Cottage week 1: BEARS!

Well, three bears to be exact. Kelvin, Marie-eve, and William joined us at the cottage for week 1 of our annual month-ish at the cottage. Our family cottage is in Sioux Narrows in Lake of the Woods, on a beautiful stretch of water called "Regina Bay" (coincidental, no?). The cottage has a little beach, a little island, a lot of land and several boats (big and small) to play on the lake. There's lots to do, but no requirement to do any of it. It's the cottage, after all.

After a long drive (9 hours, stopping in Moosomin, Brandon, Winnipeg (for shopping), Prawda, then Sioux Narrows), The convoy pulled in at the end of the day on July 4. The kids (and dog) fared quite well, although toward the end of the drive everyone was starting to get a little cranky. We arrived, moved in to our respective rooms, made ourselves comfortable, and slept.

Sleeping arrangements at the cottage are a little different than at home. Although it's a big place, there really are only three bedrooms, and so each family was in a room. Kids napped and slept on mattresses on the floor beside mommies and daddies (in real beds of course) and though there was plenty of room in each bedroom, sleeping in the same room as your kid is a little different when you are used to a nursery.

The weather at the cottage cooperated (for the most part) - we had sunny days the first couple days, including wind; a couple of rainy days, and a couple of calm days appropriate for watersports. Sophia and William began Day 2 with playtime on the beach. (in fact, almost every day that had some sun had at least an hour of beach time, often much more).

After some beach swimming in cool water, cuddling is an appropriate way to warm up


Another way to spend time at the cottage is the collection and sorting and listing to of music, in an attempt to collect a playlist for Kelvin and David's amazing band-to-be



The sharing of recipes is, of course, fundamental to cottage life. Food is the number-one priority, and everyone shared and participated in food. Here, Grandma and Grandpa experience Quebec "Sugar Pie" for the first time. NOM

Boat rides of many times are common fare at the cottage, and the first day we all piled into "Ed" (our tin boat with a big motor, appropriate for long rides to distant island destinations). This was what they call a "shaking out cruise" where we go our for a while to make sure we can handle going out for a longer while.

Each member of the crew was required to qualify on the wheel. Here, Sophia renews her qualifications from last year


William also was successful in piloting the boat


Haley, lacking thumbs, remained a passenger for the entire trip

And all of this on the first day!

More cottage report to come. Cottage is all about relaxing and not stressing about stuff you gotta do, after all.