Aug. 2-9 Crooked Lake Lodge

"To be lucky enough to live by the lake is to be lucky enough." -Unknown

We got to spend another wonderful week with family on Keuka Lake. We all agree it’s our favorite lake. The lake is smaller and nowhere near as deep as Cayuga or Seneca so the water is warmer and unbelievably clear. 

The house

We had lots of porches to relax on...taking in the view of the lake.

The living room.

Kitchen

Basement

Bedrooms

Our little private getaway over the garage.

We spent most of the week in or on the water. Swimming, tubing, knee boarding and riding on the runabout. All the kids love the water. But we did a little exploring. We found a nice gully to hike in although the water fall was almost nonexistent. We still had fun playing in the little pool and climbing on the rocks.

The kids had fun dropping large rocks into the pool.

Climbing up to the next little pool.

The view from the top.

After our hike we stopped for lunch at the Abandon Brewing Co.

We sat outside with this nice view and enjoyed our lunch.

Another day was spent riding bikes along the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail. It's a 7.5 mile trail that follows the historic canal that connects Keuka Lake in Penn Yan to Seneca Lake in Dresden. There are several small water falls along the trail making it a beautiful spot to ride. After the ride we had a picnic lunch in the park in Penn Yan and no trip to this lake would be complete with a stop at the Spotted Duck for ice cream. 

Seneca Mills Falls along the trail.

All the ice cream at the Spotted Duck is made from the eggs of their own ducks.

We spent our evenings roasting marshmallows, swimming and playing silly games. It was a great week spent with the ones we love, doing the likes we like and relaxing with a great view. 

A lake vacation is mostly about playing in the lake.

This was Hattie's first time on the knee board and she was amazing.

Tubing is fun too.

Driving the boat is also exciting.

But even just riding can be fun.

Kyle and Cora took a kayak out one morning.

The water is the reason we come, but there are a lot of other things to do when we are together.

One rainy afternoon we painted, baked and put puzzles together.

The girl's creations.

The hot tub felt good after a swim in the lake.

Thanks to Kyle we always eat well.

Evening campfire.

and fun on the dock.

Goodnight Keuka Lake

July 13-16 Hattie’s Visit

"To my grandchild, you are my reminder that the simple things in life bring the most joy." –Unknown 

Hattie's visit to the boat was all about being on or in the water. She requested we pick her up and go straight to the boat. No wasting time in Lewisburg...at least not at the start of her time with us. It was the perfect weather to spend hours on the water. In fact it was the only way to stay cool. It was very hot and humid and the lake water felt amazing.

 
You know it’s hot when we don’t even want to get in the car to go have ice cream. We saved that actually for on the way home. Since it was hot and the smoke from Canada was making life a bit miserable in Ithaca we headed to the house on Wednesday. But we still had fun. We stopped for lunch at Dairy Queen topped off with a dip cone. Then we had fun playing at the house, watching a movie, eating popcorn and ice cream and chasing fireflies.

Hattie was so happy to be on the boat.

Summer just doesn't get better than this.

Tubing on the lake is the best thing to do on a hot day.

Driving the boat is almost as much fun as tubing.

Swimming in our favorite little cove is so fun.

But it can wear a girl out.

It can wear a big girl out too.

We always leave a little time for art. Our first morning was so nice we painted outside.

The bike trails are so nice around the marina so we always take time to do a little riding. We did over three miles and even rode over to the children's garden.

Dairy Queen isn't fancy but the ice cream is pretty good.

Even better at the house with chocolate syrup and sprinkles.