Family time, or Boating, Bocci and Bees

Saturday, Larry and I, along with most of my cousins got together for our First Annual Cousins Reunion Day. We gathered at a family cottage on Canandaigua Lake on a beautiful, (mostly) sunny day that was warm and just perfect. I absolutely love being with my family! We are kind of scattered, although three of us are still in Rochester. I am in the middle of the eight of us, four older and three younger than me.  The rest live in: Morgantown WV, Hastings-on-Hudson NY, Minneapolis MN, Blacksburg Virginia, and Richmond VA. Their kids are scattered, either in college or working elsewhere.

Since I don't have brothers or sisters, my cousins are the closest I have. As kids, we lived literally within yards of each other. We could shout out our bedroom windows, and even run to one house and then another in seconds, including our grandma's. We played Hopscoth, Spud, Tag, Hide and Seek, we walked to the library almost daily, returning with so many books stacked in our arms that they came up to our armpits, (well mine anyway!) We had a "book club" and one of my favorite memories as a kid was reading outside on a summer afternoon. I can still smell the Coppertone. 

Back to the present day:

There goes one boatful out for a ride Saturday! A boat, tow rope, and tube make for happy times!  Bounce, bounce, bounce, wipeout!

Some of the younger generation of cousins kicking the soccer ball around

Jim, Rick and Joe getting a sunburn on the Aqua Float. Jim is a cousin-in-law. You can tell 'cause he's blonde!

Larry and Florence. I have thought many times that if I had had a daughter, she would have looked like Florence. As we were looking at old pictures that evening, somebody noticed that she looked like our grandmother!

More of the next generation playing bocci. True Italians!

Chuck, cutting up honeydew for our colorful fruit salad

Peter, Rick and Chuck

And then I got stung by a ground bee, right on the back of my ankle, like at the Achilles tendon. It hurt a little when it stung me but it really hurt afterwards and all day, too. We put ice on it and then a baking soda paste. Younger cousin Phil and his girlfriend are EMTs so they got out the tweezers and pulled the stinger out. They saved the day! Here's to future doctors of America! (REALLY. Georgetown Med School.) 

We ended our day with fireworks, looking at pictures, hugs and kisses and pears. Ciao for now, cousins! And thank you!