Cottage pro

I believe I was born to cottage.  I really do.

I’m sure most people think that they were too.  I’m also sure that most would never recognize the degree of skill and fortitude it takes to cottage like a pro.  They might think that they could handle the intense level of vacationing.  They probably believe that they have the stamina to maintain that perfect balance of fun & relaxation mixed with a tinge of work.  But I believe it takes an extraordinary amount of  focus and desire to achieve a perfect harmony in what I have deemed ’cottaging’.  It’s not camping, it’s not being on a cruise… it’s cottaging.

I believe I have achieved a near perfect recipe for doing so.  It will be my life’s work to

Call me the breeze

The core of me is filled with fear… well, correct that… it used to be filled with fear.  It seems like my whole life, I’ve battled with being afraid of things.  Some are rational fears (like heights) and some have been ridiculous fears(lawn mowers).  I’ve tried to work on both the big and little ones over time.  They say the best way to overcome a fear is to just do it.  I can officially add riding a motorcycle to the list of fears overcome.  Here’s some pictures of

In pursuit of a family picture

We decided to take advantage of Holland’s 4th of July celebration yesterday since we are going to a friend’s party today.  I really didn’t want the kids to miss out on the big fireworks and the family time spent alone together. 

While there, we tried to take a family picture with the aid of the self timer in the camera.  We set the timer for 10 seconds & didn’t realize that it took 3 rapid shots in a row.  Now, any family picture normally takes a few tries but here is our progression.

Attempt #1

Memorial Day Weekend

It’s Memorial Weekend.  Time for camping, bonfires and hanging out with friends/family.  Kind of a trial run before summer actually begins.  At this point, particularly in Michigan, people are bugging out for summer.  We’ve managed to survive the cruelty of winter and deserve our just reward of sunshine.  And so, while ushering in the new season, I felt updates were due in our lives.

Cash  has had an amazing recovery.  He

~Racing Day~ During

(Megan’s girls) Makayla & Savannah, Emma & Gerrit

Course Map 

The starting buzzer must have gone off but we couldn’t hear it from as far back as we were.  People started walking, waiting for their turn to cross the starting line.  I could hear Eye of the Tiger playing loudly over the speakers.  I gave Megan a high five and about 10 feet before the line, people started jogging.  Here was the moment I had been working so hard for.  I was about to get the answer to my question.  Would my ankle hold up?  I took a tentative step and another one.  The air was filled with the sound of high pitched beeps as the racing chips looped on our shoes signified we had crossed the starting line.  I giggled with glee as I said to Cheri “I’m running!”.  I couldn’t believe it.  My ankle felt good.  No pain.

There was so much to absorb as we left.  We were thick in a herd of runners and people were trying to find their pace.  Every available hole was filled with runners trying to get ahead.  I looked and saw Megan & Amy were about 10 ft in front of us but we couldn’t reach them through all the people.  Down one street and around a corner.  Cheri & I used the curve in the road as a way to sneak around some people.  We reached them and I asked Amy how her knee was feeling.  Good… how’s my ankle?  Good!  We’re doing it!  Amy told me we just passed the first mile marker and I couldn’t believe it.  The crowd was still so thick, it was hard to run our natural gait because you’d step on someones heel.

Mile 2 passed by and Amy commented that her knee was tight.  Not a good sign.  I reminded her that I had my phone if she needed it and she said she was fine.  We continued on.  My ankle was doing good.  It didn’t hurt but I could feel pressure.  Almost like it needed to pop or something.  It wasn’t hurting so I wasn’t going to stop. 

The 3rd mile took us off the roads and onto the trail.  It was a beautiful site.  The sun was rising and the field was golden, the sky was a brilliant blue and the leaves on the trees were showing us their gorgeous colors.  It was cold but it felt good now.  I looked over the field and saw the long line of runners that were ahead.  They filled the mile ahead of us and past where we could see, curving around.  It was amazing to see the sheer number of people ahead of us and I knew there were more behind us.  I was excited to go around the bend after mile 3.  The guys & kids were supposed to be waiting for us and I couldn’t wait to see them.

As we came upon the curve entering mile 4, Cheri & I laughed at the people already in line at the port a potties.  Wow! 

Blue Skies

I’m kicking off the dust from this town and heading up to Traverse City.  My sister (Stephanie) and her husband (Steve) invited us to join them for a weekend getaway sans children.  I almost can’t believe it!  Leaving children behind hardly ever happens and never together as couples. 

This will be a fun, relaxing weekend and a first for the 4 of us.  My sister and I, while we are close, are complete opposites and developed a closeness only after we moved out of the house we grew up together in.  We’ve managed to find common ground even when it seemed impossible and talk almost daily.  She lives a good 45min away from me and so we don’t get to hang out together very much.  This will be a really cool time together.  We’ve never gone out the 4 of us, never mind a vacation (albeit small) together.  It will be great to be Stephanie, Steve, Dan & Chris together and not Mom or Dad for the entire time.

I’m sure I’ll get some great pictures and have some fun tales when I return.  We don’t have a ton planned but that’s where the relaxation comes in.  Pretty sure, my plans include sitting on the beach, soaking up rays and sipping on a delicious cocktail.  Perfect!

Out and about on the boat, eh

If you could picture the title being said in a Canadian accent, it’s way funnier.  If you’ve never heard that said by a Canadian, that’s too bad.  I managed to find a slightly good example here just before the 1min mark. 

Completely unrelated to Canada, was our boat ride at Sandy’s cottage but fun none the less.  As always, Gerrit pronounces it dope instead of a boat and Zachary (one of Sandy’s sons) asked me if the video would be on youtube for about the millionth time.  He asked me that everytime I taped something.  Sandy was less than thrilled at being captured on camera and so it cracked me up to sneak in times when I got her.

It was considerably colder that day than all the others and so no one did any skiing or tubing.  We just went out for a spin.  My kids are way more adventurous than me so they loved it when we would go fast and hit bumps.  Me, not so much.

  Driving fast on the boat

 Gerrit looking for fish in the channel

We took the channel over to the no wake

I’m walking on sunshine

 

I know I’ve been a slacker this week.  Many apologies for that.  For some reason, the week at Sandy’s cottage took it’s toll on me and I was exhausted all week long.  No matter how much I slept, I still felt tired and when I was awake, I felt cruddy.  I believe I have some kind of allergy and yesterday, I broke down and took some Target Allergy medicine.  After the Target brand Lactaid fiasco, I am skeptical of their brand of meds but it’s what I had so I took it.  Hopefully, I’ll start to feel normal again soon.

In the meantime, I need to share our fantastic week up at Sandy’s cottage.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were as tired as me when we left.  I clocked it and 9 miles away from the cottage, they were out and slept the whole way home (which was a good 1.5hrs).  They needed it and they probably aren’t even caught up yet.  We hung out at the beach area everyday for a while.  The kids loved that it was pretty shallow and had freedom to go about in the roped off section.  Of course they had their arm floaties on. 

The first day that we went, there were some other people.  One of which was a man & a woman who had (I’m guessing his age now) a 2year old.  The kid was in the water and