May 29 - Girls Day at the Winery

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” —Unknown

Some of the ladies at the marina and a few of their friends have started a new tradition...girls day at Buttonwood Grove Winery. Last year it was dreary and cold, but we made the best of it. This year we had a picture perfect day. We spent four hours enjoying the sun, the music, the wine, good food, great company and lots of laughter.

The view from this winery is amazing...especially on such a wonderful spring day.

So much fun with ladies who enjoy laughing. Susie, Suzette, Elizabeth, Kay, Jean and Yvonne.

May 24-26 Cora's Visit

"Granddaughters are angels sent from above to fill our hearts with unending love." –Unknown

One of the best parts of being in Ithaca for the summer is the time we get to spend with our Pennsylvania grandkids. The very special part is having each come on their own to spend time on The Pearl. They have a wonderful time and so do we.

This was Cora's third visit and we had fun painting rocks, making beaded bracelets, playing at the Children's Garden, Stewart Park and riding on our little runabout. We truly enjoy having one on one time with our grands...they are all very entertaining and we learn so much about them.

Cora is becoming quite a little artist.

We had perfect weather for Cora's visit and we really enjoyed time on the lake.

The name Cora means “maiden” or “daughter,” the name is found in classical Greek mythology referring to Persephone. She was the goddess of Spring, and the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, who was the goddess of agriculture. Maybe this is the reason Cora loves nature...leaves, flowers and bugs.

Making jewelry seems to be a favorite things to do for all girls. 

Ithaca has so many wonderful parks and some of Cora's favorites are the Children's Garden and Stewart Park.

May 6-9 Keuka Lake Getaway

“I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.” –Barbara Bush 

Let the summer season begin...although here in upstate New York spring is only beginning. The summer season isn't just about what temperature it is outside, but the feeling we have when we're here. We look forward to new adventures, time with family and enjoying our beautiful surroundings.

We spent our first family vacation at a great house on Keuka Lake, hiking a little, eating a lot, playing, painting rocks and relaxing. No matter where we are or what we're doing we have a great time together.

The House

One morning we hiked around the Townsend-Grady Wildlife Preserve. It was a fun place for the kids. It had a rock trail and a gnome trail. The kids found a lot of both.

Eating is always a lot of fun when we're together...and boy can these little ones eat.

Cora is a great helper in the kitchen.

This house had plenty of room for everyone to relax and have fun...and the view was fantastic.

The weekend was a bit chilly, but the kids still wanted to go for a swim.

All the kids were braver than the adults and got it the water. Air temp was about 65º and the water temp was about 47º.

Graham was the only one to go totally in...even though he though it was a bit chilly.

No weekend together would be complete without a fire and s'mores.

I love this picture of the kids...all looking forward to a wonderful summer.

Back to Our Summer Home

“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” -Walt Disney

This is our twelve year to head east for the season. Leaving Texas and heading to the east coast gives us a chance to enjoy two springs each year. After spending a week driving to Pennsylvania we spent four nights at our son's house, collecting lots of hugs and having fun playing with our grandwonders.

It's been a cold spring in New York, it even snowed the day before we returned to our boat. Since it was going to be in the 30s again on our first night back at Beacon Bay we decided to spend the night at a hotel in Seneca Falls. We love spending half the year here and the other half in Texas, but it's a lot of work closing down and reopening each boat. When we come back to New York all the work is done while we are on the hard...meaning multiple trips up and down a ladder hauling boxes, clothes and supplies. It's also done with limited electricity and no running water. So when we are settled into our summer slip at Allan Treman State Marine Park it feels like we are finally home, but we can't relax right away...this year we still had to wait another two days for running water and it took several days to provision the boat.

To celebrate the start of the season we had dinner at 84 Fall in Seneca Falls.

The Pearl all wrapped up from the winter...first job is to get all the shrink wrap off.

Splash day...it was beautiful but a little cold.

Trying to stay warm while the boat was being launched.

Stan on his way to our marina in Ithaca.

Stan moves the boat and I move the car. Before heading south I went up to Lake Ontario to pick up a few rocks for painting. The rocks are amazing there!

Here are a few of the rocks I've done on these amazing canvases.

We are allowed to move into our slip on May 1. April 30 was a beautiful day so we decided to move the boat down the lake and spend the night anchored just north of our marina. It's been a long time since we spent a night on the hook and we truly enjoyed the evening. Being so close to the marina also meant we were the first boat in this season.

Our view of Cornell and Ithaca for the night.

She looks a little lonely right now but the marina will fill up quickly and the trees are already much greener.

In she goes...here's to another great season.