Summer Fun at the Cottage

As I mentioned in my previous post, my sister Stephanie rented a cottage on the Alummette River near Ottawa for the week.  She invited our family of five  and my mother up for the week to spend time with her, her boyfriend Nick, and their new puppy Bugsy. 

It was a 5 hour drive (with a few "comfort breaks" along the way) but upon arrival we knew it was worth it! 

 

Within minutes of unloading the car, the kids were in the river!  Being a tidal river that eventually leads into the Atlantic Ocean, the levels were low and the kids could venture out pretty far, wave-free, and enjoy the sand between the their toes and the cool water on their shoulders. 

 

Steph's puppy, Bugsy, was new to the water, but as the week progressed, she became braver and braver, following the kids into the deeper water.

 



Each evening, far too late after the kids' normal bedtime, we had a fire on the beach.  It was wickedly hot each day, but by the time the sun went down each night, the beach cooled, we put on our sweaters and we enjoyed the heat coming off of our little fireplace.  

 

Each night we cooked a different food over the flames.  One evening we cooked wieners and made hotdogs with lots of ketchup. Another night it was traditional S'mores with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate squares.  But the kids' favourite was the hot pies we created using Nana's Pie Irons.  (Read about them HERE.)

 

 

Nana brought along lots of fillings for our pies- ham and cheese, marshmallows, cherry pie filling, Nutella and peanut butter.  It was hard to choose, so each of the kids had 2 or 3 different "flavours" in between their pieces of bread. 



 

 

I think this was the day we forgot to sunscreen them.  We had some ruby red babies by the end of the day!

Steph, Nick, Bugsy and Camden keeping cool with frosty libations and "in-water" air conditioning. 

I had checked out Trip Advisor, as I always do, and found a few nearby outings that could possibly fill our time if the kids got "tired" of the cottage. 

It turned out there was a nearby berry farm that could keep the kids entertained for a few hours in between dips in the river.



 

Hugli's Blueberry Ranch had farm animals, sunflower fields, zip-lines, a pirate maze and a 25 metre tube slide down the side of a hill.  Oh, and did I mention they had a farm shop, too?  We visited it twice in 2 days.  They had delicious ice cream and fresh picked blueberries and excellent blueberry baking.  I especially liked the lemon and blueberry tarts!

 

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, the sunsets over the river were absolutely amazing.  Here are a couple more shots that I'd love to share:

 

 

Camden wanted to be in a picture with the fading sun. Yep.  He has a sword shoved down the back of his shirt. In fact, he usually has some kind of plastic "weapon" down his shirt - or his pants!

 

 

 

To help combat the heat and the feeling that we were "melting", drip by drip outside, we allowed the kids lots of quiet time inside the house, too.  They read lying in their beds, played card games with Nana and had some fun with some old-fashioned tinker toys that we found in the cottage. 

And what did our dog, Casey,  think of all this?  He loved playing in the river, but couldn't handle all the neighbour's dogs.  If they came near his  beach, he would go absolutely snakey!! We've never heard him bark so much! However, he loved his naps in the sand and his time frolicking with little Bugsy. Casey has slept non-stop since we got home.  He is a worn-out pooch!

 Overall it was a wonderful week, filled with family time, fresh air and fabulous food!

Stephanie is already planning another cottage rental for next summer and you can bet we'll be joining her!!

 

 

Thanks for indulging me in my plethora of photos once again!

Hugs to all,

 

XOXO

Bronwyn