July 15-17 Cora's Visit

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life." -Lisa Weed

It was finally Cora's turn to spend individual time on The Pearl. We were all excited about this special time and it was wonderful. She was so much fun and so entertaining. We loved getting to spend one on one time with her. This kind of time with our grands...is what life is all about. The weather was very windy while she was onboard, so we didn't get to spend time on the Tiny Pearl. We couldn't be out on the water, but we had plenty to keep us busy.

Graham loves to stop for an icee on the way up to the lake...so we had to do the same with Cora. Frozen sugar water is always a great hit. 

Taking pictures is something Cora loves to do...taking selfies in the car kept her busy.

There's a lot of things to keep a girl busy on the boat...rocks, toys, books, playing on the flybridge and playing with Mimi's jewelry. 

Making necklaces and bracelets is another fun thing to do and Cora loves jewelry. 

Cora especially liked our Audubon Bird book. She spent a lot of time with Poppy learning about different birds.

Drawing is also a great passtime...and Cora's pictures have added a lot of beauty to the cabin.

Cora's art gallery 

One of all of our favorite things to do on the boat is painting rocks and there are A LOT of paints around here.

Some of Cora's creations. She's getting very good at this.

One of my favorite things to do is walk the shore and look for treasures and Cora loves it too. One of our favorite things to find is beach glass.

We enjoyed a picnic at Taughannock State Park one day...we looked for treasures, had a cookout and chased birds.

Feeding the duck at the marina was fun too. Cora named each one.

Poppy's favorite thing was having Cora comb his hair...the granddaughters all love combing his hair.

June 23-26 - Graham's Visit

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

"Teach them to boat when they are little and they will have a lifetime of adventures!" -Author Unknown

The main reason we spend our summers in upstate New York is to be close to our son and his family in PA. Spending time with our family is the most important thing in our life at this moment. We love to explore new places, but we love our family more. We're blessed to be able to spend half the year with Eric and his family in Texas and the other half with Kyle and his family. The bonus is we get to stay away from the extreme weather in both places. 

Kyle and his whole family love spending time on Cayuga Lake and in the Finger Lake Region, but the kids really enjoy spending time on our boat. Graham has been staying with us by himself since 2017 and this year Cora will get her chance to have a little one on one time on the boat. We're looking forward to that, Stan and I REALLY love having them with us. 

Graham came this past week and we had fun...although a little different from years past since some of his favorite places were still closed. Things that weren't different were playing on the boat, painting rocks, riding bikes, playing in the water and having a cookout. 

With all the things there are to do up here...Graham's favorite thing is playing on the boat. This is his ice cream shop.

The kids like to collect and paint rocks...it's become a tradition when they are on the boat. 

A few of the rocks Graham painted while he was on the boat. He's getting very good.

Stan and Graham went fishing one morning...it was a beautiful day.

So what does a boy do when you're not catching fish....😂

There was plenty of time for play, but they also catch some fish...the biggest on was a 34" land lock salmon.

 Play fishing on the dock was fun too.

One day we played at Long Point State Park...a great playground, the lake to play in and hot dogs on the grill. Not a bad way to spend the day.

Before heading home we had a great brunch at a good friends house...look at those amazing pancakes Jen made for Graham.

June 6-10 - Cayuga Lake Family Vacation

"The memories we make with our family is everything." –Candace Cameron Bure

With all the Covid virus restrictions it's nice we have a beautiful area in our own backyard to vacation in. Our PA kids were on vacation, so they rented a house on the lake. The house was only a few miles up the lake from the marina and had a nice little dock for Tiny Pearl. Graham was excited to drive the boat to the house...Cora had a chance later in the week to drive the boat. They really enjoy our boats and we love having them here.

We spent our days playing in the lake, fishing, looking for beach glass and rocks, painting rocks, riding on the boat, eating well, reading, relaxing and truly enjoying just being together. We only took two short trips away from the house...a morning at the Ithaca Children's Garden and an afternoon sitting in the sun at the Bet the Farm Winery. 

The house

Looking up to the house from the yard.

The incredible view from the house.

The stairs up to the house from the lake.

We had a great time playing in the lake, even though the water is still cold up here (65º). 

The best way to warm up after playing in the lake...get buried in the warm rocks. 

Hot rock spa treatment.

Fun on the lake on Tiny Pearl.

These kids love to look for neat rocks to paint and beach glass...Cora has a great eye for finding beach glass. 

Upstate New York is full of rocks and we all like to paint rocks. This house was a great place to paint...it came with a wonderful view of the lake. 

Even Hattie had fun with the rocks. 

No trip to Ithaca is complete without a visit to the Children's Garden. 

Having fun on the deck...it was the perfect place to play and eat.  

This house and the lake was the perfect spot to relax, play and spend time with family. 

May 26 - Back to The Pearl

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

"Not every lake dreams to be an ocean. Blessed are the ones who are happy with whom they are." —Mehmet Murat ildan

Our trip east from Texas this year was our 41st trip since 2011. It was definitely the longest and the hardest...maybe because we're getting older, but in reality I think it was the traffic. From the looks of our highways, our economy should be booming. We've never seen so many 18-wheelers on the freeways before. Because of the Covid 19 virus we decided to drive straight through this year. Definitely not our favorite way to travel anymore, but we just didn't feel comfortable stopping anywhere. We even brought our own food. We only stopped for gas and to use the restroom. Each time we stopped we wore our masks and made sure we cleaned our hands when we got back in the car. Between construction, accidents and having to be rerouted we lost four hours...making our 25 hour trip over 29. Our reward for the long trip was spending three days with our PA family and filling up on love.

After a little rest and lots of hugs we headed back to New York to get The Pearl ready for the summer. We arrived Sunday afternoon, unloaded all our stuff, stored it and were ready to launch first thing Monday morning. Stan checked all the systems, we flushed the water tank and then Stan was on his way to Ithaca. It was our quickest spring launch ever, no bottom job, no waxing, no other projects...we took the shrink wrap off and she was ready. 

Our first look at The Pearl...patiently waiting for summer to begin.

First step in waking up the boat is taking off her winter coat.

On her way to the water. 

She's floating and ready to go.

Stan leaving Beacon Bay...on his way to our summer home.

I like painting rocks and some of the best rocks I've ever seen our along the shore of Lake Ontario at Chimney Bluff State Park. It takes Stan about 5 hours to move the boat down the lake so I had plenty of time to enjoy myself before meeting him at the marina.

Some of the rocks I've painted...some I give away, some I sell and some I hide for others to find.

I enjoyed my drive along Cayuga Lake...everything is very green and beautiful. We truly love spending our summers up here.

The Pearl at home at Allan H. Treman State Marine Park...we're ready for summer. 

Getting our Tiny Pearl ready for family fun this weekend. 

Our marina is a state park...so it's beautiful and very peaceful. We have a series of bike trails that take us anywhere we need to go.

Enjoying my happy place.