Hi, everyone!
There’s been a lot going on the past two weeks! The first week of August, Grandma and I had something special planned for Bill-kun and Karin-chan every day after they got finished at Rochester Museum and Science Center day camp. On Tuesday, we went back to the Strong Museum for forty minutes just before it closed. That was long enough for Bill-kun and Karin-chan to spend the rest of the tokens their daddy had bought them on their last visit and cash out their winnings for prizes. Then we just had enough time to catch the very last carousel ride for the day! On Wednesday, the volunteer craft store Bits and Pieces was open, so we went on a bead buying trip. Uncle David did some shopping too, so that Bill-kun had brand new sunglasses for day camp on Thursday. That was lucky, because their camp group went on a field trip to the Aquarium in Niagara Falls! Grandma made zucchini French fries for dinner. That was Uncle David’s favorite treat when he was little, but Karin-chan likes nori better! After dinner, Bill-kun and Karin-chan and their daddy played pool.
On Friday, Uncle Steven and James and Thomas came to have dinner with us. The plans for the weekend were complicated! Uncle David and Bill-kun and Karin-chan were invited to a party in town on Saturday and were entertaining friends at Sodus on Sunday. Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara and James and Thomas had invited friends to Sodus on Saturday and were going to a party in Rochester on Sunday. And Aunt Kara needed to be at the hospital part of each day to help Grandma Ginny! After dinner on Friday, Grandma and Grandpa and I went to Sodus and Uncle Steven and James and Thomas came, too. Uncle David and Bill-kun and Karin-chan stayed in Fairport. So Saturday morning, we could make waffles on the porch for breakfast. They were yummy! After that, James did some swinging and I showed him the play space in the loft. Then we made a trip to Burnap’s Farm Market. I don’t think Thomas remembers being on the play train last year, but James does! When we got back from Burnap’s Aunt Kara had arrived. We all helped Grandma shuck corn for dinner! Thomas decided that he didn’t need to wait for corn to get cooked before eating it!
Saturday afternoon, my friend Annie and her parents came to visit! We all went out for a ride in the motorboat, and we even stopped at the boat gas station! After that, James showed Annie the play loft, and she and her mommy liked it, too! We had a yummy dinner! Grandpa grilled chicken and Grandma served the ratatouille she and I made last Sunday. Of course we had corn on the cob, too, and a peach dessert. That was a fun afternoon!
After Annie’s family left, Uncle David called to say he and Bill-kun and Karin-chan were coming out to Sodus after their party. Everybody was together at Sodus on Sunday morning! Karin-chan and James went kayaking with Grandma, so they were still in their bathing suits when the automatic sprinkler that waters the herb garden turned on! They had lots of fun running in and out of the water! Then Uncle Steven’s family left and Uncle David’s guests arrived! Uncle David’s friend Tim-san helped build the Sodus house! Zoey and Jake and their cousins brought their grandma and grandpa with them, too! The grands enjoyed time on the porch while everybody else took a boat ride to the shallow spot for swimming at Sodus Point. After dinner, Uncle David and his friend Tim-san taught us how to toast marshmallows over a bonfire and make s’mores! They looked yummy, but they are way too sticky for little lion paws!
Uncle Steven’s family came back to Sodus Sunday night after Uncle David’s guests left. There was a pretty sunrise on Monday, but it was a red sky! That means bad weather is coming, so we tried to do as many things outdoors early in the day as we could! First we all went down to the dock to look for fish in the water. Then we drove to Sodus Point beach to play on the playground and in the water and sand. The water at the beach is shallow enough for Thomas, and he enjoyed the playground equipment, too! Karin-chan started a sand castle and everybody helped make towers! We had our dinner at lunchtime, while it was still good weather for grilling. Grandpa did a special way to cook a whole chicken over a beverage can! After lunch, the weed harvester showed up to cut the weeds in front of our dock! It was just starting to rain when we packed up to go back to Fairport. The rain was so heavy on the way back that we could barely see the traffic in front of us!
It was a good thing we all came back into town on Monday, because Uncle David and Bill-kun and Karin-chan had lots to do to get ready to go home early Wednesday morning! They needed to write thank you notes, and Uncle David and I helped them. Then there was a LOT of packing! Uncle David took home twice as many suitcases as he brought! Bill-kun and Karin-chan collected acorns to make a buffet for the chipmunks on the deck. Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara and James and Thomas came for dinner and we had pizza again! Then the cousins all got ready for bed early. James and Bill-kun and Karin-chan played Minecraft together while Thomas and I just hung out. Uncle David and Bill-kun and Karin-chan had to get up at 4 a.m. to catch their first flight! We had goodbye hugs before they left.
Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara and James and Thomas were staying until the end of the week before they went home to the Netherlands. We got out the marble run to see whether Thomas was big enough to play without eating the marbles. He is! Then on Thursday evening, Uncle Steven’s family came for dinner in Fairport and everybody except Aunt Kara went back to Sodus for one last time. Aunt Kara had lots of things to do in town to help Grandma Ginny. Friday was another day when bad weather was predicted, so we did as much outside as we could as early in the day as possible! James and Thomas both went for kayak paddles with Uncle Steven. That was Thomas’ very first paddle! Then we had a picnic at the Sodus Point beach. Nobody wanted to swim or build a sand castle, but James and Thomas did a lot of swinging! I helped push! Most of the rain in the afternoon passed either north or south of us, but we played inside with Megablocks and had dinner on the porch. James and Thomas skipped their naps, so they were happy to go to bed early!
On Saturday, we came back to Fairport after breakfast. James and Thomas checked on the acorn buffet on the deck. It looks like the chipmunks haven’t eaten it! After lunch, it was time for James and Thomas and their parents to go to the airport for their flight! I gave Thomas a goodbye hug, but James was not in a hugging mood. Grandma and Grandpa helped them check in for their first flight, to Newark. Now they’re on their way to Brussels, and they’ll get there tomorrow morning, their time!
I miss all the cousins already!
Love,
Lion-san
It looks like you really had a good time with the cousins! S’mores are really good. It looks like there are holes in the acorns so maybe the chipmunks did eat some. I can see why you miss them already, you will just have to keep that happy memory.