Seneca Lake

The weekend after our move we had a wedding to attend in Watkins Glen, NY. Watkins Glen is in the Finger Lakes region and located at the foot of the largest Finger Lake, Seneca.  The wedding was for a Goforth family friend so months ago we decided to rent a house on the lake for Larry & Sandy, Gennie, Eric, Clare, Cate and us.  Then I thought my parents might like to join us for the trip and could also double as babysitters during the wedding reception. The house I rented slept 17 people so then we invited the Clayton crew to join us as well!  Might as well fill 'er up!

Packing for this trip was not the easiest since most of our stuff was still in boxes from the move.  I also made a trip to Wegman's Friday morning to get the first round of food and beer, so my Subaru was pretty full on the drive down.  My parents, Annie, and the boys drove in from St. Louis.  They started on Thursday and drove to Erie, PA.  Then Friday morning they just had a 3.5 hour drive to the lake.  They beat me there and had fun exploring the many bedrooms.  Parker and I arrived around 12:30.  The Johnsons arrived from Pittsburgh later that afternoon, followed by Larry and Sandy.  Our knight in shining armor (aka Greg) arrived via more fun transport, on a borrowed pontoon boat (Thanks Hausners!).  Greg and his First Mate, Otis, drove the boat down from Geneva to about mid-lake where the house was, it took over an hour.

Disclaimer: one of the things I did not pack was my camera, so these shots from my phone are pretty underwhelming.

The weather could have been better but the house was great, location wonderful, and the kids had such a blast playing with each other.  Otis was a happy guy too with all of that space to roam and water to swim in.  

We celebrated Parker's birthday early with a cake and presents from all of her out-of-town family.  Grandpa and Jack did some fishing.  Greg and Parker (and Otis of course) did a little swimming.  We had marshmellows by the fire pit and some delicious meals at the enormous dining room table.  Annie and I took our early risers for a walk one morning.  Papa G let off a couple sky lanterns.  And last but not least, the girls (minus Sandy) went to a couple wineries, Seneca Lake has 50+ wineries surrounding it.  We went to Herman Weimer Winery and Bellangelo Winery.  

The wedding was beautiful and the bride and groom couldn't have been happier.  I only took one picture at the reception of the view from the hotel.

Greg and Gennie's Uncle Craig had passed away the weekend before and his memorial service was Saturday evening in Rochester, so they drove up there in between the ceremony and reception to share memories with the family and see some people they don't get to see very often.  

All in all, it was a great weekend.  Parker is still talking about Grandma and Grandpa and her cousins every day.  She sure did love having all that family around!