Summer Lovin'

Beginning of the summer

Summer is officially done and I think that I can safely say that the kids loved it.  More time was spent at the cottage than at home which for them is pure heaven.  There were day camps, long walks, swimming, swimming and more swimming, parades and generally tomfoolery.

Declan spent 3 weeks doing day camps both in Kincardine and Hamilton and loved every minute of it. Canoeing at the RBG was a hit and swimming at camp in Kincardine was his favourite.  I think Rhys loved his snuggles with Grandma Shirley at the cottage the most and will miss them terribly.  For Leighton it was a summer of discovering what he could get into and where he could go.  He is now in a forward facing car seat and he is just about to start going to daycare.  They are all growing up so fast.

I turned 35 this summer.  From what I am lead to believe I am now old.  There are certainly days when I feel it.  Today was not one of those days.  I was down at the beach with Declan and Rhys running around in the water and trying to catch minnows in the shallows of Lake Huron.  It was hilarious how bad I was at it.  Leave it to Andrea to upstage me and catch 2 in the span of minutes when I was trying for about half an hour!  At least I know I can count on her to forage if required!  In my defence I had Rhys' huge feet splashing around and scaring the fish.  Yeah, that's it, that's the reason I sucked.

One of the best memories I will have of this summer is watching Declan and Rhys play Crazy 8's with Andrea's Grandmother.  How incredibly lucky these boys are to be able to spend time with their Great Grandmother and at this point in their lives they will remember doing it.  Rhys' enthusiasm when we would pull up the drive with her in the car was absolutely enthralling.  He would almost physically pull her out of the van after opening the door for her with a hearty "Hi Great Grandma!"  Amazing.

On the nights when I would drive her back home we would normally have a quick discussion about the  way things were when she was young.  How amazing is it that I can speak to someone who remembers her Father being out on the ice in the winter on Lake Huron with the horse and sled, cutting ice to bring back to the ice house.  She remembers the first time she left town on a train bound for Toronto.  She remembers what it was like to live without cars, plumbing, electricity and so many other things that we take for granted.  On top of that all she is as sharp as a razor when it comes to Euchre.  She never misses a trick and I have learned more about the game from playing on that old table in the cottage with her, my Mother-in-Law Shirley and Andrea than I have playing with anyone else.  If that makes me old than so be it.  Unless you have had the pleasure of that company you will never understand.

Andrea and I also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on September 2nd.  We have certainly packed a lot into that time.  3 kids.  Wow.  Time is flying by so quickly.

Last long weekend at the cottage in 2012