Let the Games Begin!

Did you watch the Olympics? We watched a good portion of them and I thought they were incredible. What a human being is capable of boggles the mind!

Well, in honor of the Olympics, we embarked on some new sporting activities. These are no ordinary events and perhaps should not be tried at home. If you should not heed previous advice we accept absolutely no responsibility for possible injury, dismemberment, humiliation or death.

Game 1: The Human Hamster Wheel

Blow up giant water ball, crawl inside and proceed to spin around. If this becomes too mundane, try rolling it off the dock while inside. No persons were injured in the taking of this footage.

Game 2: Across Lake Swim

Eat a big breakfast and decide to swim across lake, a 1 1/4 mile distance. Decide swimming on calm lake is for wimps so add in rough waters and wind. Don't factor in swimming against current in original plans. Chris, Melissa and Greg set out for a "1 hour" swim. Two and a half hours later Greg and Melissa made it, Chris cramped up, Ethan peed over the side of the boat twice (once into the wind ;)), Kaleb whined (a lot), we all were parched and got sun burned. No persons were permanently injured in this event.

Game 3: Kayak Pulling Races

Assist swimmers in the above mentioned game by following alongside for safety. Fill fishing boat with "helpers". Reach other side of boat with 3 tired swimmers and one kayak rider. Realize you can't fit everyone in boat for return ride. Drag extras behind boat in kayak and try not to drown them.

Game 4: Corn Hole

Pitch bean bags into the hole in a board....for hours. Score 21 points first to win. Although no bodies were hurt in this event, there was plenty of aggravation, frustration and general upset by certain losing parties. Ahem, no names, please.

Game 5: ???

Spend 6 days relaxing by the lake. Get bored. Maybe experience heat/sun stroke. Take your nephew's bitty bike and ride it off the dock. Ensure your ultimate safety by wearing a life jacket! Hurry up and return bike to shore before nephew wakes from nap and freaks out!
I have hope that some of these events may some day make it to the Olympic line-up. What do you think?

Fishin'

One of the things that ALWAYS happens when we are at the lake is fishing. Chris is rather addicted I would say. He would probably call himself "avid" not addicted, lol. Josh has really gotten into fishing too but then again, Uncle Chris walks on water and they want to do what he does. They got up early on several mornings to fish. Oh the life!! Chris did catch a beautiful, 8 pound brown trout one morning. Guess what we had for dinner that night?? It was yummy.
Here is a picture of another one of their catches. Definitely click on this picture if you want to be grossed out! The bottom "thing" is a lamprey eel and it has a hideous mouth. It was attached to one of the fish they caught, a Cayuga Lake 2 for 1 special! In case you are wondering, no, we did not eat Ernie the Eel. Chris has since informed me that they are eaten in places and considered a delicacy. Who knew?

I am off to work!

Here I Am Again!

We just got back from the funeral and I thought I would post the first group of photos from vacation. Click on any of them and they should pop up in a larger version.
Here are the boys and I early in the week. There is something about 10 year old boys that makes them smile goofy in pictures!
Here is my mom. We did a lot of sitting and relaxing by the lake. And played a lot of corn hole. No, I didn't just use a bad word. Haven't heard of it before? Check this out, they have an American Association and everything. It is a super fun game. I am pretty sure my mom was watching me kick my brothers butt for a third time. Yes, I rock, lol.
Here is Josh returning from a tube ride. He definitely prefers tubing over water skiing but once we finally get him up on skis I think he will sing a different tune.
How many ways can you find to relax? You'd think Greg was researching the topic for a report! Maybe he was just trying to get away from all of us on shore or perhaps avoiding another beating at corn hole.
Kaleb got out on skis a couple of times this year. He was quite reluctant at first. I think a year of fear built up inside of him and he forgot how fun it is. After his first go he was smiling from ear to ear.

I am off to bed, it's been a long, long day.

Here I am

Technology is amazing! At this very moment I am in the van traveling east on the NY Thruway. Pastor Bill let us borrow his internet card and here I sit, typing on Greg’s laptop, wireless, traveling at 70 miles per hour. Crazy, I tell ya!
Sadly, we are traveling because of a funeral. Melissa’s (my brother’s wife) mom passed away unexpectedly this past week. Just three weeks ago we were all together enjoying vacation and today we will mourn together. Life is full, isn’t it?
So I notice my last post was July 25th. Miss me?? Where have we been you ask? My mother arrived from Germany on July 16th and I just returned her to the airport last week for her flight home. Our family, my brother’s family and my mom spent 2 weeks together on vacation. The first week we spent at the cottage on Cayuga Lake that we have rented the last 2 years. Then we spent another several days at a cottage on Lake Ontario thanks to friends at Pearce who let us use their place. No TV, no phone, just resting, eating, sleeping, resting, eating, swimming, resting….you get the idea. We took a load of pictures so I plan to post several times to share some of the highlights with you.
While we were away, Dad and Dick Pappa went to the house and installed our sink and faucet. They also got our electric to the island running. Though there are plenty of finishing details yet to be done, we are completely functional in our new kitchen. It is wonderful!! My mom and I put up corn in the freezer, made several batches of peach jam and hosted some people for dinner. It is doing exactly what we hoped it would!
Unfortunately I can't upload any pictures at the moment, I will get backto that tomorrow.
Hugs