rides up by the pond.

Galadriel and Eleanor on the dock at the pond.

Is this not a bit of Ireland?

Or at least some-what how I picture Ireland!

Frodo feeding one of the ponies.

Sam tries his hand at driving the pony cart. (the same pony cart I drove many years ago right up and over the side of Uncle B's picnic table... I got in only a bit of trouble that day!

Frodo and Pippin for a horseback ride.

Pippin meets his younger cousin K, who he very obviously liked right off the bat! It is questionable if the love was reciprocal!

Here is the dinner boat that has been giving dinners and rides for many, many years. My senior class had our class picture taken on this very boat 20 years ago. (just to date myself a bit!)

My nephew P.

The neighbor, Fran flying a kite with the children.

As you can see I have a boatload of pictures, so let's call this part 1. I need to re-size more pictures. Hopefully I'll be less delinquent in posting. It's been busy with planning for the new school year, which we started last week followed by a bout of sickness, seems a bit early in the season for such things!