east coastin'
after the whirlwind madness that is usually this time of year, with the end of the school year smash-crashing in to the now annual Alumni Weekend, it was a wonder that i was able to get away for a little vacation on the east coast for r's family reunion. his mom's side of the gang had rented a lake house in the finger lakes area of new york, a place that's apparently considered "upstate", i guess because it's not in the nyc area. other things i learned over the course of the week were things like what poison ivy looks like, and the differences between amish and mennonites. after a bit of a delay getting there, r and i spent the week with 20-65 of his relatives (depending on the day) fishing off the dock, exploring the 2-horse towns around us, building campfires and s'mores, and getting stuck in the middle of the lake because we broke the paddle boat. have i mentioned i'm not a strong swimmer?
the weather was cool, the company was warm, and the house was huge enough to sleep 26 (?!), though with the kids (ages 2-9) it seemed maybe a bit smaller. the east coast opened my eyes to all sorts of wonders: bats at dusk, eagles flying overhead, fireflys that seemed to have an LED implanted in their rear end, and real-live amish people... friendly, too, or at least the one we kept zooming past on the road was when he'd wave. and r got his fill (i think?) of his beloved dunkin' donuts coffee, so all in all, our appetites were satiated. and, amazingly, i managed to escape with few mosquito bites (two thumbs up for the off mosquito fan!).
enjoy the pics, word is there's a sequel planned in a few years:

current mood: refreshed!