Life with Ben

Ben loves to walk out into the lake with Daddy. This time, he let Daddy tickle his toes in the water.

Ben likes hanging out on the pontoon, even though we haven't taken it out of dock yet. The gates keep him corralled, and he like being in the driver's seat. Today he startled himself by hitting the horn while playing with the console buttons.

My new down comforter from Overstock.com arrived today, and Ben immediately gave it his stamp of approval. He grabbed one corner, dragged it into the next room, and fluffed it all up to make a cozy nest.

Having an active 20-month old child around is like a fitness program. Even with a ratio of 4 adults to one toddler, we are all pooped at the end of the day. Except Ben, of course.

Cottage bucket list

Writing (with colored pencils) in the Cottage Book

Playing guitar on the pontoon

Baby on board - the pontoon

And the fun begins! Here's Ben, sporting a cottage bandana and a wet diaper after some wading pool fun with Grandma. Just below the frame - Ben's little feet in Grandma's 30-year-old Jelly water shoes.

Ben and I walk around the property a lot. He points, I go where he points. Here we are standing on my boat launch steps, enjoying the wind in our hair. Of which he has more than me.

We're expecting - Ben!

Kenny and I have spent the last couple days getting ready for the Labor Day weekend. As these photos attest, we are ready for our first arrival - the Balcom family. It's been too long since we've seen Ben, and the cottage is ready for him. All child-proofed for his safety and set up for his comfort. Ken mounted one of his famous parking space signs in the driveway; Ben's room is ready, complete with antique wicker rocker and a basket of books.

Breakables all quarantined behind kiddie gates

"No shoes allowed" play area in the sunroom

Wading pool inflated and filled with cool, fresh artesian well water

The kids got an early start (left Wyandotte at 6:15 a.m.!) so we'll be seeing them soon.

Shed "remodel"

Today Ken took on a BIG project: removing the fiberglass insulation--all droopy and wet under plastic sheeting--from the shed. He dressed up in old clothes, put on rubber boots and gloves, and (at times) even wore goggles and a mask to pull it out, along with the approximately 10,000 staples left behind (his estimate).

Next step is to jack up the back of the shed and repair the flooring, but after today's efforts we already have a much better place to store all our lake and yard toys.

The shed still has the blue crescent moon on the door, which under other circumstances would denote a privy. However, now that we officially have an "outhouse" in the garage, we will have be careful. Don't want anyone to confuse the two.

The gloaming

An impending Ben visit prompts memories of a trip with Adam

It's almost Labor Day, and that means hopes are high for a visit from our one and only grandson. I snapped a few photos for Jen, who no doubt is responsible for packing his kit, so she wouldn't pack duplicate items or miss bringing any she truly needs to function smoothly as a family while visiting the lake. Note that the Moscato in the background is for Mommy, not Ben.

I remember visiting Pat in Toronto when Adam was two. We drove a station wagon I owned during that time, and I packed the back end with everything I would need to travel five hours by car and stay a weekend in Pat's apartment--including a play pen (there were no "pack and plays" back then), clothes enough to survive without a washer/dryer, and of course diapers. Lots of diapers. Adam was two, and his were not the dainty diapers of a newborn.

Things went relatively smoothly on the drive, even though Adam never fell asleep and I was heartily sick of singing "the wheels on the bus go round and round" with Bert and Ernie.

When we came to the international border, the border guard asked the usual questions: name, where I was born, where I was going, how long I was going to stay in Canada. "Two days," I told her.

She looked in the back of the station wagon at the playpen, diapers, and other miscellaneous gear.

"Two days?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

I could tell she was thinking it might be a good idea to wave me over to the inspection station, where I would have to unload the car and submit to further scrutiny.

"Do you have children?" I asked.

"No."

"Well, this is what it takes to travel for with a toddler for a weekend, every bit of it. Ask any parent."

There was a pause, during which I could see her weighing her options. She looked at Adam, by now squirming and arching his back in the car seat. She did not smile.

"Go ahead,"she said. We did.

Adam settled back into his seat, and I punched the cassette player.

The wheels on the bus go round and round....round and round....round and round....

Our vacation buddies, the Faulds

Ron drove up to join Ken at the cottage for some golf on Friday, August 24. Those two always have a good time together - they seem to encourage each other's "best" behavior. (I was down in Dewitt for a visit with Pa and a haircut.) After a picnic for Kristie at Frances Park on Sunday, I collected Jane at Tim and Erika's on Genesee and we drove north in the Subaru.

Ken and Ron met us in the driveway, Ken with a big bandaid hanging off his nose. He had apparently been bitten by a bug and wore the bandaid to cover the spot of calamine lotion. He looked too silly! I convinced him that the calamine-covered bug bite would probably be less hideous than the bandaid and he removed it. (Additional spots appeared on his face later. Diagnosis: poison ivy spread by scratching a bug bite. Ken washed everything - including himself - with Tecnu, so it appears the rest of us may have escaped infection. Knock wood.)

Sunday night we went to the Lodge - and we were the only ones there. I think they closed the joint down after we left.

Great photos of Ron and Jane on the boat, yes? We went out in the afternoon on Monday, stocked with Bloody Marys, beer for Ken, and a picnic basket-full of cheese, salami, chips, and crackers. We made a leisurely circumnavigation of the lake, with one stop to "swim." Jane and Ron had a brief nap, while Captain Calamine Lotion (whose picture I was forbidden to post) steered us toward home.

After the boat ride, Jane shucked the dozen ears of sweet corn we picked up at Uncle John's while I put water on to boil and made a simple salad for our supper.

Before bed, we all had a piece of apple/raspberry pie with strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Should make for some interesting dreams (although Jane's from last night would be hard to beat).

Departures....

Departure day is never a favorite, but the girls will see each other soon (tomorrow is Taco Tuesday) and plans are in the works for a movie night this fall and Girls' Weekend II in 2013.

Below: Shaina maps her route to a 1:30 motion hearing in Ithaca. I told her with that file on her lap, she looks like "The Jetta Lawyer." Awfully glad her red nail polish held up after the bonfire last night.

Thanks for coming, girls; Kenny and I love hanging out with smart, beautiful, motivated, courageous, loving, and funny women.

Sunday Funday

We had a really full day Sunday. After a delicious Sunday brunch at the Lodge, we ran into this famous adventurer in the parking lot.

Lynn Johnson had just returned from a backpacking trip in the Upper Peninsula near Pictured Rocks Lakeshore. Many wonderful photos of her trip on her Facebook page.

Back to the cottage for the next best thing to a boat ride: sitting on the boat at the dock. But then Poppa Kenny arrived, and with a cooler full of all the right stuff, we set out for a lovely afternoon ride.

It was a special treat to have Carin Cryderman join us. Carin is more proof that you meet some of the nicest people in a bar (the Tavern, when she rescued Jonna from being hit on by some bozo while Jonna was waiting for me to arrive).

Carin's blog, "life is but a dream," reflects her talent both for writing and for photography. I enjoyed having her snapping away with iPhone and Nikon, capturing moments throughout the day. Especially loved the sunset-lit photos of the girls.

Notice how she smashes her nose into the viewfinder of the Nikon.

She was also pretty fearless on the frog.

After the boat ride, we found our way back to the Lodge for a dinner of small plates. Hummus and artichoke dip, wings, poppers, and fries.

Although Wally wasn't working, this was a much more typical Lodge visit, seated at the bar, taking over the place with our big, brawling family energy, having more fun than anyone else in the place.

A patch of sunflowers near the Lodge entrance was especially beautiful and photogenic. I really like the unopened blossoms - very artichoke-y and "feed me Seymour."

So many things couldn't be fit into this short weekend, but it was a perfect night for a bonfire. Sweatshirt cool (except for Jonna, whose Hungarian heat made a tank top sufficient) with light breeze blowing off-shore, sunshine for long shadows but enough clouds to make a great sunset.

And lest you should think the girls faded quietly into the sunset....

A breezy, beautiful day

It was a little windy to be on the lake, but the girls sat in the breeze on shore to visit. A key thing to know about their first morning on the lake: they all slept till noon.

I didn't want to wake them up - I think they needed the sleep. Or rather the freedom to stay in bed as long as they wanted to.

I made Basic Pasta Salad to have on hand. Two packages of multi-colored corkscrews, and only ingredients that everyone can agree upon. Other ingredients - olives, mushrooms, onions - can be added individually to taste.

Carin, engaged in a popular cottage activity.

We took Wally a strawberry rhubarb pie from Sweetie-Licious and sang happy birthday to him (it wasn't really his birthday but I'd had a conversation with him a few days ago about another food gift from Joel and Audrey). The Lodge was really noisy so we sat outside on the deck, but our hearts weren't in the Lodge experience - we were thinking about Shaina's impending arrival. So we went home to wait.

Rock garden

After several seasons of trying to maintain plants in the little plot between the two garage doors, I officially gave up and devised a new concept for the area: A rock garden. With general instructions from Tom and Mark on approach, I began by digging out the soil and moving it elsewhere in the yard. Turns out when I pulled off the soil there was already a good layer of sand beneath, so we were able to proceed directly to laying down a layer of drain-field rock. And when I say "we," I mean Mark, who brought the rock in the back of his truck. He also leveled the area, put down weed barrier (that black mesh stuff), and shoveled the rock in.

The excavated bed, ready for the rock layer

Completely forgot to take a photo of the bed with just the drain-field rock in it, but you can get the idea from the shot below.

The rock layer

With the rock layer down, I gathered stones from other places in the yard for the more artistic aspect of the project. I placed some of the larger stones, then tossed medium and small sized stones until a flow and pattern emerged. 

The beautiful (mostly Lake Huron) stones for the top layer

I left a space on the right side for a container planting - like maybe a whisky barrel with some annuals

Now I have a place to put my beautiful finds on display.