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.