BG day 3

The next morning, after making everyone pancakes, u.Ted packed up the young ones, and headed to the BG streams for more fish.

An hour or so later, they were back, with a catch that put my cumulative lifetime of fish-catches to shame.

Caspian liked touching the eyes...

We were joined by a couple of the cousins, and I took a troupe down to the lake.  Annaliese, Orielia, Celeste, and Caspian.  The walk was adorable, and took a very long time.  What with Caspian's crush on Celeste, which resulted in a few hugs and falling over, and the constant presence of fresh blueberries at heights for any hungry walker, we eventually made it to the beach.

Adorable is over-used on this blog, but come on, with kids like these, and cousins like those...

Once at the beach, the kids dove right in.  

Eventually the rest of the clan arrived.  u.Mike and Caspian bonded.

And everybody ate some blueberries.  Somewhere I have a couple sample pictures of the blueberry bushes, which are literally everywhere at BG.  Telling won't convey the sheer tonnage of fresh, wild berries.

That afternoon, while the kids napped for the first time since arriving at BG, u.Ted took me fishing on the lake. I asked him to treat me like a beginner, assume I knew nothing.  (If you're familiar with the fishing efforts I've made in the past, you'll know this isn't a stretch.) 


We headed out, and for an hour or so I did exactly as I was told, cast where I was told to, and used whatever lure u.Ted put on the end of my line.  He is a very patient, enthusiastic, and giving teacher, rowing us to prime spots and giving me the first casts into the choice spots.


In the time u.Ted caught two keeper small mouth bass, I caught first a small, then a smaller, of the same species.  Then on a cast into a small cove, I hooked something big, and worked it back to the side of the boat.  Just as it came alongside, it gave a massive jump/kick, and threw the lure.


Before it could hit the water, u.Ted swooped in with a net and caught it in mid-air.


The net hadn't been used once before, and was tucked somewhere in the front of the boat.  I was sitting in the back, and u.Ted was mid-ship.  It was amazing.  I'm still amazed.    The best alley-oop I've ever seen.


The stringer with our catch:

That evening a clan effort put together a meal of delicious bass filets, salad, potatoes, and for dessert a couple of fruit tarts to celebrate Camise's 17th birthday.


The kids stripped the yard of flowers to decorate the adult and kid tables, and then sat waiting to be served.  The kids were getting a little camera shy, so I did a run-by photo shoot.  They scattered.

Annaliese and Celeste traded prinsess dresses earlier in the evening.

The meal and company was excellent, we stayed up late chatting in the living room, and a little after 10, a.Eliza finally made it after a traffic-ridden drive up from DC.  When she pulled in we had turned all the lights out, and a living room full of family was waiting in the dark to surprise her.


Pictures of a.Eliza start in the morning, over more pancakes.