Hi, everyone!
Even though James and Thomas aren’t in school during the summer, they are still busy during the week. So I mostly get to see them on weekends. Right after they got back from their trip out west, Grandma and I made another AWACS cheesecake. We didn’t have any special event in mind, but Grandma said she knew it would come in handy some time! I helped marble the batter before it was baked. The next day, I filled in a crack on the top and helped with the ganache and decorations. Then the cheesecake went into the freezer.
The weekend before last, Uncle Steven’s family came out to the bay on Friday night. Dessert was s’mores! Uncle Steven brought a new little drone. It was easier to make friends with the drone when it wasn’t flying around!
On Saturday morning, we had waffles on the porch. Then it was time for kayaking! Grandma and I have been out several times, but it was “first of the season” for Aunt Kara and James and Thomas. We mostly played “follow the leader” and “kayak tag”.
There was still time before lunch to go to a farm market for sweet corn! We tried Burnap’s first, but they didn’t have any corn. Then we went to Youngman Orchard Farm Market. They had sweet corn from Maryland and two food trucks out front! Aunt Kara bought lunch for us to take back to the bay and Grandma picked out some corn. After lunch, I helped Grandma husk the corn.
Once the corn was husked, I helped Grandma with an annual tradition: the sour cherry sour cream pie! Grandma wouldn’t let me help pit the cherries: she said I’d get permanently pink paws if I did! I helped by watching to make sure the pit came out of every cherry before the cherry went into the pie plate. I helped mix the sour cream and sugar topping and spread it over the cherries. After the top crust was rolled out, Grandma let me cut it into lattice strips to put on the pie. We barely had enough time to get the pie into the oven to bake before the Settlers of Catan game started. That took most of the rest of the afternoon!
We ate the pie for dessert after having corn on the cob and sausage on toasted buns. It was yummy! Then Grandma and Grandpa took me to the Point to watch sunset. The sun went into clouds, but it was still pretty. Before sunset, there was someone fishing on the channel side of the lighthouse pier. Grandma asked him if he had caught anything and he said no. Then, after we watched sunset, we saw him fishing on the other side of the pier. Guess what? He caught a nice fish there!
Uncle Steven and James and Thomas stayed at the bay Saturday night, but Aunt Kara and Grandma needed to be in town on Sunday, so we came back with Grandpa Saturday night. Grandma and Grandpa and I went back to the bay Tuesday afternoon, so Grandma could do more water chestnut weeding and Grandpa could mow the lawn. I was happy to make friends with the lilies blooming on the front slope! Aunt Kara was away most of the week and James and Thomas were at day camps.
Last weekend, we did our getting together in town. On Friday evening, Thomas was scheduled to get his admission letter for Hogwarts day camp by owl mail. Uncle Steven invited us to come over for dinner and Grandma suggested that we could bring the AWACS cheesecake. When we arrived, Thomas was getting ready for his Hogwarts adventure by watching the first Harry Potter movie. I helped him watch! Then we had pizza for dinner and AWACS cheesecake for dessert.
Thomas had received a crystal growing kit at his delayed birthday party. Uncle Steven helped him get started with it. First, Uncle Steven boiled some water. Thomas stirred the mineral powder into the boiling water until it was all dissolved. Then Uncle Steven poured the solution into a jar where it could sit undisturbed. Thomas dropped in the rock the crystals were supposed to grow on. In a week or so, there should be crystals on it that glow in the dark!
Aunt Kara was supposed to be home by Saturday evening, but the airline canceled two flights from Chicago to Rochester. Grandma had invited Uncle Steven’s family for a “welcome home” dinner on Sunday, but Aunt Kara didn’t get home until very early Monday morning! Instead, the rest of us celebrated Thomas getting his owl mail by having pulled pork and more fresh sweet corn. Of course that was an occasion for having more of the AWACS cheesecake, too! And there’s still some left for Aunt Kara to have!
Love,
Lion-san