Cottage fun #familytravel #Travel

This summer hasn’t really felt like most other summers – we have had quite a few days that have been a bit colder and wetter than we normally have.  When you plan out summer holidays, you hope that you can get fairly good weather throughout the time you away.  This year was going to be a bit of a crap shoot as the weather did not seem to cooperate for the first half of the summer.  I kept crossing my fingers that all the nasty weather would get out of the way before our holiday up north to my brother’s cottage in Muskoka area just north of Hunstville. We were all excited about going, just a little hesitant about how the weather was going to be during our stay.  We wanted to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible and we were all looking forward to it.

 Luckily, the day before we were scheduled to leave was one of the nicest and warmest days we’d had all summer …. things were looking good!  Even though the forecast did call for thunderstorms, showers and more cold weather, we were going to think  positive and have a great time.

The day we left was beautiful, a gorgeous day for a road trip! This lovely Province of ours is filled with beautiful landscapes! Luckily, I  was being a passenger and not driving so I got to soak in all the beautiful scenery.  I love driving the road up north, if you have never done it, you really should – nothing like a road trip and beautiful scenery to make you realize how lucky you are to live in such an incredible Country!

 

We finally arrived, luckily not the last.  After some introductions to people I had not met before, we unpacked the car and headed toward our designated bunkie…our own little bedroom away from the main cottage. After getting things settled, we headed back to help out in the kitchen where everyone was in different stages of prep – I was in charge of bringing some homemade burgers and  the gluten free buns – there were going to be 5 of us all together that had to be gluten free and I had set the gluten free crowd burgers aside, wrapped in foil so they could be cooked alongside everyone else’s and not get contaminated.

My sister in law is a whiz at getting everything organized and planning out the menu – which helped ensure that everyone signed up for something and everyone was covered.  I brought things for everyone to share, as well as things that were only for the gluten free crowd.

We all enjoyed our meal, laughing and being silly, then it was time to clean up and head out to the fire, and some marshmallow roasting [my daughter had at least a few weeks worth of marshmallows] – luckily, they are gluten free. The evening was gorgeous and turned out to not be that cool…so it was perfect for sleeping later.

I was the first one up the next day…. it was gorgeous morning – I had the dock all to myself while enjoying my coffee, then took the dog for a lovely walk down the road enjoying the neighbouring cottages and catching glimpses of their views of the lake.

 

By the time I got back, everyone was starting to make their way slowly to the kitchen to get their breakfast… and making plans for the day. My brother had brought a new toy up for the cottage and all the kids  [and some grown ups] were eager to try it.

As the morning wore on, the sun became warmer and it turned into a gorgeous, warm day.  Everyone was getting into their bathing suits ready to get into the water;  I just wanted to get into the boat and tag along  for a ride. Some of the group were  taking turns waiting to get taken out for some tubing and some were off playing volleyball or just relaxing on the big water trampoline – this was heaven – you just did what you felt like doing.

Closer to lunch, some of us went in to get it organised and everyone ate as they came back from swimming, kayaking or tubing and water-skiing; it was all very laid back and relaxing.  The men started to get the big BBQ pit fired up and ready for later in the day to accommodate  the large roasts that were going to go on the spit.  Some people gathered in the kitchen to get dinner prepped and others continued to enjoy the water and all the other activities.

There certainly was no shortage of food and everything was delicious; even though there were a few people in the kitchen at the same time… we were able to keep things separate and there was no cross contamination. 

After dinner we headed back down to the fire – only this time we had a wonderful display of fireworks to watch as we ate the marshmallows.  This routine pretty much continued on for the next few days… minus the fireworks.  Just lounging and enjoying the day, taking it easy.  I even went tubing with the kids on the new toy …although, I think next time I will go with older people who understand that knees can only take so much bouncing! 🙂

 

It was a wonderful time at the cottage meeting new people and seeing some others again that we had not seen for a while.  Lots of fun and laughs. But the best was seeing my daughter’s smiles and laughter as she was bouncing along on the 2 person tube  or on the new “hotdog’, and seeing how much she was enjoying herself with her new friend H.

And the weather… we were lucky enough to have great weather the entire time until the day were were leaving, when it turned just a tad cooler – the thunderstorms held off!  Someone was looking out for us! 🙂 So grateful to have been able to spend the time up there at the cottage with family and new friends.  We really enjoyed it… and what cottage country is all about thanks to my brother and sister in law. 🙂

Looking to spend some time in cottage country?  My brother does rent out the cottage a few weeks of the summer, if you are interested, drop me a line with your email and I will forward onto him.

Hope you are enjoying your summer! Let me know what special place you have travelled  to this summer.