A week at a cottage

On August 8, the four of us drove up to Sundridge, on Lake Bernard for a week at a cottage.

Although the same town (about 45 minutes north of Huntsville) and the same lake we've been to for the past three years -- we rented yet a different cottage, this time right next door to the one we rented last year. Last year, we loved the property and the shallow entry into the lake but found the cottage to be too small for us. The one we rented this year was owned by the same person and shared the waterfront area with the smaller cottage but was significantly bigger. So much bigger, in fact, that we didn't even use the third bedroom -- which is a loft upstairs -- we just bunked the kids in a room together.

We couldn't have asked for a better week weather-wise, considering the chilly weather we've had this summer. It was cool and drizzling when we arrived on Saturday and then on Sunday morning it was cool and stormy (to which we thought that this could be a very bad sign of the week to come). But by mid-afternoon the clouds cleared out and it was sunny for pretty much the rest of the week. And each day it just got hotter until, by mid-week, it finally felt like summer should -- hot, sunny and humid.

We spent every day out on the beach and in the water -- sometimes the kids were running around outside and digging in the sand as early as 8:30 a.m. Both kids loved the water this year and the walk to the dock was so shallow, that even Austin could walk it. Many days though, they'd just play at the shoreline, running in and out of the water.

The ducks were back again this year -- although there were only three -- and both kids loved feeding them. It became a morning ritual almost every day.

On Wednesday, we drove down to Huntsville -- mainly for something different to do. We found a great park downtown, had lunch on a patio and then wandered around the shops downtown.

On another morning, we took the kids for out for pancakes for lunch at the nearby Maple Sugar House. And we discovered a fantastic ice cream shop in the next town (only 8 km away) that was only $2 for a three-scoop cone. Needless to say, we went not one evening, not two evenings but on three different evenings for ice cream!

Another morning, we drove to High Rock Park -- which is really just a really big property on the lake that was donated to the county -- to wander around. It wasn't much of a hike, but we decided this year, that hiking with two kids who don't really want to be in packs on our backs would be too much work -- for us. Maybe next year.

Saturday August 15 came much too quickly, and we had to head home. But we did make a stop in Orillia where we spent a nice afternoon and evening visiting with Ryan's nana