New Cousins!

This year at the cottage, we rounded up some extra cousins for the girls to play with! Murray's cousin brought his family to visit and it was SO MUCH FUN! Their daughter Kia was just a bit younger than our girls and they all played with her and she fit right in perfectly. Their son was almost the same age as Mr Bojangles so there was some boys to offset the girl craziness in there. For the most part all 6 of them ran as a pack, sortof like a louder, gigglier version of doing the Locomotion. They kept themselves entertained and there was always somebody to do something with. Their crew runs a pretty tight ship though and we were left in the dust every time at the "Getting Ready to Go Anywhere Olympics". We would plan an activity and I was still saying "ok, girls, get..." and bam. Those other 2 kids had bathing suits on, sunscreen slathered and towels & beach toys ready and were left waiting another 45 minutes while we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off and a lot of "Why haven't you turned your iPod off yet?" "Why is your bathing suit on the floor instead of on you???!?!??"  So embarrassing when it becomes blatantly obvious that we have no clue what we're doing as parents!!!

Despite our dilly dallying, they still hung out with us and we had one of our best visits that week I think. Happy, busy kids makes a world of difference! We swam, got them converted to our "eat meal, have fruit, get dessert" brainwashing, played Pictionary, had meals outdoors, jumped off the wharf and just enjoyed the great weather and wonderful company!

Paddleboard Adventures

 Grampy got a new toy for the cottage, a standup paddleboard! We've had it out a few times this summer and although I can NOT manage to stay upright on it, others have had more success. Apparently a good centre of balance is key. The trainer at the gym shakes her head in dismay and mumbles to herself as I tip over during some balance move or other "I just don't get it! I have worked on this with you for years...." She doesn't realize I HAVE improved. I never even used to be able to get into a balance move to tip OUT of!

I think Lovey had better luck after she got used to it but the other 2 seemed to get the hang of it faster than we did! I don't think I managed to stay upright more than 2 or maybe 5 seconds. Lovey did better than that so I'm the paddleboard challenged one in the family!

Murman found on beach!

 A rare find indeed! The girls were on a mermaid hunt and came up empty shelled, until this beauty washed up on shore!

Hope everyone else had as much fun on Canada Day as we did!

Bedtime on the Rocks Please!

One evening on our vacation, it was getting close to bedtime so I told the girls to get their jammies on and then I went to take a few sunset pictures while they got ready. Since this process takes them forever, I knew I had enough time to get my shots and get back in time to tuck them in. 

Little did I know, 2 little monkeys decided to follow me! They were immensely pleased with themselves and giggled madly at their daring adventure. Their laughter and joy at something so "naughty" was just slightly contagious and how can you be mad at these smiling faces? I didn't even try! They enjoyed their big night out for awhile and then I chased those scallywags right up to bed. Ahhh the memories!!!

Lovey signing the guestbook: I ate chips. Happy Canada Day.

my quilt!
Honey's evening beach wear, we should all look so elegant for a sunset stroll!!

Murray trying out his new kite!

Every year one of my aunts invites all 4 generations of my family to her & her husband's cottage for the long weekend. Most years we have too much other stuff going on to make it. This year we did it anyway. They had a pretty full house so we actually slept at Murray's parents' cottage since they're only 9 doors down (I think it's 9 but Rick will let me know for sure right?) It was a fun filled weekend as they always are at just about any cottage! We had Grammie/GG, Auntie Ruth, Uncle Howard, Matthew, Jessica & Madeline, David, Uncle Ralph, Aunt Caroline & Clara, Mum & Dad, Aunt Wendy, Aunt Cathy as well as myself, Murray, the three girls and then there were the dogs, Murphy, Pip, Tory, Jazz & Max.

GG has a pile of leftover flannelette pieces so at least half a dozen quilts, including one for my house, were assembled over the weekend. It's quite a process to pick coordinating colours and patterns of fabric to design a decent looking quilt. Luckily Aunt Caroline has an eye and a flair for this and all I had to do was follow her excellent advice! I make a great gopher :)))

We spent most of Saturday down on the beach and Murray, Sweetie & I all ended up with some sunburns to show for it. The girls were excited to see G again this summer. I saw her come down with her dad & sisters, to head out kayaking. I went over to where my girls were playing and asked if they had seen her yet. Honey popped right up and wanted to go say hi. They all made a beeline for her and the next thing I know, G has abandoned her kayaking to play in the clay with 3 little adoring fans.

At night we went to the other cottage & tucked the girls in and then I ran back for more fun and games. We played cards, Dutch Blitz and Quiddler. Hilarity ensued as various escapades unfolded. These things are never as funny when described later but suffice it to say that we had a lot of laughs!!! GG is such a character, very inventive and sharp for 92 going on 93!!! and whatever you do, keep her away from your chips!!! oh and she cheats but what can you do??? As kids we always played lots of board games, word games etc so it was fun to recapture a bit of my youth (not that I'm overly adultlike the rest of the time....)

The weekend ended with Lovey coming down with the flu so we cut things short and headed home early on Sunday. Honey seemed to come down with a touch of it on the car ride home but it never developed into much. Lovey was still sick this morning but was doing much better by midday!