Parry Sound departure & extra pics

Jul18

Saturday. After not having a nap yesterday, G was in bed by 7:45pm and ready to roll at 7am. The water was calm and it looked to be a beautiful day as we got out of bed! G was so excited to have Daddy at the cottage! They spent time on the dock and walked all around. G showed him how we fish off the dock, the secret blueberries, how we water the plants, and (most importantly) the sandbox.

Then we packed up lunches and headed to the Cathcart islands. Jeff took the SeaDoo and the rest of us rode in the boat. There was food, some ant stomping/ shouting, some running on the rocks, a snake spotting, and a visit from a green frog.

(G yelling at the ants.)

Back at the cottage we had a quick visit from Karen Reed and her family, then nap (for most of the kids, plus one).

Ba made chicken over the fire pit for dinner (so good!) and we had another round of roasting marshmallows for dessert. G showed dada how it’s done. There was some swinging, some sliding, a quick bath in the sink, then bed.

Sunday. More rain. Boo. G and I got up and met everyone else (the early risers) in the big cottage. There were pancakes being made and playdough creatures coming to life on the table. At about 10:15am, Jeff and I decided that today was the day we’d head home (rather then leave in the Sun on Monday and rush home for work on Tuesday). We packed everything up and left within the hour. It’s always a sad day when you leave the cottage- especially when family is still there and you haven’t had time to say your farewells to everyone.

It’s been another year of laughs and fun, memories, and time spent together. A lot can change in a year, but let’s hope that next summer brings more of the same togetherness. The Underhills will be growing by one new family member (soon)… and how fun it will be to have another little one at the cottage next year.

Now that we’re safely home after a long drive and an overnight in Burlington, VT, it’s time to get back in our old routine and baby prep… after lots of errands and laundry!

Smoothie & breakfast at home after a nice bath and haircut.

Some other pictures of our Parry Sound adventures: (waking in town.)

(Sibling love.)

(Waking through the train station.)

(Underwater at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto.)

(G taking momma for a SeaDoo ride.)

(Momma & baby bump busy hydrating as kids play on the beach.)

(More swimming with cousins!)

Aquarium and Daddy Day!

Jul14

Thursday. We awoke at 8:30 this morning to the excitement of “trucks” being out our window. You can see quite a few trucks from the 5th floor… and when you fall asleep talking about trucks (and everything else you can think of for 45 min), you wake up ready to see trucks. “Ssshhhhh!” we heard from the other wing of our hotel suite. Apparently one little girl wasn’t quite ready to get up and enjoyed snuggling with her Nana (or La la, as she says).

We ate a ‘quick’ Denny’s breakfast and jumped in the car to head back to the airport’s short-term parking. From there we hopped on the UP (train) into Union Station and walked over to Ripley’s Aquarium.

We saw jellyfish, sharks, stingrays, lobsters, eels, whale bones, horseshoe crabs, and lots of fish. The highlight of our visit was definitely the underwater causeway where fish, rays, and sharks would swim overhead.

We had lunch at a new restaurant inside the old train station, walked back over to the UP station and jumped on the train with 4 min to spare before departure. Phew! We cut it SO close that instead of buying the tickets at the station, we decided to purchase them on the train. Fortunately for us (the cute innocent looking mom’s with adorable children), the ticket collector didn’t make us purchase a ticket at all! (Or was it because we looked completely fried? Verdict is still out.)

Back at the airport we waited patiently for Daddy. Yeay Daddy!!! … and then we waited, and waited, annnd waited. There was the recommendation from one little 4yo boy that we just leave Uncle Jeff… but I’m sure he was joking; you never leave a fellow Spider-Man and Toothless (How To Train Your Dragon) fan.

Daddy finally emerged, happy to see us and ready to head to the cottage. We’re hoping that his missing checked bag will be following shortly behind… and until then, let’s hope the weather improves so the only attire we’ll need is a borrowed swimsuit.

(G was excited to see Dada, but had also grown tired of waiting. I’m sure he’ll be more playful once we get to the cottage and have had a solid nap.) Fortunatlely, the car ride was a success…

Friday. Another rainy day, but perfect for baking muffins, reading books, playing with toys, taking a trip to Art In The Park, and stopping at the library to pick up our winning basket! Graham had a phone call this morning from the librarian that he was chosen as the weekly reader in the summer reading program. Go Graham! We chose the Canadian Proud basket with a really cool hat.

Leap Year?

Jul6

Hard to believe that it’s been a year since being in Parry Sound… and since my last blog posts about how G was learning to walk. Fastest. Year. Ever. Now he’s running around the Big Cabin getting into cabinets and requesting pancakes for breakfast.

We arrived on Thursday.

Friday we ran a few errands in town which included a long visit to the library for G & I. It’s a cute library! G built a fairly elaborate block sculpture completely on his own (I was impressed) and then played with trains along the train track that I had set up for him. We also signed him up for the summer reading program (since we’ll be here for 2.5 weeks). He checked out books and said hello to a few other kids that were there. We spent the rest of the day at the food store and prepping the Boat House for everyone’s arrival.

Aunty Allie, Uncle Randy, cousins, Aunty Jen and Ethan all arrived Sat. The weather has been pretty terrible since getting here; that didn’t change for them either.

Sat was Canada Day (July 1). Ba, Nana, G & I rode the boat into town in the morning to take part in the Canadian 150th year celebration. Unfortunately, the festivities were (almost) a total washout. We arrived at 11am- seconds before it started to downpour. Sheets of water blew across the bay and the after-puddles were shin deep in places throughout the parking lot at the town docks.

G was dressed up as ‘Seguin Sam’ and entered into the 18 & under costume contest. (Googling Seguin Sam won’t get you much information about who he actually was. From what I could dig up, Seguin Sam was a local trapper who wasn’t seen in the community very frequently. In the one photo online, he has longish red facial hair and wears a cap. We did the best we could.)

There was one other contestant in G’s category- an 11 month old boy who wore a similar hat and carried a toy chainsaw. We’ll find out soon who most accurately represented Sam. G wore overalls, a white t-shirt, a gray vest, and cap. He had a squirrel perched on his shoulder, some red facial hair, and a 150th star pinned on his vest with a Canadian flag. He was perfect (and adorable)!

We also had a chance to walk across the street and view a fire truck before it rushed off to, what we assume, was a fire somewhere in town.
Allie, Randy, and the kids arrived later that day. Followed closely by Ethan and Jen. It’s great to have everyone here… but we still miss dada!

Sunday seemed to be our clearing day with the wet weather. We had rain showers on and off, but the night sky was clear and the moon finally made an appearance. Ba, G, and I took the new canoe for a paddle after dinner (and saw a young rabbit along the shoreline; our first Parry Sound rabbit). G spent a significant amount of time in the sandbox today and running errands in town. We’ve picked up a wooden kids picnic table which, for $35, seems to be the perfect addition to the Big Cabin. We finally have a kids’ dining table!

Today was also ‘tent raising day’. This task requires help from everyone… although the pregnant lady doesn’t do much besides tie knots, take pictures, and keep the snakes at bay (a serious job not taken lightly).

We’ve named this guy, Waldo. ‘Where’s Waldo’ seems to suit him well. He’s at least 4 feet long and has been spotted twice in one day at various places on the property. We decided that it’s better to have him, a harmless giant, then it would be to host a Rattlesnake. So, we’ll continue to keep an eye out for Waldo each day… and hopefully with the Sun on its way, he’ll venture a little farther into the woods.

Oh…and there were smores and sliding!

Monday. Scrambled eggs for breakfast, a trip to the dump in the boat with cousins and mom and Aunty Allie, boat driving, a worm hunt so we could catch fish off the dock (twice!), castles in the sandbox, dinner with Aunty Marion and Uncle Don, smore making, swinging and sliding, and a bath in the kitchen sink… mixed with a lot of playing with cousins. AND, it was sunny.

Tuesday. Palmaroy picnic and boat trip, canoeing with Aunty Allie & Mabel.

Parry Sound 2017

Jun30

We made it!

Long rides in the car aren’t fun. Period. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how much you like driving. I’ve always dreaded the 12-ish hours from home to Parry Sound, Ontario. As kids, my sister and I would fight about space on the bench seat of our old Dodge Ram van. We’d have emergency pee brakes on the portable toilet. Then there were the super uncomfortable sleeping positions- strapped into the seatbelt, head crooked, body twisted like a pretzel, only to wake up with a kinked neck and find out that you’d only slept for an hour. Ugh. The worst! As an adult the time seems to go by faster, but it got worse before it got better.

Now I get the privilege of driving my kid(s) for 12+ hours. I didn’t realize it when I was young, but this isn’t something a parent really looks forward to either. In preparation I made up surprise goodie bags for when we’d get back in the car after breaks: brown bags with a few small new animal toys or a book and special snack. These surprise bags worked really well (note to self).

G did SO well. The first leg of the trip was about 4 hours. Then we stopped to stretch our legs, make PB & J sandwiches for lunch, and gas up the car. The second stop was at our motel for the night. Day one, 8.5 hours.

G was SUPER excited to get out of the car and see the motel beach on Golden Lake. We spent a little time playing in the sand and relaxing before dinner and then bed.

The next day we got up, drove 3.5 hours and arrived at the marina. It was a quick unload of luggage into the boat and a very wet boat ride to the cottage. But, we made it!

Soon the memory of a long car ride will fade (like a bad dream or a race you initially tell yourself you’ll never run again). By the time we’re ready to drive home, it will have all been totally worth it and the fun of Parry Sound will erase the memory of the car ride.

Crawford Notch, AT Hiking: 32 weeks

Jul7

Sometimes a quick trip to the mountains is in order. Jeff and I set out this 4th of July holiday weekend, to do some hiking in Crawford Notch. The plan was simple- get outdoors, get some exercise, and eventually run into Scott Jurek as he passed by on his Appalachian Trail speed record. My idea, of course, but I’m SO glad Jeff agreed to join me. (I love our adventures together- especially now that we’re a growing family!)

For those of you who don’t know Scott Jurek, here’s an except from a reliable source: Wikipedia-

Kind of rugged.

“Scott Jurek (born October 26, 1973) is an American ultramarathoner, New York Times bestselling author of Eat & Run, and public speaker. Throughout Jurek’s career he has been one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning many of the sport’s most prestigious races multiple times, including the Hardrock Hundred (2007), the Badwater Ultramarathon (2005, 2006), the Spartathlon (2006, 2007, 2008), and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (1999-2005). In 2010, at the 24-Hour World Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, Jurek won a silver medal behind Shingo Inoue and set a new US record for distance run in 24 hours with 165.7 miles (an average pace of 8 minutes and 42 seconds per mile). Jurek has been meat free since 1997 and vegan since 1999.”

In addition to this, Scott is now in the process of setting a new AT speed record. According to Runner’s World, he’s doing this as a last hoorah before retirement (and through the grapevine, perhaps because he’s ready to grow his own family); either way, it’s a BIG feat. How could anyone NOT be be impressed, he’s traveling almost 50 miles per day along rugged terrain. That’s pretty awesome! Currently, the record holder is a woman by the name of Jennifer Pharr Davis. She completed the trail in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes. (I’m a little bummed that Jennifer, a woman, may lose the title, but I’m also really psyched for Scott.) This journey will have taken him over 2,189 miles, through 14 states, and up/down 515,000 feet of elevation change. That’s really incredible!

He’s getting there!

Jeff and I hadn’t really followed Scott’s journey closely until it because apparent that he’d be in our backyard for the holiday weekend. What a fun thing to do- go cheer him on! We padded our day by hiking north of where he had stopped the previous night. We assumed that if we hiked north, he’d eventually catch us that day. (We were wrong.) After parking in Crawford Notch, we took off on the AT towards Mt. Webster. This, essentially, is where the AT opens up into the Presidential range. It was a beautiful day so, again, we figured that Scott would be hustling to get that portion of his journey over with. (Wrong again.)

We hiked about 7 miles total that day- up Mt. Webster and back down again. We met through hikers and talked with others who were hopeful to meet Scott along his path. It was fun! The first few goals we had set were accomplished almost immediately- it was a perfect day and we certainly got exercise.

View towards Crawford Notch

Looking further up Crawford Notch.

Mt Washington in the background.

Rather then hang out and wait for Scott, we opted to head back down to the car. Chances were good that he’d pass us by at some point before we reached the road. (I kept thinking we’d run into him at every turn in the trail.)

But, we made it the entire way back to the car- no Scott.

Rather then run into him, we met up with our friends Joanna and Gabe as they were preparing to hand out “trail magic” with their kids. (How cool are they?! They had baked chocolate chip cookies with their kiddos (to hand out as through-hikers passed by) and their youngest had opted to hand out marshmallows. So cute!)

No Scott.

With an update from Joanna and Gabe that Scott had taken an extended break south of where we had parked- BUT that he was in route and close by- we decided to hike south and see if we could spot him. It had clearly becoming a game of “where’s Waldo… aka: Scott Jurek”, and I was pretty set on seeing him. His support van was parked in the upper parking lot and as we approached, his food was being delivered. We knew the rumors were true- he had to be close. Jeff and I took off up the trail about another 1/2 mile and began waiting with some other people. Jeff was clearly impressed with the waiting…

Jeff loves waiting

I headed farther up the trail (since I’m not so good at waiting around either), but Scott was nowhere in sight.

We hiked back to the car- tails between our legs- and talked with Jenny, Scott’s wife for a little while.

After long enough, Jeff got changed and headed out on his road bike. The plan was that I’d wait a little longer and pick him up along the road on my way back home.

As I headed back the hill to where the support vehicle was parked, I could see that there was some commotion.

COULD IT BE?!

YES IT WAS!

Scott had just arrived as I was walking into the area. It was great to see him, although it had clearly been a rough day. He was surrounded by supporters that had joined his run that afternoon and a handful of people waiting his arrival. He was friendly and super humble. Jenny, his wife, was also sweet and very positive about the whole experience. It was such a pleasure to meet both of them and watch this awesome little piece of, what could be, history in the making.

Go Scott, GO!

It’ll be exciting to watch in the next few days as Scott approaches the end of his journey.

Choose Adventure with a Smile!

May16

Just a friendly reminder that attitude is important. Only you get to choose if yours is a good one, or a bad one. As we celebrate the life of Chad Denning this weekend (his 40th birthday weekend), it seems appropriate to reflect on the energy we bring to any group or outing. Chad’s attitude never wavered and he always remained positive in the face of a challenge. Have fun this weekend, celebrate life, and get outside to play!