Lake George 2019

Allow me to be brutally honest.  Blogging can be a total pain in the tush.

Here’s how the process goes.  First I take a bazillion pictures (I don’t really mind this part, although sometimes the kids do.)  Then I download the pictures from my phone onto the desktop computer.  These get sorted by month, after which I get into the iCloud and download Jason’s photos, making sure to gather them by month as well, melding them into the same folder. Oh wait, I forgot a step.  Before downloading Jason’s photos, I try to filter out the hundreds of pictures of nasty toilets and such that he’s taken for work while doing measure-ups for accessibility modifications.  Seriously, you never know what you’re going to find in his photo roll. 

These photo folders then get transferred onto an external hard drive and reloaded onto my laptop since that is the only computer in the house that still has Picasa.  (Don’t get me started about how disappointed I am that Google stopped supporting Picasa.  I have tried other photo editing/organizing programs, but Picasa is the only one I like.)  I also use the laptop to download the SD cards containing photos taken with the “real” camera.  The SD photos then have to get uploaded onto the external hard drive as well so we have a backup. 

With all of the pictures gathered, I start sorting to select my favorites.  For an average month, that's about 1000 pics, but you can double that for vacation times.  If I’m feeling fancy, Picasa allows me to make edits pretty painlessly, such as cropping, straightening, adding fill light, or adjusting the color balance.  I generally choose far more photos than I want to post, so I pass through the photos a couple more times to pare down my favorites.  These photos then get exported onto the laptop's desktop, this time sorted into folders by different themes I want to blog about.  Using blogger, I eventually upload these photos and add whatever commentary I can muster up from the recesses of my memory, since months have invariably passed.  I also rearrange pictures so that they make some sort of chronological sense, change the photo sizes, center the pictures, etc.  All in all, there’s a lot involved.  

With big family gatherings it becomes even more complicated because we share photos, so there’s lots more material to work with.  So please understand my panic when I went to upload my already-pared-down “Lake George” photo file and discovered that there were 189 pictures in there!  In the time it’s taken me to write this, our high speed internet has only managed to upload 172.  Even worse, I know for a fact that I have another folder labeled “More Lake George” filled with an additional 158 pics.

Oh. My.

This is out of control.  Not to fear, I will be merciless and trim down the pictures substantially.  But if my commentary is lacking, I beg your forgiveness.  It’s been a long process to get this point, and there are so many new memories to be made alongside the ones that we cherish.

***

Lake George.  Relaxing, adventurous, filled with family and fun.  It's amazing how even though the place doesn't belong to us, we've spent so much time there that it feels a bit like home.  This is especially true when the Wilhoits join us all the way from Washington.  Wells, Wilhoits, and Wheelers--it's a great mix!  (Andruses, we are so glad to have you too.)  Here's Callie sitting at my favorite table ever.

Zoe!  Talia was delighted to be reunited with her birth buddy.  (They are nearly the same age.)

Uncle Adam always has the best T-shirts.

Cutest couple.

Can't forget Eila.  This adorable fish hopped in the water every chance she had.

And of course, our favorite two year-old Anders.

I'm digging the soggy diaper.  (We learned that yes, they can indeed explode.)

On our first day, we were blessed to be joined by even more family than usual.  Here's my grandpa John Wells.



And here's his wife Elaine along with my Grandpa's sister, Aunt Virginia.


Aunt Virginia is 99 years young, and independent as ever.

Naturally my husband wanted to look his best for the occasion.  Goofball.

 I guess he was inspired by the little girls.

Gregory and Janet chilling.  This may have been the one moment Gregory got to sit down all week.  We kept him super busy driving us around on the boat.  

Or else we put him to work at the barbecue.

Like father, like son.

Speaking of fathers...

Mine's pretty great.

Love my mama too.

The excitement wore Grandpa out.

Must run in the family.

More fun on land...

And more fun in the water...

Time to take the rental boat out for a cruise.

"Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a contour of mountains into a basin... finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal, and the mountain sides covered with rich groves."
-- Thomas Jefferson, May 31, 1791

Gathering for one final photo before Grandpa, Elaine, and Aunt Virginia head home.  A pretty great crew.

Believe it or not, we were actually missing a few people in the above shot, and not just our photographer Jason.  Katelyn and Jeanette had social and work commitments, so they joined us a day later.  Don't you love Katie's smile?

Jeanette and Annie were the perfect snuggle buddies.

More happy moments.

Brooklyn's been replaced by It.

And now for the waterskiing.  It was amazing!  Gregory was so patient, taking us out time and time again, even when it meant getting out of his comfy bed way earlier than he might have liked.  Best of all, every single person got the hang of it.  The Wells family invested in some new kids skis that helped Eli out a ton.  My hope is that Annie, Eila, and Anders all learn to ski on them as well.

Katelyn's looking great outside the wake. 

Same with Jeanette.

Look at Callie go.

I was happy to still get up slalom.

Jason and I tried tandem skiing.  Check out our synchronized wedgie pulls.

Way fun.

Gregory and Jeanette followed suit

Happy boaters.

And now for the beginners.  Learning to ski may require drinking the lake, but it sure makes for some great photos.  Starting off, we have Eli.

Short-lived, but he was up!  Before long, Eli totally got the knack and could get up all on his own.

Next up, Talia.

The next day, she learned how to straighten out of the notorious C.

Now for Brooklyn.

Maybe?

Alas.

Another try...

...and she nailed it.

Our last water skier: Alesia.  Alesia is the water-skiing expert who has seriously taught all of my children how to ski.  Despite being a wonderfully patient coach, she hadn't had much personal water-skiing success.  Until now.  With the courage that comes from belting Broadway (and some appropriately sized skis), Alesia not only got up consistently, but made several impressive tours of the cove.

Maybe this will be fun?

I got this.

Knees bent, elbows straight.  Sing it, sistahs!

Ack!  Water up the nose.

 Whose idea was this anyway?  This is why I don't like water skiing.

Wait a minute, I'm still standing.  Rather puzzling.

I'm up!

Nailed it.  (Along with a fist pump from Uncle Jay up in heaven.)

These three water-skiers are our heroes, and not just because they can do nifty tricks.  They found our missing water ski after it got knocked off the dock and floated away one night.  Old enough to be considered vintage, that water ski was filled with memories.  Another fist pump.

Of course, not all our time was spent outside.  We did have to come inside to eat.  So many happy faces.

The little girls table.

There was also a bit more work to be done on the Lego Hogwarts castle.  Here are the builders putting on the finishing touches.

Even more impressive in daylight.


Coloring time,

While in Lake George, we took Talia and Eli out for regular training runs. 

It was fun to remember Talia training here for her first half-marathon four years ago.

Now it was time for Eli's first.


If you can manage running in the heat and humidity of a New York summer, you can handle anything.

Talia's new running buddy, Jeanette.

Way to go, gals.

Cooling off after.

While not a fan of running, Brooklyn joined us for a stroll around Lake George Battlefield park.  Hard to imagine this peaceful place filled with cannons 250 years ago.

Remembering those who honored the place first.

Jason was excited to break out the sunfish.

Anders was excited to help.

Here's Uncle Jason taking Eila out for a sail.

Fortunately he decided to drop her off at the speedboat before heading across the lake.  The wind died down and it took him a long time to tack back.

Meanwhile, the other boat was getting its fast and crazy on. 

No, not Talia's hair.  Tubing!

Bring me home!  Eila had all the hand motions down.

NomiAnn in her happy place.

Of course, Eila and Annika didn't need to leave the dock to have a great time on the boat.

Relaxing at the waterfront.  Life doesn't get better than this.

Papa Kay's turn to captain the boat.

Did I mention NomiAnn likes the water?

Big yawn!  Must be time to head back.

Nothing better than s'mores for a night time snack.

When the next day dawned drizzly, we were glad.  Perfect weather for fishing.

Some of our crawdads were feistier than others.  Here's Jeanette going claw to claw with one.

Unsurprisingly, the claws didn't scare Annika at all.

The first fish.

Katelyn's got one.

Aunt Janet too!

All in all, it was a familiar scenario of tangled lines, reeling in to move the boat, and big ones that got away.  Just what fishing at Lake George should be.

More tubing, please.  Always more tubing.  Brooklyn and Eila seem to be having a great time.

Much to my surprise, Annika preferred tamer rides.  Here she is with Alesia.

Callie and Adam prepare for their voyage.  Will they survive the waves?

Oh yeah.

Here's Anders tubing close to shore.

And on shore.

Da boyz.

Plus an old lady.

One evening we headed into Glenwood Falls to go see the new Lion King.  So fun.

We also checked out the giant Adirondack chair in Lake George village.  Alesia, Callie, and a passel of littles.

In the spirit of exploring new places, Alesia, Eli, and I headed over to Diamond Island for a picnic.  This monument has been around for a long time.  Apparently 500 soldiers camped on this teeny-tiny island during their retreat.

Puzzling tree.

On our last day, Callie and Adam when in search of aventuras to celebrate their anniversary.

Adventure?  Found and flying high.  They were actually fortunate to parasail that day.  The wind picked up, so they were the last couple to go out.

No family get-together is complete without rocket balloons.

"Oh, Greg's funny."  Says Annika, who is snuggled up next to me as I type.  By the way, the balloon chose Greg's face as its final resting place all on its own.

A few final photos before Adam and Jason headed into the city to catch their flights.  I guess the Utah and Washington mountains were calling as well.

Callie and I.  I don't generally think of us as sweaty-headed, but it was exceptionally hot and humid.

Zoe agrees.  Lake George is the place to be, especially when it means being with family.

Janet, Jeanette, Katelyn, Greg, Alesia--thank you all for making us so very welcome once more.  We feel so blessed that you so willingly share the best part of your summer and lives with us.  Callie, Adam, Eila, and Anders, thank you for coming such a long way to be with us.  How I love that cousins grown and small all get to hang out together generation after generation!  And NomiAnn and Papa Kay, thank you both for helping our crew get out east once more, even when it means more repairs for your mini-van.

We love you all!

(Now who wants to count how many pictures...)