Cottage Life 2011, Week 1

I haven't really fallen off the face of the earth, I've only done so grid-wise.

The kids and I are at the cottage for 3.5 weeks while poor John travels back and forth to teach.

We've just finished our first week and it went much better than I expected. This is the first time I've been here with all three kids on my own and while the cottage is an extremely easy place to be with a 4- and 6-year-old (easier than home in fact), that isn't always the case with a 1-year-old (it sure wasn't when Emily and Hope were that age).

Our days are usually filled with:

-breakfast
- kids watch a video on the laptop
- Henry naps and the rest of us play outside or bake cookies or do a job outside
- lunch
- swimming! Usually takes up about an hour or more.
- hanging out on the porch or by the lake under the trees
- Henry's next nap
- another swim perhaps or whatever
- snack and supper-making.
- another swim to cool down and tire out
- bedtime snack
- everyone to bed
- knitting time or watching a video if we adults feel like it

It's all very fluid. And wonderful. I am so happy to be here for so long this time. I don't want to go back to several short trips again.

It's uber-hot now, just like the rest of the country, but there is always a really good wind off the lake making it manageable during the day but when the wind dies off in the night, sleeping is fitful. Henry is up a little more than usual but it could be worse.

I've managed to complete 3 knitting projects that have been hanging over my head and I'm about to start a poncho for Hope with some of my Briggs and Little yarn from New Brunswick.

When John is here we watch episodes from the final season of Lost in the evening. We've been saving them to watch here.

As I predicted, the girls' swimming has become really good just over the last week. We're particularly amazed with Hope who was just starting to doggie paddle on her own when we arrived and is now swimming under water. She has an obvious natural ability that is starting to weigh on Emily (who is also a good swimmer but has to work harder at it). It will be a good lesson for her to see that Hope can be better at some things even though she's younger.

Today we're off to Lake Couchiching to spend the day with John's sister and fam. Lake Couchiching has no breeze traditionally. I'm really psyched about that. After supper we're going to my Dad's and spending the night there and all day tomorrow (Gravenhurst ribfest!).

And that is a recap of our first week of Cottage Life 2011.

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Location:N Mary Lake Rd,Huntsville,Canada