Get Together at Sylvia's House (8/2/2015)

Today's adventure was a family get-together at Marilyn's sister, Sylvia's, house.  We had a peaceful morning, all us ladies preparing our potluck items.  Joe wanted to drive in to Smith Falls, so I grabbed the computer and we spent an hour at McDonalds trying to catch up the blog.  The internet was so slow there, however, that I was only able to do one day, and then we packed up and headed on to Sylvia's where I used her wifi and got it caught up.  Now, I will be behind again as soon as I finish this one. 

The weather cooperated, and it was a good day, although a bit windy.  Some even got in the pool, but I thought it was a bit chilly for that.  Three of Marilyn's four sisters were here, along with her brother; her brother had brought her mother out from the nursing home; nieces and nephews and their kids; Collins' brother, and the six of us.  I didn't count but there were probably around 25-30.  And lots of food!

Marilyn's mother had fell 4 weeks ago and broken her arm, so she had it in a sling.

Sylvia set up a table for the guys to play cards, and eventually that included some of the women and kids.  They learned how to play "spoons."

After most of us had eaten, Sylvia and Sharon brought out a birthday cake in honor of Marilyn, whose birthday is not until November.  Since she is never home to celebrate that occasion with her family, today we celebrated.  And she was thrilled -- NOT!  She said she usually picks up on secrets like this, but this one caught her totally by surprise.

We gathered on the deck and brought her out of the kitchen for the honors.

Although she looked like she wanted to kill someone, she did pose for a picture with her brother Randy.


Then we got some family pictures.

Randy smeared some icing on her lip, which she took in good fun.


They all went inside so her mother could be in the pictures.

Shortly after all that, her mother was ready to be taken home, so I rode with Marilyn to Gananoque, a neighboring town 50-60 miles away, right on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  This drive took us through the village of Lyndhurst, Marilyn's old stomping grounds, and she pointed out places of interest along the way.  By the time we got back home, it was almost 10:00 p.m., and we were both pretty tired.  The rest of our group had come home and played cards again, and Ronnie had come back and joined them, so they had just broken up the card party not long before we arrived.  It rained during the night, so we are not sure what we are doing on Monday -- will probably be dictated somewhat by the weather.