My family loves to hike, bike, ski, play tennis and just generally enjoy the outdoors.

The picture on the left shows my husband and our son. It was taken during Dad's Weekend at camp. My husband spent the year before learning the bugle so he could play the calls, including Taps and Flag Raising.

The middle picture shows us at the top of the mountain in Killington, Vermont in a snow storm. It was mighty cold but still great skiing. Plus, the lift lines were quite a bit shorter than usual.

The photo on the right was taken at one of my all-time-favorite places, the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. There we are, including my mother-in-law, Louise Failing, having just finished a feverish croquet game. Chautauqua Lake is in the background where we're probably headed to cool off.

We've been renting a house in Chautauqua for one of the season's nine weeks for about ten years. The trip begins with a stop-off at the Quality Market in Mayville to pick up some provisions. (Last year we had ten minutes before it closed to zoom around getting groceries...) Then it's back on the road where the first one to spot the lake gets an ice cream cone from the Refectory.

About the time we finish unloading all the stuff we need for the week - including bikes (because we park our car in the lot outside the gates and walk or bike everywhere), tennis rackets, books, games, Grandpa's scooter, etc. we're exhausted and ready for some chicken wings we brought along from Tony's in Utica. Then it's off to the amphitheater for the nightly concert. The week is a non-stop feast of activity from tennis to sailing to picnics to lectures to games to music...