Cottage Vacay (before & after children)!
We just returned home after a week of vacation at the cottage. It was beau.ti.ful. The weather was fantastic... hot sun, warm water, and a cool breeze at night.
Everyone had a good time for the most part, with the exception of a few sleep deprived nights (thanks to H), and the odd overtime shift of suicide watch (two busy boys near open water), I would say it was one of the better weeks of vacay we've had in a while.
I absolutely love the cottage when the weather is gorgeous... it makes me immediately return home to buy a lottery ticket in hopes that I can permanently move to a waterfront/beachfront location for life ever after. But since having children, the cottage has a different feel... while its beautiful and still has small windows of opportunity to be relaxing, its a hot bed of no-no's for my little monsters.
Before children I could kick back with glass of wine and a trashy magazine and my only worry was whether I used enough dark tanning oil to actually get some noticeable colour. But now... those activities are rare, I am actually lucky if I even get five minutes to myself to apply a shot of sunscreen!
Being with my boys at the cottage my fears are constantly verbalized, saying things like...
1. back up from the edge of the deck
2. away from the water
3. your too deep
4. don't throw sand
5. don't eat sand
6. off the ramp
7. no running on the dock
8. stay where I can see you
9. don't splash your brother
10. put the rocks down
and the list goes on... and on... and on.
By the end of a week, I sound like a broken record. If I had to do a shot everytime I said 'be careful' to Thing 1 and Thing 2, there would have been a lot of drunk parenting going on up there.
Despite the challenges of being at the cottage with young children... it is still a wonderful piece of paradise for our family. I truly can't imagine a better vacation for the boys - while the chance for disaster to strike does exist, the childhood memories the boys will have from their experiences at the cottage are nothing short of priceless. They have so much carefree fun up there... that I would not change that for the world.
Can't wait til we can go back again in August!
Everyone had a good time for the most part, with the exception of a few sleep deprived nights (thanks to H), and the odd overtime shift of suicide watch (two busy boys near open water), I would say it was one of the better weeks of vacay we've had in a while.
I absolutely love the cottage when the weather is gorgeous... it makes me immediately return home to buy a lottery ticket in hopes that I can permanently move to a waterfront/beachfront location for life ever after. But since having children, the cottage has a different feel... while its beautiful and still has small windows of opportunity to be relaxing, its a hot bed of no-no's for my little monsters.
Before children I could kick back with glass of wine and a trashy magazine and my only worry was whether I used enough dark tanning oil to actually get some noticeable colour. But now... those activities are rare, I am actually lucky if I even get five minutes to myself to apply a shot of sunscreen!
Being with my boys at the cottage my fears are constantly verbalized, saying things like...
1. back up from the edge of the deck
2. away from the water
3. your too deep
4. don't throw sand
5. don't eat sand
6. off the ramp
7. no running on the dock
8. stay where I can see you
9. don't splash your brother
10. put the rocks down
and the list goes on... and on... and on.
By the end of a week, I sound like a broken record. If I had to do a shot everytime I said 'be careful' to Thing 1 and Thing 2, there would have been a lot of drunk parenting going on up there.
Despite the challenges of being at the cottage with young children... it is still a wonderful piece of paradise for our family. I truly can't imagine a better vacation for the boys - while the chance for disaster to strike does exist, the childhood memories the boys will have from their experiences at the cottage are nothing short of priceless. They have so much carefree fun up there... that I would not change that for the world.
Can't wait til we can go back again in August!
posted by SC at 12:21 PM
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