the story of our summer vacation at the cottage

Our cottage vacation
We are home now. It was a wonderful vacation. So much fun and so many great memories. The following is a recap… I already know that it’ll be kinda long-winded – forgive me

Saturday: We arrived. The drive only took about an hour and 45 minutes. The kids napped on the way. The cottage was extremely rustic. Maybe a little bit less luxurious than I was expecting but it served us just fine.


The kids were thrilled cause they got to share a room and sleep in bunk beds.


I was most pleased that we were right on the lake. This is the view from the cottage.


When we arrived we unpacked. Then CJ and his dad and Annie went shopping for groceries. The kids and I played on the beach.


They practiced casting their fishing rods that CJ bought for them for the trip. Seb’s is a Spider Man rod and Kenzie’s is a Disney Princess rod. We took a paddle boat out. We also checked out the grounds a bit and found the playground – the kids had lots of fun playing there – and the games room.


The kids both caught their first fish on Saturday night. It was so much fun. I can’t believe that the spiderman and princess rods worked so well.




Sunday: CJ took the kids fishing early in the morning and let me wake up peacefully – lying on the couch, watching Canada AM with a cup of coffee. Ah – wonderful. The rest of the day was mostly good but with a couple bad moments. The worst was when the family took a paddle boat out to do some fishing. It was about 10:30 in the morning. Seb was falling asleep in the paddle boat when Kenzie cast her line and caught him in the side of his head. What a way to be woken up... with a fishing hook in your temple and a half-dead worm wriggling on your face….. Poor Sebby. Thank goodness it wasn't worse. It took quite a while to recover from that.

Luckily the day held many more fun adventures. Kenzie and I did some scrapbooking. Then while Kenzie and I went grocery shopping, Sebby, James and CJ went for a walk to see the alpacas. They are hilarious looking. CJ very astutely pointed out that Dr. Suess probably got some inspiration from these animals.





Kenzie and I went swimming in the afternoon. I was so impressed with her. She was jumping into the water with me standing 6 feet away from the edge. Very impressive. Sunday evening we went to James and Annie’s cottage for dinner. It was delicious and a lot of fun. After dinner we all went fishing again. No bites, but the whole act of fishing is very enjoyable and relaxing.



After fishing we lit a fire and roasted marshmallows. What a great end to the day.

Monday: We lazed around in the morning, did a bit of scrapbooking and then we all went swimming - even CJ (thanks for doing that honey – I know you didn’t feel like it). Kenzie surprised me. The owner brought over some water wings and she was so brave. For the first time in her life, she paddled around by herself without being able to touch the bottom. She’s come a long way since last summer when she was afraid to go in the water and wouldn’t put her face in, even to blow bubbles.

In the evening we had bbq at our place followed by more fishing, drinks, and marshmallows.


Tuesday: At about 11:00 Omi arrived. A few minutes after, Sue came with the girls (Rachel, Jenna and Sophia). Everyone took advantage of all cottage life had to offer. Everyone enjoyed boating and swimming (it was so great for me to be able to sit on the deck and watch Kenzie play around in the pool with the other girls). They were in the pool for about 2 hours straight.

Here they are about to race…..




After swimming we were all ready for lunch. Food tastes exceptionally good eaten outside at a picnic table overlooking the lake.

The kids then moved to the beach for some sand play. The older girls set up a “seaside restaurant” and Kenzie was their first customer. The daily special looked delicious.


The restaurateurs were quickly distracted when the alpacas came by to visit.


Next, we tried our luck at fishing. I was proud of Sue and I putting the worms on the hooks. I think we both felt a bit traumatized.


The kids didn’t catch any fish but I don’t think they really minded. After another trip out on the paddled boast it was time for sue and the girls to go…. Kenzie and I then enjoyed a fabulous nap. When we woke up it was dinner time. CJ had bought some mudslide drinks at the liquor store. I enjoyed one (or two) of these as we watched the sun set before dinner.. they are so yummy… imagine a delicious creamy chocolate milk with vodka. Mmmm mmm mmmm.


Our cottage neighbours came over at one point and asked if we’d like to come over to watch some fireworks. It was super fun… we got a private fireworks show while sitting on the beach. Kenzie held her hands over her ears but still seemed to enjoy them. Seb had so much fun that he cried when it was over and time to go.

Wednesday: It was a lazy day. We drank coffee and on the shore, read books and magazines, played at the beach, went swimming. My mum and I went into the bustling town of Flesherton and I got a pedicure.

James and Annie took us all out for dinner to a place known for their bbq. Most of us enjoyed the ribs and they were spectacular.


Thursday: The day started off cold, overcast and rainy. Luckily the weather soon cleared up and the day held many adventures - including a trip to the playground, and a walk to the farm.








Along the way Kenzie picked some wonderful wild flowers. One flower Kenzie picked was a butter cup. I told her about the magical properties of buttercups – that if you hold them under your chin and they cast a yellow sheen on your chin, it means that you are very sweet. I love how her eyes light up and how she believes in these things completely. She ran around to everyone testing to see if they were sweet or not.


I think Sebastian has something to hide since he was adamant about not letting her test his sweetness.


Kenzie took this picture.




Later, we took a trip to Eugenia Falls followed by lunch at a little restaurant better known as the “Home of the WOW Burger”. CJ enjoyed a wow burger which he had topped with every hot condiment available. This resulted in the owner coming out to check on CJ halfway through our meal to see if he was still okay… I believe his comment was something like “you are a crazy man….” In retrospect the restaurant will be remembered more for its WOW sauce than it’s burgers. CJ bought himself a jar of WOW sauce before we left. Throughout the rest of the day he enjoyed WOW sauce on pretty much anything he ate…. Keep in mind that the main ingredient in WOW sauce is fresh crushed garlic. Other ingredients include a few spices and maybe one or two chopped peppers. But it’s pretty much just garlic.

Omi headed home after lunch and the rest of us enjoyed 3-hour afternoon naps. After we woke up, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the beach. Kids played in the sand, while the adults enjoyed a few beverages, laughs, reading and watching the sunset.

After a fabulous pizza dinner at Granddad and Grandma’s, we came back to our abode and got ready for fireworks and smores.


We invited our neighbours over to enjoy the fireworks with us. They are cool folks. I found out that he is a fighter pilot instructor in the Canadian Air force. I asked him if, on the off chance, he happened to know my university friend Des – who I lost touch with about 14 years ago but I had heard that he had joined the air force. He said that he did!! Funnily enough he had taught Des to be an instructor. He took my email address and said he’d pass it on to Des… I hope I hear from him. He was a great friend and so smart and driven. I have often wondered what happened to him and how he was doing.

And with that… we were down to only one day left.

Friday: Friday was spent doing much the same as the rest of the week. Except for some reason it seemed like we were finally in vacation mode… we slept in later, lazed around more, spent more time in the pool, enjoyed naps later and longer, relaxed in the evening and didn’t even think about dinner till after dark.











It was a wonderful day and I don’t think anyone wanted it to end.

Today: And that brings us to today. WE woke up and packed everything up and hit the road. I think we were all kinda looking forward to being home again. Vacations are wonderful but it’s always nice to come home again. On the way home, we stopped at the Flesherton Farmer’s market. The kids suckered us into buying them another stuffed animal and I couldn’t pass the freshly baked goods without picking up a fresh rhubarb/blueberry pie to have for dessert tonight.