Summer Vacation

We're back from vacation. We spent 11 days in the Finger Lakes of NY. We left on Thursday, August 12 and returned today. Matt had a Po*rsche club race at Watk*ins Glen the first weekend and the rest of the time we spent boating on Lake Seneca, visiting the glass museum in Cor*ning, wineries and keeping Chloe entertained (which is hard to do). Our vacation began in the rain and ended in the rain. In between the weather was beautiful.

Chloe etching a glass at the Cor*ning Glass Museum.

We camped in our RV. Two cars, two parent, two kids and two dogs and one boat. It took some driving and planning, but we managed to get all of us and our toys to the Finger Lakes. We took the boat up to a marina on Lake Seneca the Saturday before we officially went on vacation and Matt took the boat back to the marina we purchased it from in Pennsylvania this past Saturday before we left for an oil change and to store it there. That left us with the SUV pulling the RV with the dogs, kids and I in tow and Matt driving his car back home.

As I said, the first few days of vacation we spent at the famous WG race track for Matt's driving event. It was three-days of track time. The kids and I watched Matt and the other Por*sche's drive the track. We snapped lots of photos and made a few side trips to keep us entertained. Matt's Por*sche pal, Paul, stayed with us through the weekend.

Chloe, Matt & Oliver checking out the other cars.

Matt (center car) at the toe of the boot at WG.

On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we boated on Lake Seneca. The lake is 35 miles long and has a maximum depth of 600 feet. Our boat was one of the smallest on the lake, if you could find another boat. We were surprised to find that the lake was relatively empty---we had it all to ourselves! On a busy day we might have seen 4 sailboats, the tourist boat/cruiser and maybe two other motor/ski boats. It was fantastic fun tubing and swimming (though it was shockingly cold at first) on our own private, expansive, glacially created lake!

Chillin' in the tube.

A view of the vineyards from the lake.

Oliver, probably having just thrown something important overboard into the lake. We fished out soda cans, Matt's sunglasses, numerous sippy cups (hey, he was finished!), not to mention the constant swarm of birds we had flying over the boat to scoop up discarded bagels and crackers he'd thrown overboard. Cell phones, car keys and boat keys are safely locked away when we are anchored.

Oliver, Matt and Chloe going for a chilly dip.

Matt got to perfect his kneeboarding.

We also enjoyed the usual camping traditions on this vacation--campfires, sparklers, roasted marshmallows, cookouts, etc. Chloe had great fun at the campground playground. Every kid at the campsite knew her and would call out her name to come and play. Of course, Chloe could not tell you there name. "I forgot", she would tell us. Every day Chloe would inform us of the schedule. She would politely ask us what we would like to do for the day, then she would start in with what we WOULD ACTUALLY do for the day. Each day she tried to cram a weeks worth of activities into one day. She would hit the playground at 8 a.m., be on the lake at 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. tubing and swimming, return to the campground at 4:30 p.m. and demand to go swimming. She would try to squeeze in a game of mini-golf before dinner, another trip to the playground before capping off the evening with a trip to the camp store for an ice cream cone. I didn't even add the walks on the hiking trail, jump pillow, bicycle rides around the fishing pond and golf-kart rides. She had a full agenda each day.

Chloe smiling in the rented golf cart that I used one day to ferrry her to her various scheduled activities and playdates at the campground.

Chloe enjoying the "pedal cars".

Oliver playing in the grass while sister hops from activity to activity.

The jump pillow.