Monday. We had a rainy start to the day which meant time at our sandbox and playing in the water. G loves walking around the cottage and we’ve made it a daily activity to water plants with the garden hose. (This takes place regardless of recent rainfall and ‘watering the plants’ is a loose term we use for watering the grass, rocks, ferns, and even the ocassional passerby.) We all had lunch at the cottage then everyone, except Nana and Ba, zipped out to Palmaroy for some blueberry picking and swimming. There were only green blueberries last time we were there, but with all the rain and Sun, blueberries have popped! Even the little bushes around our cottage have produced a few small, toddler handfuls in the past couple of days. We’ve been sure to eat them up as quickly as they appear.  

Palmaroy was a fun couple hours of blueberries (with two dedicated pickers and three determined eaters), some stick collecting, a centipede discovery, a catapillar sighting, and the rescue of a drowning dragonfly. 

Nana and Ba met us at the island for a bite to eat; then we all left for home. G fell asleep in the boat (par for the course) and made a smooth transition into his Pack & Play for nap. Allie and I snuck out on the SeaDoo for a quick run in town. In route, we came across a momma bear swimming the channel (towards the rear side of our property) with her three cubs. I made a quick cell phone call from the SeaDoo to be sure someone was keeping a close eye on MY little sleeping bear cub. (Thanks Nana for sitting in the Little Cabin the entire time we were gone; it was nice to get back and find out that G was safely with his Nana, just incase Momma bear decided that our cottage smelled particularly attractive!) 

With three dogs, three noisy children, and a timely trip to the dump to get rid of our trash today, the likelihood of seeing those bears again is slim. But we’ll be sure to keep eating up the wild blueberries, just incase.

Tuesday. Another trip to town. This time we went to drop books at the library and for their weekly activity. Today happened to be a Home Depot sponsored project: building a bug house. G did a great job with his hammering skills and everyone made awesome little bug homes. (The participating adults may have deserved a bumper sticker on the way out. Something that read: ‘I survived the noise & chaos of 25+ children using hammers on plastic tables’ would have been appropriate.) 

The day improved as we headed back to the cottage. We spent time at our beach, walked around outside, did some bug hunting, and took a quick ride in Aunty Marion’s paddle boat before dinner. 
Only two more days before Daddy arrives! We’re hoping he shows up with yellow squeezies. They’ve been requested quite frequently but we’ve run out! Dad will be impressed with how G’s sentences are getting longer and with his expanding vocabulary. I’m also fairly certain that he’s grown since we left on June 18th; he eats constantly and sleeps like a log. Today he had his first taste of strawberry milk… mmmm. He didn’t request more, but he did drink the whole thing. 

Wednesday. Up and at ‘um! Today was the day we left Parry Sound and headed to Toronto. Uncle Randy flew out at 5pm, and then tomorrow Daddy flies in. Nana, Aunty Allie, cousins, G, and I will be staying the night and exploring the aquarium while we wait for Daddy (Jeff). It was a long car ride to the airport, but things got exciting once we checked into our hotel and started hitting the town. A trip to the indoor playground quickly turned into a nap in the car, a shopping trip to Whole Foods, dinner at Jack Astor’s Bar & Grill, and a whole lot of fun at the Chapter’s bookstore. We returned to the hotel with a few new animal toys, a whole lot of laughs, and a few wired and giggly cousins. Nothing says bedtime like three silly toddlers at a hotel sleepover. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s fun!