Indy and I are settling in for a few days visiting my parents at their lakeside home. It’s a fairly short trip. We left after church on Sunday and arrived in time for a quick swim before supper. The plan is to go home Thursday or Friday.
It’s the first time I’ve been to the lake with just one child; the dynamics are definitely different without warring siblings!
After supper on Sunday, Indy asked to watch an episode of Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye with my mom. It’s a tame criminal investigator show (based on the true story of a deaf lip reader who worked for the FBI) and both kids love watching it with my parents. While they did that… I very happily decamped to a lawn chair overlooking the lake to read Sipsworth which is a charming story about a widowed, grieving mother who unexpectedly finds herself caring for a pet mouse. (A bit of an odd premise, but it works!)
The evening was spent the way I expected the evening to be spent: fishing. For about an hour there was nothing. Then the sun dipped over the horizon and the fish started biting like crazy. Indy has a great racket going—he fishes and when he catches something, he brings the fish back to me to take it off the hook. He caught perch and sunfish and they both have spiky fins and even with special gloves, one spike managed to draw blood on my hand last night.
A few of you recommended the Percy Jackson series so we started that! He is LOVING it so far. I read while he fished, but eventually it got to be too much of a nuisance to find my place and start reading to almost immediately be called upon for fish removal duty. Ah, the delights of being the mother of a pint-sized fisherman. (Who was apparently too lazy to hold his rod at certain points!)
The sunset was gorgeous.
Eventually, though the fish kept biting, so did the mosquitos. That was our cue to go inside. I abandoned ship a few minutes before Indy and snapped this picture on my way up to the house. This is him living his very best life.
Apparently the wind has been horrible all month, and we came on the first day the lake calmed down.
Monday morning we woke up and the water was like GLASS. My parents said they haven’t had a single morning like that all summer.
Indy and I spent a good chunk of the morning playing badminton. I bought a discounted badminton net at the end of last week ($40!), and John grabbed an inexpensive set of rackets and birdies. We have had so much fun playing in my parents’ back yard. I’m decent, but don’t really want to lunge for things. So if he hits it in my general direction, I’m great. If he gets fancy and tries to get me to charge the net, I’m decidedly less agile and enthused.
After that… more fishing! This time, Dad took us in his motorized canoe and we went to our favourite fishing spot. I kid you not, Indy would drop his line in and within two seconds a fish would be on. I’d take it off and, two seconds later, another fish would be on. They were all quite small, but it was a VERY fun hour of fishing.
En route we spotted two deer on the shoreline. And when we rounded a corner there was a blue heron right in front of us!
When we came home, we were on garden duty. We went up to harvest the yellow and green beans ready in my mom’s garden. She plants a garden every year and it is never very successful. For some reason she does not lose hope and optimism despite dealing with the same level of shade and poor soil for several decades. She is DETERMINED and feels a lot of joy over whatever she gets.
Last year her bean harvest was especially sparse so she is delighted to have a bumper crop this year! And we were happy to help her eat them 🙂
After lunch we went swimming with some neighbours who have some wonderful inflatable things that mean I can be in the water without fully submerging which is good because I hate being cold. Being wet and cold is even worse. Alas, I still got cold. I’m such a delicate orchid in my old age. When I was a kid, I spent hour after hour in the water but now I mostly prefer to look at the water, not be in it.
After supper, we were back to Percy Jackson! Indy approves.
And then another round of fishing to finish off the evening. This time we came prepared with bug spray. There were lots of fish, most quite small, but two decent-sized catfish which are grotesque looking but in a fascinating way.
When I posted about visiting St. Fagans, Birchie commented that something had felt a bit off lately since there had been a dearth of Indy tree poses. Her suggestion: I think that your trip set the standard that there needs to be at least one Indy tree pose per post, regardless of the subject.
So know that this final picture was taken with you specifically in mind… and Indy says hello!
Your turn.
- Do you have a fruit or veggie garden? What’s your favourite fresh produce?
- What book(s) are you reading this week?
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What a great vacation- combination of active and peaceful. However, I wouldn’t touch a fish if you paid me- you’re a good mom to get the fish off the hook for him!
We have an apple tree that produces many apples but the squirrels get them beforre they’re ripe, or they fall off, or the bugs attack. I think it acts as a trap plant so my neighbor’s tree can actually produce useful apples in the fall.
I just read the Sara Beth Hurst books recommended by NGS. I needed something light as my brain has no liked reading lately. Also picked up a book called Eat Your Ice Cream about wellness- nothing new and the author came across as pretentious at times.
Enjoy your lake days!
Ha. I wear gloves, so I don’t have to feel any slime and, most of the time, no spikes.
Happy days!! This sounds so peaceful and relaxing. I can just imagine Indy fishing while you read to him. That must be the perfect summer memory. And I bet Belle has a bit of FOMO because she’s not with you! 😅
Enjoy the lake and the time with your parents, Elisabeth!
Belle would love to be here… but she also loves camp. It’s part of getting older! Sad, but a normal progression that older kids start missing things in the summer for work or other commitments.
It has been SUCH a fun week and the weather has been sheer perfection.
what peaceful days! I am amazed by his fishing skills and patience!
having a lake house to go back on summers is such a great idea! I’d do it just to watch the sunset.
He has so much patience for fishing; it helps that there have been so many fish this week. He’s probably caught… 60 or 70 in a little over 48 hours. Mostly quite small, admittedly, but it’s so much fun!
Oh I totally forgot about the Percy Jackson series – Mark loved those books! Jake at the same age LOVED the Wings of Fire series.
I am reading The Kiss Quotient, which I picked up because Stephany said it features an econometrician, which you don’t see every day (I am an econometrician! Or I was, once). It’s a bit porny, to be honest, but ECONOMETRICIAN. I’ll probably just keep going with it, even though it’s a bit spicy for my tastes.
Yes! I have a fruit and veggie garden. Right now I’m drowning in tomatoes and zucchinis. And raspberries!
I just put in a hold on the first book in the Wings of Fire series!
I have never even HEARD the word econometrician, let alone read a book about one.
I want to drown in tomatoes and zucchinis and RASPBERRIES are my absolute favourite fruit!!
It sounds like a lovely visit to the lake! That book does sound interesting and it looks like Indy had a great time fishing! Ahh! I can relate to your mom, my garden never does amazing but I take what I can get and it makes me happy!
She is determined to plant the same things year after year and it always ends up disappointing her, but she keeps at it. And this year: success with the beans at least! I can confirm they were delicious.
Sounds so lovely and I’ve had a parallel experience- we’re spending time at the lake we visit in Maine almost every summer. I’ve read A Place to Hang the Moon and Nine Coaches Waiting while we’ve been here.
Between three families we have eleven children between the ages of 5-12, so I’ve had to be intentional to sneak away for a quiet place to read.
Hope the rest of your week is wonderful!
The second I saw your comment, it made me think of One Morning in Maine!
That is… a lot of kids!!! But also, I bet it’s a lot of fun. Everyone has playmates.
Indy may like the Michael Vey series (my kids loved Harry Potter + Percy Jackson and Michael Vey) and he’s a Christian author, which I know you’ll like 🙂
Ohhh. Thanks for the rec! I just ordered the first book in the series into my library!
This sounds lovely, and like a typical vacation with a kid. It’s fun, and every time you try to do your own thing, you get called back to kid duty. That’s okay! It’s worth it.
I also fought a losing garden battle for years, but unlike your mom, I finally gave up. I want to blame the Florida soil (aka sand) and weather, but there are people who do it. I wasn’t willing to put in that much effort.
Right now I’m reading Strange Pictures by Uketsu. It’s a weird book but I like it!
I kind of want my mom to give up. It’s a lot of work and not always easy on her body to do things like weeding, BUT, also, she is so happy to get a fresh feed of anything from her garden so maybe that’s worth all the tradeoffs?!
Ewwww, taking fish off hooks! Are they barbless hooks and do you toss the fish back in? Just EWWWW!! (And I am impressed that you do this!)
They are barbed hooks, so trickier, but yes it is catch and release.
Indy isn’t impressed and just thinks all mothers do this sort of thing. Where do I apply for the Mom of the Year award. I have taken off DOZENS of fish in the last 24 hours, but this afternoon he took off all of them himself and lived to tell the tale. (He did get a little prick from one spine but, again, lived to tell the tale!)
What a wonderful getaway just with Indy. A little vacation at a lake sounds so magical to me and I live vicariously through all you people with family homes at lakes (looking at you and Lisa).
I haven’t planted a (potted) garden in two years, but I’d like to try again. I think my favorite fresh producer is ripe and juicy tomatoes! Or zucchinis!
I started Yesteryear the other day and I am intrigued.
A perfect tomato—full of flavour and juicy and firm but not too firm—is THE LITERAL best. Or incredible cherry tomatoes fresh from the vine. Chef’s kiss.
Gahhhh these pictures are all gorgeous. This looks simply marvelous. I am also impressed with the fish hook thing! I do not do that. Fortunately Asher (our fisherman) is well-skilled at that- guess my dad and his friends taught him because neither Ivan nor I did! haha.
Is it just me, or in that picture of Indy holding up Percy Jackson does his FACE SUDDENLY LOOK WAY OLDER?!?! Maybe it’s the longer wavy lake hair??! So cute (but suddenly more grown up looking! Sniff sniff).
Ha. Yesterday, we had my cousin over who has four sons and the boys all fished off the raft and Indy did perfectly fine removing ALL the fish off the hooks. So I know he can do it.
IT IS NOT JUST YOU and I am dying a little inside when I’m seeing pictures from last summer and how much younger he looks. And all his pants are above his ankles now!! He is definitely growing.
INDY TREE POSE!!! All is right with the world!!!
Enjoy every minute of your lake time!!! And then tell us all about it!!!
Ha! I took that photo specifically for you. And… you’re right. The post is better because of it <3
What a beautiful place, and Indy looks SO happy. I beileve you when you say he’s living his best life! You win mom of the year for taking all those fish off the hooks!!
Michelle, he is so, so happy. Like every second of the days here he is cheerful… especially if I’m close at hand. That boy is like a puppy. He just loves to be around people. He doesn’t mind silence, but even just sitting and fishing he is happiest if I’m nearby. Which can feel like a burden at times, but really it’s a gift!!
I don’t really mind taking the fish off the hooks, but I will admit getting spiked wasn’t too fun.
Wow, the lake looks gorgeous! It’s so different from the lake my parents live on which has so many docks and watercraft out and about. It looks extra extra peaceful. You are a GREAT mom to take fish off for him. I will not be involved in any fish duties! That is my dad and Phil’s domain. But they are both happy to help and our boys’ attention span for fishing is far shorter than Indy’s (usually no more than 30 minutes). I’ll observe and take pictures but that’s the extent of my involvement! My dad LOVES to fish, though, so he is happy to fish alongside and help bait/take off fish.
I’m glad your trip coincided with calm winds! I love those mornings when the lake is like glass. It instantly slows my pulse!
I do not have a garden. There isn’t really room for one on our small urban lot, especially since it is on a steep hill. I would like to get some raised beds for the back yard but don’t want to spend the money on it just yet (and we are not handy enough to build them ourselves). I used to have a community garden plot at a church about 1/2 mile away but once we have Will, it was just too much to get over there to water/weed/harvest so I gave up my plot. My favorite garden-fresh thing to eat is tomatoes, followed by cucumbers, followed by green beans. But anything from a garden tastes better than what you get at the store!
My parents live on a HUGE lake. There are very developed spots where there is a high density of properties, but they happen to live in one of the least populated areas which is exactly how they like it.
John isn’t here so… I guess I could make him do it, but I secretly enjoy that he still is a bit nervous about doing it. (That said, we had a whole bunch of kids over yesterday and he did just fine taking them off when there were friends to watch).
YES to the slower pulse—literally—when the lake is calm.