the cottage

There was a reason I was so quiet last week.  We were busy cottaging.  Our week away was relaxing and the perfect thing for our family.  The kids got lots of time to swim, boat, fish and generally spend every waking moment with their cousins.  The perfect holiday.  And with Jesse a year older, things just got easier for us as parents.  We could read by the water as the kids swam and splashed around.  I didn't need to worry about him travelling from our cottage to Grandma and Grandpa's.  His independence makes life and holidaying much more relaxed.

Our week began with me flying solo as a parent.  Thank goodness for amazing inlaws that came to hang out while I packed up and got ready for our week away.  We departed Sunday morning with 2 destinations.  First, we were off to Toronto to pick up Andrew after his hernia surgery (he's doing fine).  Jesse decided that we needed to add an extra destination to our day.  The side of the 401.  Thank goodness I packed the potty. And just as Jesse climbed back into the van, a cruiser pulled up behind us.  The friendly police officer was checking to see if things were alright.  He saw the potty (thankfully the lid was closed) and went along his way.  We quickly followed, picked up Andrew and made it to the cottage just after lunch.

The summer has been very warm and on our first day at the cottage the water was so inviting.  After that it was mostly inviting for the kids.  That's all I'll say.  But we were never bored.  We usually do a day trip or two but this year we never felt the need to leave.  Us girls did head into Huntsville for a morning to do some shopping and have lunch.  The sky cleared when we returned and we were back on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  We all had a wonderful week.

This table was the beading table for the first two days, then took over as the puzzle table.  Didn't get any shots of this year's puzzle.  It became a bit of an obsession at the end for me.  I couldn't walk away until that last piece was in place.

Abigail took this picture of her cousins playing horseshoes.

How sweet are these boys!

Most of the kids really look forward to fishing.

Especially this one.

My sister Chris and I took the kids for a walk into town.

Jesse spent a lot of time drilling into the sand.  I really need to find one of these toys.  He was so into it.

And the girls played hairdresser with Grandpa.  My dad was so accommodating to their crazy styles.  He just sat patiently and let them create.

Cottaging usually means you don't always get as much sleep as you need.  How sweet.

And this was our first year of finally have a campfire.  I know.  I have no idea why we haven't done it in the past.  Should have had more marshmallows.  Mental note for next year.

And before we could roast our marshmallows, Jesse found something to kill time.  I don't think he got any of the nails in though.

Andrew introduced Nathaniel to the pocket knife.  Nathaniel has really taken to this.  We're still working on some of the safety rules around knife use.  Like no walking around with the sharp blade sticking out.  He'll get it.

We're already looking forward to next year!