Karen made this tasty banana-bread French toast, inspired by a dish that Gordon saw in John Irving's "Last Night In Twisted River." The syrup is homemade blueberry.
Karen gets a chance to show off her new tie-dye hoodie, which was sort of an anniversary present.
Thomas, Daniel, and William play a video game for awhile in the evening. They don't get a lot of chances to play all together because of Tom's work schedule.
Karen mixes up a Hawaiian frozen dessert known as guri guri, which is made from Seven-Up, strawberry soda, and sweetened condensed milk.
This is Gordon's recording of his song "She Works So Hard" made on our unfinished back deck.
While Gordon was watching Karen and the boys swim, some ducks gathered around his ankles, and then went off to the water. That's Karen in the water in the background.
Click the picture to see the full vertical panorama of this shot of the docks at Lake Winnipesaukee.
Daniel works at his computer. His teacher wants him to practice writing and, especially, editing this summer.
Daniel sets up some Duplo tracks on the table. We're paring down our Duplos to one box to keep for grandchildren to play with when they visit, and giving away or selling the rest.
Gordon watches Karen and the boys swimming in the lake. Not much of a swimmer, Gordon still enjoys sitting on the beach and watching the scenery.
William and Daniel dry off after an evening swim in the lake.
Karen found some ripe blueberries on the south shore of the pond. Blueberry pancakes, anyone?
William brings up his kayak from the first trip on the pond of the season. Schedule and weather have kept the boys off the water this year until now.
Karen takes a sunset swim in the pond.
A spectacular sunset over the mountain west of the pond.
A rare chance for a family brunch.
It's a Brooks Brunch! Cheesy scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, and Karen's homemade blueberry syrup, topped with a dollop (or so) of whipped cream.
Click the picture to see the full panoramic shot Gordon took of the Durgin covered bridge in Sandwich.
William and Daniel wait with Erin for the start of a video game tournament in Dover that Thomas is running.
Karen and friend Curt sketch a covered bridge in Sandwich. We had an outing of lunch, galleries and art, without the kids.
A look inside the Durgin Bridge in Sandwich. The main beams are made from 24 curved planks each, held together with bolts that run through all the layers and set on angled concrete pylons below the level of the bridge.
Wearing a Ben & Jerry's T-shirt while eating ice cream that doesn't come from Ben & Jerry's is becoming something of a family tradition. This ice cream comes from Bobby Sue's in Freedom.
Thomas and girlfriend Erin enjoy the fireworks shot over Lake Winnipesaukee from Brewster Beach.
Danny's face lit up by bright red fireworks over Lake Winnipesaukee.
What do you do when your son won't get out of your favorite chair? If you're Karen, you threaten to sit on him. Funny, though: the threat worked a lot better when William was still less than six feet tall.
Daniel cleans up after some early fireworks. We mostly took this picture for blackmail, in case Daniel later tries to convince us he doesn't know how to wield a broom.
William misses a high thrown from Danny at an Independence Day party.
Daniel helps make ice cream. No, really! The ball is filled with the cream mixture, with a layer of ice and salt in the outer ball. Rolling the ball churns the ice cream.
One example of the amazing orchids cultivated in the greenhouse at the Doris Duke Gardens in New Jersey.
Daniel and William sit with Uncle John on the tram back to the car at the Duke Gardens. The over-50 crowd was game to walk the rest of the way back from the hay barn, but the teenagers gave up and asked to take the easy way out.
Karen grabs a photo of some of the amazing orchids in the greenhouse at the Duke Gardens.
William surveys the abandoned foundation of what was to be a mansion on the Duke Estate in New Jersey. The project was halted for some reason in 1911; it was stripped to supply its steel to the war effort in 1917.
Danny explores a pair of sphinxes guarding the entrance to the orchid house at the Doris Duke Gardens in New Jersey.
A tall group: Danny, Uncle Alan, William, Cousin Andrew, and Cousin Nick.
William and Uncle Alan play a game of cornhole in the back yard during a 100th birthday party we attended.
All this way just to play video games? William and Daniel relax after a 100th-birthday party, following a very long drive to New Jersey, with cousin Nick in the background looking up things on his iPad.
What's Danny doing? Trying out a few poses for a family trick-photography project.
A worker from the vegetation department of the local power company tops a tree across the street from our house in preparation for removing it. It was diseased and threatening power, phone, and cable lines in our area.
Karen works on a graphics project on her computer. The tube coming out of her shirt is from the IV bag we use to hjydrate Sukkie; Karen's just warming it up a little so the cat is more comfortable.
Danny gets on the bus for his last day of being a 7th grader.
Karen takes a little cuddle time with Sukkie before bed. Sukkie's health is still in doubt, and she needs a lot of love an attention.
Karen's tried a new crab-cake recipe, wonderful on a bed of cabbage with homemade sauce and a salad.
Daniel unpacks from a three-day, two-night hiking and camping trip in the White Mountains.
Karen went back to sleep after giving Sukkie her fluids. Sukkie forgave her enough to come sleep with her (well, on her) for awhile.
