Closing up camp

We headed up to the lake this weekend for one last weekend and to close up the camp for winter. It was a beautiful, if chilly, weekend. The leaves have been slowly changing since the beginning of September and the colors are really starting to show up. I've never been in New England this time of year before and I am already stunned at the vibrance of the colors that are popping out. There are still a couple more weeks until fall foliage is at its peak and I really can't wait. Anyway we had a really nice weekend with lots of family up for the weekend to help out, seeing as how us Elmendorfs are total rookies at closing a camp. I would like to say I was helpful but all I did was sweep a little and put some of the outdoor stuff, indoors. The boys were more productive, clearing the water lines, shutting the water off and taking both our docks and my grandparents docks out of the water. I very much appreciate that I did not have to get in the water, considering the temp dropped into the 30s on Friday night, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. I also got one more boat ride in when I went with my gramp to take the boat out of the water for the winter. While I was sad to see everything closed up for the winter, I am also well aware that this was just the inaugural year and there are many more to come. This first one will go down as the cold, rainy and totally amazing (shed a tear)!

Love/Hate relationship

My football weekend has been about as bad as it gets. Ohio State Buckeyes, lost in the last two minutes. Cincinnati Bengals, lost in the last 3o seconds. Jungle Kat (fantasy football team), needs TO to have the game of a lifetime tonight to give me a chance in hell of pulling out a win. But all the teams have HOPE. OSU hung with a top 3 team, the Bengals showed defensive power they haven't had the entire Lewis era, and my fantasy defense put up 46 points. As you can tell, I LOVE me some football. I honestly love sports, I think its the best reality tv around. I love the passion you see in the players who have worked for their whole life to be the best of the best. I love when egos get smashed and heart outweighs talent, I love hearing the helmets crash and the whistles blow, when underdogs win and dynasties fall. It's great, you couldn't write it if you tried. I also love the community that revolves around football Sunday. As a Bengals fan I had to go looking for a place that might possible show me the game. I was lucky to find out that there was a bar right in Waterbury that had undergone change of ownership and upgraded its sports bar status. Adding HD televisions and NFL network, which means that I GET TO WATCH THE BENGALS every week. I was amazed at the variety of fans, I saw people wearing Dallas, Philly, Jacksonville and even Brownies shirts. I started out watching the game alone but slowly made some friends. First was the girl from Denver who had to route against the Bengals but we ended up watching most of the game together, her husband who only routed for the Bengals when she was gone, and a gaggle of their friends from around town who were in and out. I also got the dirt on the local football happenings. The owner of one of the local bars is a total Squeelers fan, but his head chef is a Bengals fan. So I may take his head bartender up on the offer of a free beer for walking into the bar with my Bengals jersey on. Its nice to spend some time in the town I've been living in for the past eight months and to meet some of the people. We left it at the probability that we will all see each other on another football Sunday. I'll let you know :)

Sit down, get comfortable...

..we have a lot to catch up on. The month of August was pretty much chaos for me. Three weeks in a row I worked like a crazy person in a shortened week so that I could travel on the weekend. After the weekend in Rhode Island my sister stayed the week and our friends traveled up the next weekend for a girls weekend. We hadn't all been together since before I moved and it was waaaayyy past time. Whenever we all get together there is usually laughter, chaos, laughter, problem solving (personal and world issues), laughter and an occasional adult beverage. This weekend brought all of that and more. We enjoyed five days hanging out on the water and being ridiculous in a way that only we can. The amazing thing about these girls is the comfort level we have, we have all been in each others life in some way or another since elementary school. When you can hang out, say anything, do anything and you know that the people around you won't EVER judge, maybe poke fun at, but never judge you it's a truly relaxing and comedic environment. Needless to say I was very sad to see them go. It wasn't as bad as it could have been though because four days later I flew to Cincinnati and saw them again.

These are some pics that were taken and my friend Linsey fixed up on her computer, one of us six girls and the other is the view from the deck of our camp, they are amazing..

I have found that my weekends in Cincinnati are pretty hectic. Trying to fit a lot into a short period of time. Its impossible to see everyone and so you try to see as many people as you can. Luckily this weekend was the scramble, which allowed me to see a large chunk of Finneytown and other friends. It's a really fun day with a lot of golf, a lot of catching up and this year some beautiful weather. I will tell you more about it at a later date.

Pics of an evening with some of my high school friends, yet another amazing group of ladies, and the kiddos, Hannah, Nate and Caroline.
So with all this running around I decided I was in desperate need of a chill weekend at home. I almost caved and went to Maine when my work shifts got rearranged, but am so glad I stuck around. I hung out with some friends from work, which I don't do often enough, and we had an absolute blast. We met up at my friend Tara's house, which is out in the woods, and were messing around with a mountain board. This is like a snowboard on wheels and it was awesome, and a little dangerous, but we didn't have any permenant damage so it was all good. Then we wandered through the waterfall down the hill from her place and over to this huge beaver dam, basically all beautiful things that you don't see when you are hanging out in the city. We then went downt to the town fair where we enjoyed some fried dough, beers at the legion, gambling and a local southern rock band. We then returned to the house and were messing around with the bongo drums. We were terrible but it was so funny that it was worth it. I was so thankful that I had decided to stay in town and hang out with these girls. I work with some very cool people and can't wait to hang out again.

Rhode Island

This past weekend I took my first trip to Rhode Island to see my cousin Kev marry his lady love, Jess. We went to Newport where they were married in an outdoor ceremony in a setting that bordered on unreal at Castle Hill Inn. I am not sure I can put into words the love I have for weddings in general, but especially family weddings. Everytime I think I have overestimated how awesome my family is we have a weekend like this. We, literally, danced the entire night. There were multiple circles with some crazy moves happening in the middle. In fact, we got so into the dancing that my brother managed to convince the supervisor to allow some of the servers to dance with us in a dance off. They absoloutely wiped the floor with us, so it wasn't much of a dance off. When the people running the show finally realized we would never stop on our own they politely reminded us that we had to leave eventually. We listened, kind of. After a quick stop to change into our jammies, we then headed to a jazz bar on the beach and when THAT closed we decided to keep the party rockin on the beach where we got up a game of night volleyball. The next morning over breakfast we found out my cousins got pulled over for WALKING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, the cops flashed their lights and everything. True Story! To recap....amazing!

Sealing it with a kiss..

The Elmendorfs, all dressed up

All the female cousins, first time in over a decade....and the gang right after the worst game in history ended

It's that time of year...

...when the reports from training camps start coming in, predictions start heating up and I usually start getting pumped for the football season right around the corner. I am feeling very sorry for myself and sad about the upcoming football season. As a hardcore Bengals fan, not to mention season ticket holder, I love everything about football season and am very sad that I am going to be gone for this upcoming season. All reports have the Bengals looking strong for this fall and I am not sure how many games I will get home for, or even how many I will be able to see on television. So I will gather what information I can off the internet and dutifully write the schedule on my calender as I convince myself that this year is THE year even though I'm bummed that it may, finally, happen in my absence. While it may be bittersweet I hereby swear to wear my black and orange every Sunday in support of the amazing things about to happen in the jungle.

Breaking it in

I have spent a lot of time at the lake this summer. The novelty of living so close to the lake hasn't worn off yet and if I have a couple days off with no alternate plans, chances are that I am at the lake. Over time I have gradually been getting used to all the things that come along with the new camp. We've gone from west siders to east siders, which means I stay straight instead of turning right when I hit the lake. Our sunset is better, as opposed to their sunrise. Holding tank vs. a septic system, which may not mean anything to most people but trust me it makes a HUGE difference. Anyway the point is that I have gradually gotten used to the east side of the lake. However, a couple weeks ago the whole Elmendorf clan was in the camp for the first time, and it was no longer gradual. By the end of the week I really felt that the new place was our spot. Over the week we found a way to balance time on both sides of the lake, had our first formal meeting of the martini and cigar club, found out how long it takes to kayak straight across the lake, avoided tickets from the game warden, had an official dessert bake off, drank our first pitcher of margaritas ( and our 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and most importantly we started our memories there. I have a good time with my family no matter where we are, but it's an amazing feeling to look up and realize you are smack in the middle of making a memory.

We call these the first of a million martinis together in the new camp

Various members of the family at the pig roast near the shelter

Schmer and Moog wakeboarding

Sunset margaritas on one of the only nice days

The results of the bake off above and Aunt Stef enjoying one of those sunset margaritas at our impromptu cocktail hour on our deck.

Firsts

During my first summer as a Vermont resident there are bound to be a number of other firsts. My first visitors, outside of my family, came up in June for a long weekend. Kati, Paul and Joey flew up the last weekend in June. Kati and Paul came up Friday and we spent the first couple hours having margaritas and mexican on the waterfront of Lake Champlain. Paul was very patient with Kati and I as we talked and talked, as we love to do. I'm sure he was glad to see Joey when he came up Saturday. We immediately got on the road to the lake and after a pit stop in Plainfield for lunch we got there just in time for cocktail hour. We also decded to have some fresh lobster, Kati had a little trouble with the process of tearing the lobster to pieces in order to eat it. She also discovered that she most likely has a shellfish allergy, which is unfortunate because shellfish is delicous and she was sick the rest of the night. She was feeling much better by morning, unfortunately for our plans to lay out, the weather was terrible all weekend, but this didn't stop the boys from finding fish and they spent a lot of time in the brooks and streams nearby, as well as casting off the dock. So while Kati, my mom and I visited across the lake, chatted and drank wine, the boys caught their own breakfast. Our last day there it poured down rain, literally all day, so we spent the day napping and watching movies. Not the most exciting vacation for my Cincinnati friends, but it was still really great to see them all and I was sad to see them go.

The cute couple

Joey playing with his food, as usual

Kati losing her battle with the lobster

The boys enjoying Bill's sauna after a day of fishing

Story time with cousin Bill

Paul eating the brookies they caught themselves and the boys grilling in the rain