Canada at the Cottage

Two crazy boys.
One cute girl.
Canoe.
Bear and Frog.
Poozie and Paddle.
She loves hot dogs. I hate hot dog breath.
Scotty and Sawyer
SH and SH. :) get it?
scowling... always. :)
Kids piled into a boat.
Kids piled on a beach.
Me and Poozie.
How they make toast in Canada. See torch?
Loving her life jacket in the canoe.
Girls in a canoe.
Show me your cheese!
Scotty on fire.

Canada.

Mostly we spent our time at the cottage with Paul's parents. Andrea LOVED the sand and water and boats and spent most time hanging out on the little beach. There is a strict life jacket rule at Gramma's house though and Andrea surprisingly accepted it (usually), only because she REALLY wanted to play in the water and sand. A few days after being there she would ask for her life jacket by tapping her chest and saying "Uh-oh". :)

Scotty was much more into the water than last year... He loved working on the "chocolate factory" and would spend hours filling up a bucket with water and then taking it to the top of the beach and then dumping it in the top of the "chocolate factory", which was a bunch of canals and damns that the water would form or break through. He made some big arm muscles this year. :) ...and I have no idea why it's called the "Chocolate Factory", probably because the sandy mud is brown like chocolate, but if a kid decides another kid isn't working hard enough hauling sand or water then they can be fired. Apparently there is a quite the system there with a hierarchy... It is kinda Lord of the Flies-ish.

Sierra was more daring this year with the water too. She did the jet skis with Auntie Red and took a turn being pulled on the tube. She wasn't even too traumatized when the tube she was riding by herself was so light that the wind picked it up in the air and flipped her right off on into the lake. :)

Michaela had a good time as well, but often had to be forced into the water before she would start enjoying herself. My oldest is getting a bit old I guess, but she was great helping Andrea in the sand. Too bad they don't stay little and enjoy digging endless holes in the sand. :) She liked the tubing though... and the jet skis.

It works out perfect in Canada because all the kids are the same age and my kids really get along great with Paul's brother's kids who are 10, 9, 9, and 6.

Madison and Michaela are joined at the hip. Seriously... they never leave each others side. They are same age, I think he is a few days older... but they are just fun to watch. She gets along with him so well and they really like doing the same things. :)

Sierra plays with the twins, Tate and Gwyn... They are all nine and all three of them are great together. I can only think of a few arguments they had and for three girls who spent that much time together that is really amazing! :)

Scotty and Sawyer. :) Sawyer is 6 and last year Scotty annoyed him to no end. :) This year they loved each other!! Phew! Scotty has grown up quite a bit over the past year and doesn't yell as much and now he can share and take turns and Sawyer appreciates that. :) They did everything together too, but they had a limit of about 36 hours. After that they need a break because they are so focused on doing exactly the same thing as each other during those 36 hours. Same breakfast, same bed, same chair, same condiments on hot dogs, same pillows, same toothpaste, and I-like-it-if-he-likes-it... After that 36 hour mark they need to be apart for a while some some "alone" time, but they really were extra cute this year.

Andrea. Everyone loves her and thinks she's cute. I'm hoping SHE learns to LOVE EVERYONE next year so I can leave her more freely and escape from some "alone" time of my own. :) I did escape a few times though.

With Paul's brother and their family we did a lot of kid swapping... I'd trade Sawyer for Madison and that way all the kids would have their "best friend" with them. We stayed some nights at a hotel near their farm house so in between catching frogs and riding dirt bikes at the farm and swimming and air hockey at the hotel the kids were kept in a continual state of fun.

Paul's sisters kids are in the same age too, she also has four. That's why I had to have Andrea... so I could have four and fit in with the rest of them. Of course I actually had to be pregnant FOUR times. :) Both his brother and sister both have a set of twins who every year I have trouble telling apart until the last week. Sierra was mad at one of the boy twins and yelled, "Stop it Cole or Dylan!!!" :)

With his sisters family the kids are the same age too... All the girls want to follow Olyvia around, who is 14 and therefore super cool. The other three are boys and if Sierra had her choice she'd pick girls to play with but she and the twins Cole and Dylan chased each other around plenty. The other boy Alex is the same age as Michaela and Madison and they played together out on they kayak and inside too. Alex was great with Andrea and especially Scotty... letting him be included with the bigger boys and making sure nobody picked on him. :) It's just nice that all the kids play so great together and are all in the same age range.

If 12 kids weren't enough. My mUm's sister, Iris, and her husband Bill were there. Their daughter Tracy also came and her family: husband and two boys 10 and 12. So 14 kids and 11 adults later we were quite the full house, so full that we overflowed into the cottage next door, an RV, and some tents. :) It was nice to hang out with them for an entire week because I really got to know them and the kids. It was also Uncle Bill's 85th birthday and I've decided he's on my list of random favorite relatives. :) We got a chance to hang out and talk and do some shopping together and it was fun. Lots of people, lots of craziness especially at night when the famous question arises... the question that we all ignore all day... "Where is everyone going to sleep?" ...and it's not as easy as "Sleep where you slept last night", because everyone needs a turn in the fun beds... and the fun beds change on an hourly basis.

That's all for now, but since Andrea is sleeping at completely the wrong time I'm sure I'll be up all night again. Last night she woke up at 1:00am from her two hour nap and partied all night with me. She and I finally went to bed at 6:00am. I forced myself awake at 1:00pm and I let her sleep until 4:00pm. I know it didn't help to let her sleep that long but a happy Poozie is easier to deal with than a miserable Poozie. I'll deal with the jet lag gradually I guess but she was so tired from traveling that I felt she needed to catch up first. Of course now it's 1:15am and and all the girls are awake. UGH!

Whoever reads all of this... like really reads it... they must love me. :)

Canada NOT at the cottage pictures next... :)