Hi, everyone!
While Uncle David’s family was in Ottawa, Grandma and I got ready for their return for the weekend. I helped make sticky buns to have for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. They rise in the refrigerator and get baked fresh in the morning!
Once we were out at the bay, I made sure all the ingredients for s’mores were ready, too! Uncle Steven brought James and Thomas out on Friday afternoon, so they practiced with the new ingredients on Friday night. Grandma and Grandpa took me to the Point to watch sunset. It was another cloudy sunset in the west, but the air was very clear to the east. We could see the power plant smokestacks and nuclear power plant cooling tower plume. That plume is more than thirty miles away!
Uncle David’s family planned to get to the bay in late afternoon, so we had all Saturday morning to wait and get ready. We ate sticky buns on the porch for breakfast. I helped Grandma cut up another cantaloupe and make a sour cream peach pie. James and Thomas took me for a ride on the swing. Aunt Kara arrived and played chess with James.
When Uncle David’s family arrived, Bill still had a sore throat and Karin wasn’t feeling well, either! So we couldn’t all be together. Grandma made small shell pasta especially for Bill to eat. Most of us had dinner together and ate the yummy sour cream peach pie.
James and Thomas wanted s’mores for dessert, so Uncle Steven built another fire. After Karin watched, she decided she wanted to toast marshmallows too!
Bill had wanted to do a jigsaw puzzle with Grandma. He picked a puzzle for a temple in Kyoto that we had all visited together. He and Grandma started it. When he went to urgent care on Sunday morning, he learned he had a virus that could be spread by touching. So he couldn’t work on the puzzle any more! Aunt Kara and Uncle David and Grandma took turns working on it. Feeding two people with sore throats got complicated! Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara had to take lunch orders and figure out how many people wanted steak and corn for dinner!
Grandma had asked Harlan-san to bring back our Sunfish sailboat for David to use. We also borrowed some extra kayaks from Harlan-san so the cousins could go paddling together. Kayaking never happened, but Uncle David did take the Sunfish out. He got most of the way up the bay and had a nice wind for the return!
When he got back from sailing, Uncle David made his famous salsa! Then Uncle Steven made butter beer from the Harry Potter cookbook. Grandpa gave it a try, and James loved it.
Uncle Steven’s family went back into town after dinner. Uncle David and Aunt Emi went to the Point with us for sunset. It was another cloudy one, but the afterglow on the clouds was pretty!
Monday morning, Karin felt better. Uncle David’s family left to spend the day at Niagara Falls. We all got together in town at Uncle Steven’s house when they got back. Uncle David said he couldn’t make pie crust, so Grandma offered to teach him on Tuesday morning. The cousins were mostly techno-zombies while we made a blueberry peach pie. Then we made another crust with coconut oil instead of shortening for ham and cheese galettes for lunch. We had the pie for afternoon snack just before Uncle David’s family left for the airport.
Meanwhile, Grandma and Grandpa have been working on other projects! Grandma finished crocheting her eighth baby blanket since March and decided that was enough. Grandma and Grandpa got the siding for the front of the boathouse stained and installed. I wanted to help, but Grandma doesn’t let me anywhere near stain or paint! We found a place to store the Sunfish.
Tuesday was a busy day! Grandma and I started another AWACS cheesecake to put in the freezer. Then she took me to the annual Sunflower Festival at Wickham Farms. Sunflowers are some of my favorite flowers because they look like me! I made friends with lots of flowers, a carrot statue and a barrel horse!
Tuesday night Grandma and Grandpa and I made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies!
Yesterday, we finished the cheesecake by putting on the ganache! We have lots of goodies in the freezer now!
Love,
Lion-san
Glad that all the Lion-san Cousins got together. The Pixley Cousins had a reunion in Michigan this Summer, all 24 of them! It’s really special to see your family together, Lion-san! I know you enjoyed it!
Please tell me what butter beer is. Thanks.
Great Aunt Betsy, butter beer is mostly cream soda mixed with a cooked butterscotch syrup and topped with whipped cream. The combination of ingredients gives it a foamy “head” that looks like Guinness stout.