Sodus Point, NY - Summer 2005
We spent a week at Sodus Point. Your cousin Hannah was there, along with Bammer and Grandpa. Your aunt Annie and Uncle Ted were there for one day, with your cousins Stephen and Brian. Your grandmother is called "Bammer", because when your cousin caroline, the first grandchild, was little she couldn't say "Grandma".
Sodus is a place that I went to a lot as a kid. We sometimes would spend almost the whole summer there. My father, your grandfather went there when he was a little boy too.
We stay in a small cottage. It's next door to the house where we stayed when I was little. My uncle Jack and my cousins Neal, Bruce and Janet along with their spouses and kids stay in the old house.
The house is on a beautiful bay. Ducks swim by the house, and swans. Sometimes you can see a Great Blue Heron fly past.
Sodus Bay as seen from the cottage
The house has a dock, where your cousin Brian likes to fish. You can catch a lot of fish there, but you have to let them go after you catch them. Last year, before you took swimming lessons, you had to wear a life jacket on the dock in case you fell in. That made you mad. This year, because you're a good swimmer, you can hang out without it.
Hanging out on the dock
One of your favorite things to do with Hannah is play a game called Rat-a-Tat Cat. You've made up your own rules, called "Rats are the Best". As far as I can tell, you both draw cards until someone has all rats in their hand. You and I playes a few games with the regular rules. We also played a game called Slamwich, and another game which I forget the name. But, you had to fib about your cards, and if you got caught, you had to take another nose card and your nose got longer.
Rat-a-Tat Cat
Tubing is the number one water sport these days. When your aunts Sarah and Anne and I used to go up, it was water skiing. I think you'll probably ski or wakeboard when you get older. Most of the kids go behind the big boat, 'cause they're bigger. But you like to go behind the Georgie Boat. This is an old Aluminum fishing boat with a 4 HP outboard motor on it. My great uncle George bought it a log time ago. George is your grandfather's uncle. Anyway, I used to love the Georgie Boat as a kid, and now you like to go tubing behind it with Hannah. One of the times we went tubing this trip, you fell out of the tube when I started the boat fast. I went back and picked you up, and then we rode together in the boat for a bit. Then you wanted to go back in the tube.
At the dock with Bammer and Grandpa
While we were up there, there was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a pretty big hurricane, and it brought some wind and rain up to Sodus. Nothing scary, but it did bloiw the tubes off the lawn into the Bay. They were lost for a few days, but then Dillon halligan found them in his boat.
Lauren and Hannah in the big tube
Your other favorite activity is looking for shells in the water. You also found some rocks you like, some sea glass, and a piece of an old pottery bowl that was blue and white and very pretty. My favorite shells are the spiral shells. I saved a few of the things you found, and they're in your treasure box.
Looking for shells
Bammer and Grandpa have a Old English Sheepdog named Sonoma. You love Sonoma, or "Mo-mo". She hangs around the house and doesn't run away. At night, we walk her on the golf course that's across the small street from the cottage. Sonoma loves to go in the water, and follows the kids around.
"Bammer" and Sonoma
Here is a picture of you playing with something that your Bammer though of from her childhood. You and Hannah got some chestnuts from a chestnut tree. Then, you went to the beach and found some seagull feathers. My dad and I put a tack in the chestnut and tied it to the feather. Then you guys went over to the golf course and threw them in the air. It was pretty fun.
Chestnuts and feathers
Throwing the "conkers"
It really was a wonderful week. Every morning we got to snuggle for a little bit. Then we had breakfast together. You like lots of bacon, but not eggs. For lunch, I would make you a grilled cheese sandwich, sometimes with bacon. I also made you a turkey sandwich which you took with you to the doll museum with Hannah and Bammer. I think that there were dolls there, but I mostly heard from you about a pretend store where you could pick 5 things, and then take them to a cash register and check them out. You brought home the receipts. Your receipts all had some healthy food, like a pork chop and some green beans. And some ice cream.
we went to a place called Burnap's farm, where they have a maze made in a corn field, and a train you can play on. And some ice cream.
This is how you looked for most of the trip. It was a great time for me, and I love being with you.
Lauren
By the way, you are a really fun person to travel with. You're a great flier, and fun to play with on airplanes. But, on this trip home, you mostly slept.
I love you.
Daddy
Sodus is a place that I went to a lot as a kid. We sometimes would spend almost the whole summer there. My father, your grandfather went there when he was a little boy too.
We stay in a small cottage. It's next door to the house where we stayed when I was little. My uncle Jack and my cousins Neal, Bruce and Janet along with their spouses and kids stay in the old house.
The house is on a beautiful bay. Ducks swim by the house, and swans. Sometimes you can see a Great Blue Heron fly past.
Sodus Bay as seen from the cottage
The house has a dock, where your cousin Brian likes to fish. You can catch a lot of fish there, but you have to let them go after you catch them. Last year, before you took swimming lessons, you had to wear a life jacket on the dock in case you fell in. That made you mad. This year, because you're a good swimmer, you can hang out without it.
Hanging out on the dock
One of your favorite things to do with Hannah is play a game called Rat-a-Tat Cat. You've made up your own rules, called "Rats are the Best". As far as I can tell, you both draw cards until someone has all rats in their hand. You and I playes a few games with the regular rules. We also played a game called Slamwich, and another game which I forget the name. But, you had to fib about your cards, and if you got caught, you had to take another nose card and your nose got longer.
Rat-a-Tat Cat
Tubing is the number one water sport these days. When your aunts Sarah and Anne and I used to go up, it was water skiing. I think you'll probably ski or wakeboard when you get older. Most of the kids go behind the big boat, 'cause they're bigger. But you like to go behind the Georgie Boat. This is an old Aluminum fishing boat with a 4 HP outboard motor on it. My great uncle George bought it a log time ago. George is your grandfather's uncle. Anyway, I used to love the Georgie Boat as a kid, and now you like to go tubing behind it with Hannah. One of the times we went tubing this trip, you fell out of the tube when I started the boat fast. I went back and picked you up, and then we rode together in the boat for a bit. Then you wanted to go back in the tube.
At the dock with Bammer and Grandpa
While we were up there, there was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a pretty big hurricane, and it brought some wind and rain up to Sodus. Nothing scary, but it did bloiw the tubes off the lawn into the Bay. They were lost for a few days, but then Dillon halligan found them in his boat.
Lauren and Hannah in the big tube
Your other favorite activity is looking for shells in the water. You also found some rocks you like, some sea glass, and a piece of an old pottery bowl that was blue and white and very pretty. My favorite shells are the spiral shells. I saved a few of the things you found, and they're in your treasure box.
Looking for shells
Bammer and Grandpa have a Old English Sheepdog named Sonoma. You love Sonoma, or "Mo-mo". She hangs around the house and doesn't run away. At night, we walk her on the golf course that's across the small street from the cottage. Sonoma loves to go in the water, and follows the kids around.
"Bammer" and Sonoma
Here is a picture of you playing with something that your Bammer though of from her childhood. You and Hannah got some chestnuts from a chestnut tree. Then, you went to the beach and found some seagull feathers. My dad and I put a tack in the chestnut and tied it to the feather. Then you guys went over to the golf course and threw them in the air. It was pretty fun.
Chestnuts and feathers
Throwing the "conkers"
It really was a wonderful week. Every morning we got to snuggle for a little bit. Then we had breakfast together. You like lots of bacon, but not eggs. For lunch, I would make you a grilled cheese sandwich, sometimes with bacon. I also made you a turkey sandwich which you took with you to the doll museum with Hannah and Bammer. I think that there were dolls there, but I mostly heard from you about a pretend store where you could pick 5 things, and then take them to a cash register and check them out. You brought home the receipts. Your receipts all had some healthy food, like a pork chop and some green beans. And some ice cream.
we went to a place called Burnap's farm, where they have a maze made in a corn field, and a train you can play on. And some ice cream.
This is how you looked for most of the trip. It was a great time for me, and I love being with you.
Lauren
By the way, you are a really fun person to travel with. You're a great flier, and fun to play with on airplanes. But, on this trip home, you mostly slept.
I love you.
Daddy
posted by michael peachey at 9:30 PM
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