Cousins, Cousins Everywhere!

Saturday, October 10, 2015
Friday morning, Ken and I packed our suitcases and set off for the Hannon's Lake house in Ohio.  While it was cold and the skies were quite grey, we were able to see some color along the way despite the rain that hit soon after we got going on the road.

We stopped at a WalMart near the house and picked up all of the supplies we'd need for a couple of group breakfasts, snack time, and part of the Friday night dinner.  Then pulled into the Lake House around 3:00 to the sounds of waves slapping against the shore pushed by strong winds.  It was quite chilly and yet beautiful.

We got all of our things into the house and enjoyed a couple of hours talking with Laurie before Len and Sarah arrived with all of their stuff including gorgeous steaks that Len grilled for us for dinner.

There were just the six of us on Friday night.  Matt came in from work as we were finishing baking the potatoes and getting a big salad ready to go along with the steaks.  He quickly went and got a jar of applesauce he had made yesterday to add to the feast.

We were up till almost 1:00 talking.  But finally we settled down and got a bit of sleep.  The next morning shortly after we finished coffee, tea, eggs, fruit and sweet rolls, Bonnie, Dan and Daniel arrived.  They had come in late from Chicago and spent the night at a nearby motel.

The sun was warming things up a bit and the winds had died down so we enjoyed some chat time outside as well as inside finding different places to settle and just enjoy time with one another.  Lots of family memories were shared!!!!

In the middle of the afternoon, more of the Hannon side of the family arrived including Tom and April along with their boys Phil and Tim; Jeff and Barbara Knoll came with their youngest daughter and her little boy bringing apples and apple cider from their farm over in Norwalk.  Justin (Seana's oldest child) and his wife Esther arrived with their little boy along with Steve Robinson (Becky's father who helps with the caretaking of the house).  Everyone came with food to go along with the 30 pounds of pork that Len had smoked and shredded for our feast.

We were just getting settled with our food when Beth arrived.  Everyone was finally here.

We took time to pose for a picture holding the picture of the four MacRae siblings: Rosalind, Don, Margot, and Ruth and stood in the same order - representing the four daughters representing each of the four of them. What fun bringing them back together via the next generation.

The sun provided an absolutely spectacular sunset as we gathered wood for a big fire on the beach and talked well into the night.

Daniel (below) and Matt had a great time launching lanterns over the water

While the rest of us took pictures and chatted

We could see Cedar Point and a couple of the roller coasters all lit up across the water.

The following morning it quickly warmed up into the 60s and provided us with another gorgeous day for sharing breakfast and lots more time chatting with each other.

But finally in the late afternoon we had to bid good bye to the Lake House and set off in our separate directions promising we'd return next Columbus Day weekend for another great weekend together.

By the time we reached the Pennsylvania border where we'd seen the most color in the trees the sun was getting very low so it was hard to snap a good shot but we did enjoy the beauty knowing this was the peek.  Soon the weather would be changing

We arrived home after 8:00 but in time for a late bite to eat with Dan, Jen and the girls.  That gave us time to hear about their weekend and share our experiences with them before calling it a night.