The Cottage Part Two

For one glorious week in August, we enjoyed the Annual Wheeler-Bradshaw Vacation Extravaganza. It was a blast. So happy to share a week with great friends.

The view of the cottage.

If you look closely on the far right, you will see us hanging out on the dock.

The view from the cottage.

There was lots of boating. Mr. Man finally got over his fear and went out in the canoe.
A lot of time was spent canoeing, paddle boating and zipping around in a motor boat.

We cooked. Ali made the most delicious meals.

The men barbecued.

And the kids snacked.



We piled on the sunscreen (or bug spray depending on the time of day).



Summersaulting.



Diving.

Running.

Jumping.

Again and again. Isn't that what being at the cottage is all about?

Splashing.

 

Watermeloning. Again and again and again.

Relaxing. Ali treated the girls to a spa afternoon a la cottage.

Playing.

Goofing.

For the second year in a row, the kids built boats out of all the recycable materials emptied throughout the week.

Choosing.

Building.

Some help from the engineer.

Carrying.

Launching.

Testing.



Sailing.

If you look to the right side of the picture, what looks like a blurry wave is the boat the young boys made.

Good bye cottage. See you next year.

The Cottage Part One

In the beginning of June, we had friends from Singapore visit us. It was wonderful to see them again. Andrew and James have been friends since a school camping trip in grade nine. 

We took the kids out of school for a couple of days and headed off to the cottage. It was only a couple of days, but it was fun, relaxing and enjoyable.

Little Miss fishing with Matthew. They spent a lot of time fishing since the water was still quite cold. They did, however, brave the cold water a few times.

Reeling it in.

Caught. No, we didn't eat it for dinner, we (I should say, Andrew) released the fish to be caught again.

Mr. Man patiently waiting for a nibble.

They love fishing with their daddy.

Kabobs ready for the bbq.

Getting ready.

The boys.

Getting ready. James and Faith are the only ones ready. Andrew didn't make it back in time. The timer went off too soon!

The First Day of School

On their way to school. I wonder how long the excitement will last?

Mr. Man got a new backpack.

It's plain. It's black. It needed something. A little emroidery thread later.....

...and voila! Backpack a la Angry Birds. Mr. Man is thrilled.

Little Miss reused her backpack from a few years ago. It is still pretty good shape, but was looking a little knackered in a few spots.

A little fabric and emboidery thread later...

and no one will ever know that the backpack was once scruffy.

Thanks to my sweet friend, Ali, who helped stitch the peace signs the night before school.

One Corner

A while ago I blogged about the white cabinet in our living room. You can read about it here. I fixed the moulding, tidied the mess and organized the drawers. It looked so much better. But, the next day, I decided to take it one step further by rearranging the shelves. One of my new favourite things is colour blocking. Here's the result.

Now if you are partial to the Dewey Decimal System, this would drive you nuts. But if you are visual like me, you see the cover of the book in your head. Finding the book is easy and Andrew agrees!

Before

After

One corner down, 97 or so to go.