This was our week at the lake visiting my parents.
These family vacations just keep getting better, especially now that the kids are older. There’s a new kind of ease to it all. With fewer logistics, I can cheer Indy on while he fishes and enjoy reading a book. No Pack ‘n Plays to set up, no windows to cover with blankets and black garbage bags, no naps to monitor, no sunscreen to apply, no food to spoon-feed. It’s bittersweet, I suppose — but mostly sweet.
WILD THINGS
When people ask where my parents live, I usually say, “in the middle of nowhere.” In other words, where the wild things are…
- A mama duck with a fluffy trail of ducklings. Twice.
- Wild mushrooms popping up in shady spots.
- Chipmunks and squirrels chattering and chasing each other nonstop.
- Blue herons gliding near the shoreline.
- Fish. He’d want you to know that this white perch (promptly released) measured 13.5 inches.
- Several toads, which are always a highlight for Indy. He made a “hammock” for them, and they humoured him and actually went for a swing.
- Loons — the ultimate lake soundtrack.
- Bald eagles.
- A single wild rose, picked just for me by Indy.
- Another day we were at a little stretch of beach and spotted a bunch of moose tracks. They were huge!
- Some seasonal neighbours brought over their dog, Watson. He wore the tiniest red life jacket (more for visibility than function — he can swim without one) and we were all smitten.
FUN PURSUITS
This was Indy’s week of woodworking. On day one, my dad gave him a tin can full of nails, a hammer, and some scrap wood.
He made a three-legged chair and proudly used it for outdoor meals.
The next day, he asked for a block of wood and a whittling knife and crafted a spoon. It was hilarious to watch him sit on that tiny, wobbly chair, eating from his handmade spoon like it was all perfectly normal. It was so him.
Other highlights:
- Swimming. I didn’t go in every day, but I did my fair share (and fulfilled my maternal duty to act as resident judge during handstand contests).
- Reading. Most mornings began with coffee and a chapter (or three) of The Swiss Family Robinson, read aloud from my childhood copy that’s hanging on by a thread. Indy would find little leafy nooks along the beach to hide in while we read. I devoured a short memoir by Geraldine Brooks. My Kobo came in clutch more than once while soaking up some sun.
- Fishing. If Indy could fish in his sleep, he would. He woke John and I up the first two mornings to get permission to head down to the beach to fish. I’d have been grumpy if it hadn’t been so darn cute. But I did then set clear time guidelines around when he could come knock on our door.
OTHER HAPPY LAKE THINGS
- Homemade food. We had a full turkey dinner one day — stuffing and all!
- Cookies. My mom baked dozens before we arrived, and on the very first morning, I caught the kids having cookies for breakfast. FOR BREAKFAST. Grandma’s house, Grandma’s rules?!
- The smells. Pine, cedar, fresh air. I wish I could bottle it.
- The sounds. Waves lapping, leaves rustling, birds chirping, acorns pinging off the roof, fish splashing. It’s a great mixtape.
- Sleep. I slept like a log. Unfortunately, our double bed felt microscopic compared to our king at home, which meant I slept wonderfully — elbows splayed and all — while poor John didn’t sleep much at all. (Thank you for not poking me, honey.)
- Eating outside. Almost every single meal.
- No mirrors. No watch. No makeup. Just ratty clothes in various states of disarray.
HAPPY THINGS IN BLOGLAND
- Birchie is going to make her way to my part of the world in September, and Kae and SHU will be visiting me in October!!!! I can’t wait to meet all three of these ladies in person. And while I already feel like we know each other well thanks to the wonders of blogging, I’ll try to sneak in the 36 Questions while they’re here…
- Michelle — the Queen of Happy Things — is back with more gorgeously-designed postcards for her 100-Day Project.
- Rebecca (of The Farm Wife Reads) is creating a crochet blanket inspired by book covers. She matches the colours of the book cover to each granny square. I’ve never seen anything like it and I think it’s absolutely brilliant!
- Fresh off a potential malaria scare of our own, I thought Katy drew interesting parallels between an unpredictable disease and human emotions. In other words, I can relate!
- Laura posted about her Three times a week is a habit rule, which literally changed my life and is the reason you’re reading this blog post today!
- Lindsay shared the sweetest story about her daughter’s YouTube project (homemade shaved ice!) — sometimes parenting is gently guiding through failure, and sometimes, it’s the joy of watching our kids’ wild optimism prove to be right.
That’s it for this week! Here’s to afternoons of swimming, summer turkey dinners, and the kind of quiet joy that only happens when time slows down. Tomorrow is the wedding and then we’re headed into a busy (but hopefully very fun) few weeks of summer camp and volunteering.
Happy Weekending!
- Tell me some happy things from your week!
- Have you ever had a place that feels like a reset for your soul? Where is it for you?
- Do you have a “grandma’s house” memory or tradition that still makes you smile?
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Looks like a wonderful time! Between the pictures and your descriptions I feel like I’m there!
Thank you for the link! Totally took me by surprise!
It really is such a magical place <3
I really appreciated your blog post and it felt extra relatable in light of John's recent trip to Rwanda.
What a lovely lake vacation! Indy did a great job with fishing ( 13.5 in!) and woodworking.
The grandma’s house memory I have are the two candy dishes ( If you were good, you could pick one piece – caramel or chuckle) and the smell of cigarette smoke.
I think you linked to Lindsay under the hot link that was supposed to go to Katy.
Thanks so much for the heads up on the link issue! Oops. All fixed. Really appreciate it.
Grandma’s house and candy sounds like a winning combination.
Cookies for breakfast! I’m all for it!
Your parents’ place sounds absolutely magical – the perfect little haven for you and the kids to soak up those long, carefree days.
And yay for blogger meetups! I’m always surprised at how UNsurprising it is – how the bloggers’ real-life personalities match their blogs. It’s like picking up a conversation you’ve already been having!
I also loved your Blogging-Land highlights, it’s such a great mix. I’m fascinated by Laura’s point “three times a week is a habit” – that small mindset shift makes a big difference!
“It’s like picking up a conversation you’ve already been having!” Yes, yes, and yes!
I started a blog because of the “three times a week is a habit” – previously thinking if I was going to start something, I needed to do it daily for it to count. Getting permission to consider myself a blogger if I only posted 3x/week was a revelation and changed how I viewed all sorts of things.
This feels like such a perfect Canadian Summer post! I love it all! I also really relate to the bed thing. I am used to space in our king and when we have to share a smaller bed it feels VERY TIGHT. Like, why are you so close? I love you but WHY ARE YOU BREATHING ON ME.
Catrina above said it perfectly – that blogger meetups go so well because our personalities match our blogs! I wish *I* was coming out to see you in the fall but I will, you know, be in Morocco! I’ll do walking club from there!
Birchie is coming out in two weeks today, eeeeee!
Oh, and YES to things being easier as the kids get older!
It really does feel so Canadian…eh? 🙂
When we were in the store looking at our first King-sized bed another customer heard us talking and came over to ask if this was our first. When I said yes, she looked me straight in the eye and said: “This is going to change your life.” I love, love, LOVE having all the extra space. And a double/full feels like I’m sleeping on a razor’s edge after a king.
Well, I suppose Morocco will be fun. And I can’t believe you get to see Birchie so soon. What a fun summer/fall in blogland meet-ups.
GRANDMA’S HOUSE GRANDMA’S RULES!!! That says it all. And yes, the older the kids get, the easier and more enjoyable it is to go on vacation with them.
Congrats on a lovely visit to see your parents!
I don’t think I realized how exhausting “vacation” was when the kids were little. It was a phase to be gotten through and we had great times, but still. It was so tiring. They needed and wanted lots of attention, trying to coordinate naps and bedtimes and high chairs and all that stuff. Phew!
And now they do almost all the stuff on their own and I get to cheer them on (or go huddle up on my own and read a book).
Awww, Elisabeth, you’ve warmed my heart yet again! Thank you for sharing about my postcard project! And you introduced me to Rebecca and her book cover crochet blanket, which is about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I went right over and followed her blog. I’m glad you had such a wonderful time visiting your parents. It sounds like the ideal summer vacation. Of course grandma has cookies for breakfast! I love it!
Your postcard project is simply lovely. It gives me warm fuzzies and I still have my postcard from you hanging out in the front pocket of my Sprouted planner.
Isn’t that crochet blanket THE COOLEST??? I have never seen anything like it and it is genius. Someone who knows Anne Bogel needs to get her on the line and feature this idea.
Oh this week at the lake sounds divine! From the sleeping to the eating outside to the wild things – those moose tracks! I desperately want to see a moose in the wild one day – to the cookies for breakfast. (Totally guilty of doing that as a grown up, lol). Plus it’s just so beautiful 🙂
And thank you so, so much for sharing my post! ❤️ I am deeply honored, and so delighted that others are liking the way my little project is coming along! 😀
I’ll admit I was glad I only saw the moose tracks of this guy. They were HUGE. (Though it’s not a season where moose are likely to be dangerous; only when young are involved).
Your project is so charming. I’ve never seen anything like it and think it’s brilliant!
I like toads. In our previous house we had lots of them. I had a Toad Abode out front under our lamppost for them. They were appreciative, I’m sure.
Love your outdoor dining table. So pretty and inviting.
I read Laura’s 3 Times a Week is a Habit idea. Inspired. Most everything in life is all about how you define it.
Outdoor dining is underrated! No crumbs to clean up off the floor. The squirrels are happy to do that for us under the cover of darkness 😉
What a delightful week away for you all! But yes, a double bed is quite small. We have a queen but a double feels small for us, so it must feel really small coming from a king!!
My equivalent to time at your parents is time at my parents’ lake home! Our kids are younger so they are not quite as relaxing as yours was since I’m still helping in the bathroom/bathing kids/applying sunscreen, but I have an extra set of hands and there’s so much to entertain the boys between the beach, lake, and the swing on the beach.
The best part of my week was getting lunch with my former coworker/mentor!
These days a queen feels small, but manageable, and a double feels TINY.
An extra set of hands (and a change of scenery) make a big difference. But you will really enjoy it more in a few years, I’m sure, when the boys are even more independent!
Having parents who live “in the middle of nowhere” sounds like the ideal situation! This all looks lovely, and I agree- it is so much easier (and for the most part more pleasant) when the kids become independent.
I’m already looking forward to being a grandma, and I’m definitely giving me grandkids cookie for breakfast.
Was the bed you slept in a full size? If so, I feel your pain (or, John’s pain I guess). We sleep in a king at home, but on our trip to Tampa in January we were squashed into a full, and it was not pretty.
To answer your question- I feel like I did just have a reset. Although I was not at a lake house in the middle of nowhere, just being away for a few days was good for my soul.
I feel silly about this but am already SO EXCITED to be a grandmother. Not to rush my kids are anything, but there is a mild level of panic that since I only had 2 kids my chances of grandchildren are smaller than people I know with more. I will for sure want to be a Fun Grandma <3 I also feel like in some ways I didn't really lean into the baby stage with my own kids because it felt so overwhelming and I'd love to help care for (and ease some of the overwhelm) for my own kids if they end up having kiddos.
Yes, a full size which is soooo tiny after a king.
Yay for resets!
What a wonderful way to spend a week – cookies for breakfast, a full turkey dinner and the peace and beauty being where “the wild things are!” I am heading to a cabin next week and so looking forward to much of what you have described – no clocks or commitments, just a bathing suit, Kobo and food, including cookies :), to enjoy on the deck.
Jacquie, we sound like Summer Twins with our plans for books and food and time spent outside.
I still haven’t put my watch on and it has been lovely. Hard to imagine going back to “reality” tomorrow, but there is still lots of summer fun ahead and we’re planning to come back to the lake at least once more this summer.
That lake week sounds idyllic, utter perfection.
We have a queen bed at home and a full at the cabin. Even those few missing extra inches at the cabin feel very squishy. We could fit a queen in the room, but then the dresser drawers wouldn’t open, there’d be no bedside table, and you’d have to crawl over the bed to get into the bathroom.
Super eventful week, some happy, some just yikes: 1. Time with a childhood friend at her lake cabin; 2. giant dead tree by our cabin got felled; 3. sold my car that I’ve had for 24 years (sob); 4. Our pastor resigned.
Gotta head up to the cabin to sort through my thoughts about all of it.
Time at the cabin is a good place to sort through the highs, lows, and surprises that life throws ones way.
I’m glad to hear you had some happy moments; reconnecting with friends is always a delight.
We lived 2.5 hours away from my maternal grandma. She would always have my brother and my favorite homemade cookies ready for us (peanut butter for him, big soft ginger for me). They were always cold because she kept them in the freezer on hand for us. She had 23 grandchildren, so I’m impressed she could remembered our faves.
My mom keeps them in her freezer, too. Most of the time the kids are too impatient to wait for them to thaw and often eat them from frozen!
Little kids and babies are SO FUN and CUTE but exhausting. Life is easier in so many ways as they get older (and more difficult in other ways – easier to take care of a dirty diaper than a broken heart).
Oh, the beds…we used to have a King sized bed, but had to downsize to a Queen when it became clear that me working from home was going to be permanent. Sadly, the layout of our place means my desk is in our bedroom, plus a separate desk for my husband’s computer, plus a filing cabinet, plus a dresser and bedside tables. We have a good sized bedroom, but that is a LOT of furniture and something had to go. I did love the king. We’re going to Portland to visit family next weekend, and we’re staying in a hotel with a King sized bed. YAY!
I love your vacations at the lake. I love the pictures and the recap and the entire vibe of it all. <3
King beds are wonderful…but they do take up A LOT of space.
Enjoy your king-sized bed this coming weekend. A nice perk of vacation life!
Toddlers at the lake are overwhelming because there is just danger lurking around every corner and you must have eyes on them at all times!
I see nothing wrong with cookies and/or ice cream for breakfast, especially when you are on vacation! What a fun recap and it looks like, as always, you had a great time! I love summertime, and the lake/river/beach and sunny days and family…and watermelon! There are certain things that will always remind me of being a kid in summer, and watermelon, water (the river for me), and ice cream are a few of them!
We had watermelon, water (lake) and ice cream last week. It was delightful!
I feel relaxed just looking at the lake pictures! So glad you got to have an enjoyable week there!
A few happy things this week in a mostly pretty challenging one:
– got my oath date to become a Canadian citizen and it’ll be before the end of July!
– Although we missed the first day due to sickness we still got two days of camping with my parents and nephew and niece.
– my parents and nephew and niece are here!!!!
– We’ve been trying to sell our car for months and it looks like it’s finally going to sell!
Congrats on the pending citizenship. What a wonderful and momentous occasion. I can confidently assume you know a lot more about Canadian history and politics and culture than I do!
That’s wonderful news on your car. And enjoy the family time. Hope everyone stays healthy from here on out.
It looks like a lovely place where treasured memories are made 🙂
This sounds like such a wonderful week. The pictures are amazing. No idea how you slept in a full size bed. Indy’s fishing devotion is so cute. That and the loon soundtrack reminds me of the movie OnGolden Pond. Love that movie.
Happy things this week- watching curly play bball and hanging with the awesome team and parents.
I have very specific and sweet memories of both my grandparents’ houses. One grandpa would send my grandma in a panic, hollering CANT YOU SEE THEYRE STARVING? GET THESE KIDS SOME ICE CREAM.
I loved this and her ice cream was always the perfect temperature- never hard as a rock, always just soft enough to scoop.
It was tough to sleep in such a small bed. The irony is I’ve had two ROTTEN nights of sleep back home in our king bed. What’s up with that?
Aww. Love that memory of your grandparents. And the perfect temperature ice cream that is actually scoopable is one of the delights of summer life. (My parents ice cream was soooo hard last week and it was a nightmare to scoop. We finally started leaving it out of the freezer for a few minutes before scooping and that made a world of difference.
Elisabeth, this sounds like the most glorious vacation. No timeline. No hustle, not bustle, NO MAKEUP! I love it. And your kids just being able to do all the fun stuff in nature is the absolute best. I had the biggest smile seeing Indy in his homemade chair and whittling his spoon. GENIUS. Oh, that is a large fish he caught too!
Yes, cookies for breakfast when Grandma is serving sounds perfectly fine to me as well.
I love to see you sharing such fun stuff from your blog friends; there are some very kind and talented people in blogland!
I love Indie’s hammock for the toad. My eldest used to make little houses for lizards when she was younger and she still keeps on eye out for little critters. Yesterday we went for a walk in the National Park and she rescued a lizard that was in the middle of the boardwalk and in danger of getting stepped on, moving it to a clump of grass. We also saw a beautiful Blue Wanderer on that walk which was pretty special.
My mum’s mum (Mumma) came over for Sunday dinner every week and bought her fantastic sponge cake, with cream and 100’s and 1000’s on the top which we called Mumma’s Cake. A few years back we had a competition to see who bake a sponge that was closest to hers as the recipe had gone missing. We found out that my Aunty Ethel has the recipe earlier this year and she has since sent my mum the recipe so we once again had Mumma’s Cake, which was fun.
Awww. That cake sounds delicious AND steeped in love, tradition, and history. I love the memories associated with certain foods. And Mumma’s Cake sounds like a recipe to treasure for many years (and generations) to come.
Reg is ridiculous about leaving our ice cream out to soften. Let’s just say since he has memory issues- well that can be problematic. 😉
There is soft and then there is forgotten puddles of ice cream. One is preferable to the other – haha.
Oh my gosh your lake house summer week is picture perfect. Everything you mentioned is like a book.
Love it. May be did bit envious too.