a little vacation

Oh man did we need this little break! We left the house Wednesday night and came home Sunday afternoon. To our lake lot, of course! It was amazing. I truly wish that everyone could experience a weekend like we have at our lot. (If you like camping, that is.) I was thinking today that it's weird...when you are camping, doing things like hauling wood, doing dishes, cooking, sweeping, whatever, are enjoyable. Once you get home...they are a pain in the ass. But we really did need this break. It's been a long while since we've had anything more than a weekend away as a family, and we don't have any summer holidays planned, so that might have been it!

So what did we do? Oh man, I wish my words could describe it acurately. I wish I was a famous writer who could weave words into magic. But I'll do my best. :)

We saw a wedding on the beach. Late afternoon. Sun shooting through some clouds. A champagne toast at the end. And then the bride lit a cigarette and shared it with her new husband. hahahahahaha!!! It was beautiful and all class till that part. :) Kassidy loved it. She had never seen a wedding before, and she ran up to the bride and told her she looked like a princess.

An afternoon siesta with my girl.

Dan cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner!!

I learned how to start a fire, finally! I was pretty darn proud.

Fishing. As a family. Dan reeling in his line, and just as it gets to the top, we see a jackfish chasing it, grabing it, and we bring it in. It was SO COOL!

A family swim night. 8pm, Dan gets us loaded in the boat and we go to the private beach. We jump, splash, and shiver. Man, it was cold! But a moment I will never forget.

Collecting clams.

Coming close to a loon. It starts making all these weird, loud noises, coming closer to us every moment. We figured it was trying to be aggressive because it had babies near by. So we didn't stress it out and we took off, and soon after I saw another loon (the daddy?) come and the two of them went off into the reeds.

Quading near our campsite when Dan's quad starts overheating. So he walks back down the path and while we are waiting, Kassidy and I spy a baby bird in the path. It is scared and isn't moving. If Dan hadn't stopped the quad when he did we would have run over it.

Kassidy stayed up till 11pm one night and we all got to watch fireworks being set off on the beach. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The way the lights reflected off the water.

Going on another quad ride to collect deadfall, and as we are driving through the woods we spot two HUGE dear running through the forrest.

Getting to know our neighbours. I actually let down my guard and went to talk to them this weekend, all alone, without Dan or Kassidy with me. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was to me!

At night, complete darkness, except for our campfire and solar lights. Little mice scurrying around our site, bumping into my feet. And bats flying overhead. I love nature.

Pigging out on some S'mores:
Looking for clams with Daddy:

I love how she is hiking up her shorts in this picture, just because she sees her Dad doing it: Beaver lodge in the background:

Cleaning some delicious fish:
The loon that was trying to chase us away. I`d never been that close to one before.

One of the beaver lodges in the lake. You can see all the wood under the water too.
A dragonfly that landed on Kassidy and stayed with her for a while. She thought it was pretty cool.
Checking the fish to make sure it`s under 63cm.
Yup, it`s a keeper!
Our campsite at night. The picture doesn`t do it justice.
Our new baby donkey, Brownie! Kassidy named him. And, of course, proud Mama Emma Brown.