Variations on a Common Vacation: Lake George 2015

After Vermont, what next?  Lake George, of course!  The Wells clan warmly welcomed all the Wheelers and Wilhoits for a whomping good time.  (The Andrus's were there too, but the over-achieving As at the beginning of the alphabet can't begin to compete with cool kids at the Wend.)

Once again, my super-amazing sistah has come to my rescue with her scintillating post about Lake George.  Check it out here (http://wanderingwilhoits.blogspot.com/2015/08/lake-george-2015.html).  This time I tried to pick different pictures so enjoy our Variations on a Common Vacation.

Since we arrived on a Sunday, we stopped off for church in Glens Falls on the way.  Even when on vacation, we usually try to make some sort of worship service on Sundays, be it an LDS meeting or other denomination.  Here's Talia all dressed up.
We didn't dawdle too long, because guess who was waiting for us?  Uncle Adam!  (All dressed down, as one ought to be at the lake.)


Better yet, Adam brought Zoe with him.  Papa K was in heaven!  (Just kidding Adam.  We love you more than your pug.  Probably.  But thanks for bringing Zoe--she really is family!)

Adorable as Zoe's tongue may be, these baby blues still steal the show.  What better place to learn to crawl than on the dining room table?


So as one might guess, our leisurely week at the lake involved lots of water play.  Here's a horde of cousins jumping off the swim platform.  (Little did I know that I was just milliseconds away from my top coming untied!  Luckily the problem was easily resolved underwater.)


Brooklyn snorkeled...


...while Talia did her Talia thing.

Even Zoe joined in the water fun--for a little while.


As for our Annika, she was surprisingly hesitant about the water.  I think even the small lake waves were a little overwhelming for a gal her size.  She seemed most content to snuggle up in her elephant towel...

...and take a snooze.


Oh, I forgot.  Callie and Eila were also quite content to be warm and dry landbabies.

I love this family picture.  Zoe decided she'd had quite enough of being upstaged by the baby.

Spoiler alert: look who turned eight months in Lake George!  I'm sure I totally posted a forbidden surprise pic here, but she's so cute that I couldn't resist.  Besides anybody who reads this was probably there.  I think Eila's the only one with a noggin' capable of pulling off that headband.

 

Back on the waterfront, we had a grand old time playing on Grandpa Wells's jet ski.   Here are the men, Greg and Eli.  Watch out!  Look who's driving.

The two Kates, Katelyn and Kathryn, show Greg how to have some fun.  We were glad to have the female half of the LaFroscia clan, Kathryn and Alison, join us for a couple of days.  I'm sure Greg wouldn't have minded a few more guys too, though!

For years, a long-standing Wells family tradition has been a hike to the waterfalls to catch newts.  Since the boat wasn't working, we drove around the lake this time and reached the falls from the other side.  In this picture, you'll notice Eli holding the bait bucket in Uncle Jay's honor.

Brooklyn toted our Annie Mae for a while.


Then Papa K took over the role of helping her along.  This little munchkin must have been feeling particularly lazy as she hiked for a grand total of, like, ten steps.

The lake is stunning from every angle.


At last, we reached the falls.  Impressive, no matter how you get there.



So lucky to have cousins to lend a hand.

Talia enjoys some snuggles from her Aunt Al and Cousin Kate.


All in all, I'd say Eila enjoyed her visit to the Falls.

Daddy's little girl.

This lucky sweetie gets attention from all the men.  Here she is smiling with her Papa K.

Eli, on the other hand, saved his best hugs for Addy and Rondack.

Every boy should have a dog--or at least relatives willing to share their canine friends.

As difficult as it is to improve on perfection,  Papa K managed by renting paddle boards for the day.  Here he is demonstrating proper technique.  As Callie mentioned, he also gave multiple demonstrations on how to dismount, several of which were graceful.  :)

Watch out for the baby ducks!

Talia and Brooklyn were both naturals.

So much fun!

At the end of the day, even Zoe went for a paddle.  Gotta put that doggie life jacket to good use!


Elaine and Grandpa came over from Vermont to share in the fun for an afternoon.  It's always so fun to be together.


On our last full day, we splurged on a steamboat voyage aboard the Minnehaha.  Here are Eli and Alesia waiting in line.  These two have formed a special bond.  When Eli came home from his first day of kindergarten, the very first thing he wanted to do was call Alesia.

And here we have Katelyn and Annika.  Poor Annie was squinting the whole time after getting sunscreen in her eyes.

Eila was perfectly content to hide out in her Ergo.


Complete with a giant paddlewheel and shiny brass bell, the Minnehaha is the quintessential Lake George icon.

NomiAnn, Callie, and Eila get ready for the journey to start.

From the Wells side, we have Greg, Katelyn, and Janet.  In case you're wondering what happened to Jeanette, our talented artist spent the week in Manhattan at the School of Visual Arts.  Nettie, we missed you!  Jason, we missed you too.  I guess somebody had to work--sorry it had to be you.

Alison and yours truly.

Finally on our way, here's a charming view of Lake George village.

Greg spotted something interesting.

Serenaded by a steam calliope.  It just doesn't get cooler than that.

Thanks for the fun ride, Minne-Ha-Ha!  The journey was nearly as amusing as your name.  (Note the black tote I left by by the trashcan. Lucky for me, someone turned it in.)

A cousin photo with Eli, Alesia, Talia, Brooklyn, and Katelyn.

Can't forget Annika and Gregory!

There's always time for silly.

Whew!  All that photo catch-up was exhausting.  Time for a nap.

Janet, I hope you've gotten a nice long nap after hosting our entire crew for so long.  You are amazingly generous, as always.  Please send a huge thank you to your whole family.  We love you all and miss you!

Vermont 2015--A Wheeler Perspective

Sorry for the silence, folks. We've had some frustrating computer issues with a virus that clung so stubbornly to our desktop that we finally backed up all our files and reset to factory settings. Nothing better than a clean slate. Fortunately for me, Callie has courageously carried on the family chronicling crusade in my absence. Hallelujah! My life just got so much easier. Thanks, sis. :)

So back to the travelogue, after a couple fun days on Long Island, we drove up to my Great-Grandpa John Wells' and GranElaine's cabin in Vermont.  Callie and Eila met us there, having opted to fly from coast to coast.  (According to Google Maps, it's only 44 hours of drive time.  Wimps!)  In all actuality, Callie and Eila were the bravest of travelers, boarding that airplane despite Eila's lingering tummy troubles.  If you want to read all about some intense projectile vomit and Eila's trip to the ER, click here.  Or, just in case that link ever gets broken, here's the url: http://wanderingwilhoits.blogspot.com/2015/08/vermont-2015.html. 

Did you do it?  Did you click the link?  See, I figured that if I sensationalized the pitch with puke and the ER, curiosity couldn't keep you away.  Pretty pictures of the lake are nice, but regurgitation--now that's click-worthy.  In all actuality, we really did have a lovely time, despite Eila's stomach bug.  Still, it's the challenging times we remember most.  Here's our sweet gal in one of her sad moments.  After some tummy calming medicine, she felt so much better.

Resting peacefully in GranElaine's arms.


So I apologize in advance, but some of these pictures are duplicates from the ones Callie posted.  I uploaded photos before I saw her post, so there's a bit of redundancy.  I figured I'd toss them into cyberspace anyway since they are already there, plus that way they'll end up in our blog book.

For example, Callie put up a picture of us all getting ready to go tubing.

She also included this action shot of Brooklyn and Talia enjoying a good ride.



However, she missed the hilarious interim step where the girls tried to ride a trick tube that kept spinning around and bucking.  With the rope attached to the center of the float, we never saw more than the tops of their heads.

 Both Callie and I picked this picture of a happy NomiAnn nestling Eila...

...but I added this one too.  So pretty!

A picture of babysitter Brooklyn doing what she loves best--same.

A photo of Papa K trying to figure out exactly how many places to set at the table--different.

Callie was too nice to post this photo of NomiAnn's sandal, stuck in the muck after she stepped into a hole.  Wicked daughter that I am, I ran for my camera instead of running to help her get unstuck. 

Callie was also far too modest to post this gorgeous picture of herself.

Papa K's never far away when there's work to be done.


This photo was a keeper by all blog accounts.  Grandpa and Elaine, thank you so very much for your warm welcome!

Eli wishes we lived close enough to join the Frequent Hug Club...

...as do I.

When we were in Vermont two years ago, I feared it might be our last stay at Longview.  With the house listed for sale, this visit likely will be our last.  As much as we will miss it, I'm so glad we were able to reconnect one last itme.

Familiar sights I'll miss: the old red boat.  Temperamental as it may be, it managed to roar to life long enough for me to slalom one last time on Lake St. Catherine.  (Bet Grandpa won't miss the repair bills!)

Seeing Grandpa smoke his pipe and read in the early mornings. 


The giant dining room table with the old wooden high chair.  I remember Alesia (the oldest of four) eating in that high chair.  Now our Annie Mae (the youngest of four) has nearly outgrown it.


The flag pole and Grandpa's fireworks.


And of course, the most amazing swing that I've ever had the pleasure to experience. 

Leave it to Talia to swing differently than all who've swung before.




Looking at these pictures from Vermont, I feel nostalgic about the passing time.  Doesn't seem like that long ago when I was the oldest cousin, happily entertaining the new babies.

Am I really old enough to have a daughter playing the same role?

Talia likewise seems to be growing at super-speed.  Her friends and teachers have been shocked to see how much she changed over the summer--not just taller, but more mature.

Callie and Eila, I know the travel to Vermont was rotten, but thank you so much for being there!  I'm so glad we could share these beautiful memories together.