Cottage Life

We arrived home today from our time away at my uncle and aunt's cottage and our vacation couldn't have been more wonderful.  From start to finish, we had the best time and enjoyed every second of our cottage trip.

Uncle Garry and Aunt Elizabeth traveled an hour from their home to meet us and escort us to their rather secluded cottage on the Ottawa River.  They said that they wanted to show us a few things around the cottage, but it became clear almost immediately that what they really wanted to do was to start our vacation off by treating us to a beautiful lunch on the deck of the cottage.  Out popped a cooler full of yummy sandwiches (the best egg salad sandwich I have ever had), a variety of beer, cheese and a container of my uncles' homemade cookies.  They also left a bottle of wine in the fridge for us to enjoy (and we did!).  Leaving us to our own devices, they made the hour long trek back home.  So sweet of them to not only offer their cottage, but to ensure that we had a smooth and delicious start to the vacation.

The cottage itself was beautiful, charming, warm and cozy.  It had all the perks of home, but nestled amid tall pine and shimmering water.  We are very lucky people.

We spent the majority of our time on the cottage's sandy beach and in the warm, shallow water of the Ottawa River.  Chick and Pea disliked the feel of sand on their toes for the duration of our stay, so we kept them in their water shoes and all was well.  Chick, like her Mommy and Daddy, loved being out on the water in the peddle boat.  She is a water baby for sure.  Pea was often more content throwing rocks into the river or playing on the deck with the trucks that my aunt and uncle had stashed in the shed.

Perhaps my favorite time at the cottage included a campfire dinner complete with s'mores for dessert.  We had brought a cooler full of veggie dogs, buns, condiments, marshmallows, etc. and it was so nice to sit as a family around the campfire sharing food and giggles.

It was important for us to keep the kids' bedtime routine in tact, so each night J. and I would take our respective charges to their rooms and tuck them in.  Whomever was finished first, would grab some wine and some snacks and sit in the Adirondack Chairs to watch the sunset.  The other would meet him or her when finished.  One night, I had finished tucking Pea in and proceeded to grab some wine and some candles and head to the chairs to watch the sunset and wait for J.  I waited and waited.  It grew very dark and an hour later I decided to feel my way back to the cottage (while thoughts of bear maulings danced through my head) to check in on J. and Chick.  I peeked my head into Chick's room to see them both snoring.  So much for that romantic sunset!

I didn't take as many pictures as I hoped, but I was able to piece together a video of those I snapped.

Cottage Life from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.

Thank you to everyone who left ideas for road trip activities!  It made the trip far less cumbersome.