Keuka...from Shawn's camera

Sunset on the first night…

Well after a 3 day trip from Deer Park to New York that included 3 hours of sitting on the interstate we finally made it to Keuka Lake. Jessica saw the lake first which is an old family tradition where as we get close to the lake, the first person to see it yells out, “I saw the Lake first!”

It was definitely great to get back to the place where I have made so many wonderful childhood memories. As soon as we got there we said our hello’s to all the family and I decided, unknown to anyone else, that I was going for a swim, in the clothes I had on. So I walked out on the dock and in the words of David Norman, “He just never stopped, when he got to the end of the dock, he just jumped right in!” I had to jump in, it had been so long since I had been there and the water felt great…AHHH

Ally is somewhat shy when she meets new people, heck when I got back from 31 days in Abu Dhabi, she cried when I went to get her out of her car seat! Well after a time or two she warmed up to Aunt Ann. It was really amazing to see Aunt Ann together with Jase and Ally. Aunt Ann was born in 1913 and Ally in 2009, 96 years apart! I wonder when Aunt Ann was born if her parents thought about what her future was going to be like, I bet they had no idea what the 1900’s would bring, and here we are almost 100 years later, wondering what the future holds for Jase and Ally…anyways...I wanted to get a pic of them together.

This picture says it all...Having fun is hard work!!

A shot of some of the waterfowl that spends the summer at the lake raising babies. We keep a healthy supply of white bread on hand for all the mallard ducks, which will just about eat it out of your hand. These are Canadian Geese and they were a little more wild or they must like wheat bread.
  Well besides being at the Lake, another place of many great memories is the Glen.
 

The Glen is basically a creek that is about 1.5 miles long and at the end of it is a 100 foot waterfall. There are various “water slides” where the water has smoothed out the slate that is present throughout the creek. It makes short, but fun, little slides that are great for the little kids. The creekwater is about 60 degrees so it is refreshing as well! The pictures below show some of the slides and the waterfall, enjoy!

 

Mom and Dad!!

Jase, Jess, and Ally at the Blueberry Farm!

This day we went to the Blueberry Farm. It was a lot of fun and great for the tastebuds! The countryside is dotted with many small farms and throughout the summer you can pick all the fruit you want as it comes in season. My favorite fruit to pick up here are strawberries, so we can have strawberry shortcake, but the blueberries are running a close second. If you have never done this give it a try, they taste a lot different than store-bought.

  
Here is Ally just outside of the NY state Fish Hatchery, what a cutie! Jase and Coby had a blast feeding fish pellets to all the fingerling fish being raised. If I can ever figure out how to get video on this blog, I will have to post it.

A summertime tradition!

The smallmouth bass…this has got to be one of the most exciting fish there is to catch. Even a small one like this one will put up a great fight. The fishing this year was great even though were were limited to the docks and kayaks.


Below are a few of the pics of various days of fish catching. Everone got in on the action and we had a great time. It was really cool to take Jase and Coby out into the woods and dig for worms, then take those worms and catch fish, then have those fish for dinner…a country boy can survive!

A giant of a rock bass!

Jase got his share of smallies!

Kimberly and Seth with some smallie action!

Who said you cannot fish in PJ's...

 

  So they are not all giants!!

The girls showing off their catch!

Kimberly really fished a lot this trip. She lost a big bass on the first or second night she was there and from then on she was hooked, pun intended. This same night Seth went down to the point near our house and caught himself a nice smallie as well. Seth also loved taking the kayaks out and paddling around with Grandpa!

I went for a swim.  0.5 miles one way...

Dad followed me in the kayak

This was the last morning of fishing for me at the Lake so I had to paddle to Marlena point (the little one on the left) and try my luck. We have caught numerous big bass from this area, and I was really excited to get there and start fishing.

Once at Marlena point I had to stop and take a pic of the Bluff and the sunrise, it was just too beautiful.

Unfortunately this was the only fish I caught this morning, but it was great to get over to this part of the lake and fish. The thing I love about fishing is the anticipation, the anticipation of the next bite, the next cast, the next spot to fish and the night before your next trip. You are able to play it all over in your mind how it is going to go, and dream of the next monster that is going to hit your lure. Then it usually all changes and it plays out a totally different way, and another memory is made.

It was truly a wonderful week spent at Keuka Lake with all our family. I will always cherish the memories I have made there and hope to make a few more in the coming years.

And finally...this is probably one of my favorite pictures of all...the lake is calm, the sun is shining, and we are fishing...not to many things I can think of that beat that...