Grandkids 2025 - stage 2 cont.

 The previous post was getting a bit long so I divided it. I was at the cottage with the kids and Chris and Jason for 5 days and it was full of good times, although Avery was a bit under the weather for part of it.

Maya was in the water at every opportunity - swimming, cartwheeling, floating - happy to be there alone 

 

or with others.

Goofing around occurred on the sand too.

Tree sparrow, from the hammock.

$1.75 at the thrift store got us a puzzle

Teamwork. We left it there for someone else to enjoy.

We played board games and computer games and Maya and Avery talked to their parents on WhatsApp video.

When Maya and I went into Port Rowan to get milk we checked if the Osprey nest was still there and we went back to the cottage to get our cameras.

Maya used the Polaroid camera that she got for Christmas.

A massive nest with 2 adults and 2 juveniles.

We watched one skim over the water, soar up high, dive down, but nothing was caught to bring home.

Returning empty taloned.

Such big eyes, to be able to see fish while soaring high overhead.

Looks like a model for a cartoon character with the wind ruffling feathers from behind.

On our last evening

roasted marshmallows at the fire pit.

People have asked how it felt, going back. I do miss being able to walk on the beach and easily into the lake to swim. I do miss the peace and quiet when everyone has gone home in the evening and morning coffee looking out on the expanse of sand and water. I don't miss the (just a few) rude people who behave badly when they are away from home, at the beach or the isolation in the winter.

 

I didn't feel badly about being in the home that George and I had built. Rather I was proud of it. Pleased at how it still holds up as a well designed and practical place to socialize and enjoy the location. I love the large kitchen, the breakfast bar, the expanse of windows, fans in all the rooms. I might feel differently if I wasn't happy and content with were I live now. I hope I can keep coming back to visit in the summer and give my grandkids the beach opportunity that George and I had intended.

 

Grandkids 2025 - stage 2

With the car loaded to the max we arrived at the cottage late morning. The rest of this post is just photos of "cottage life". Meals were kept simple, Cigi still napped, kids had baths or showers every evening (so as to remove as much sand as possible) and there was a nice balance between activities and relaxation.

Maya sketching (she was practicing drawing faces) and Avery sunbathing.

 

A hammock was the preferred place for reading a library book

or just lounging

or "supervising" the early morning swim. One of the joys of the cottage is the early morning when we have the beach to ourselves.

We had still days and wavy days and everything in between.

Supervision from the cottage,

a shade tent or

a chair by the water. Walking the sandbar was a good activity for my sore knee but I also walked the cottage road a couple of times and checked in with friends who still have cottages there.

Ruby, 

Sammy and

Fiona (she ran, then swam) visited.

In the evening,

some

ball

fetching.

Outside the cottage now has a metal roof and

a "tiki bar" (dubbed the spider haven by Chris) 

but otherwise looks much the same.

Inside still feels light and airy and the colour scheme is the same. 

Rather them "Mediterranean" its now more

"Beachy Boho"

Cottage still life.

Wednesday I returned to Port Dover to sail and stayed over. Rasta demanded multiple tummy rubs to make up for his alone time.

I returned, through rain, to a windy day

and more visitors (Kristin, Noah, Leo and Terri) there to take advantage of

the wave

jumping

opportunities.