Love for the Family Cottage

Alas...a post that is about something!!! That actually took quite a bit of work to organize. Impressed??? Oh...how I am going to miss the days where I have only 1 baby who takes a 2 hour nap everyday. I am relishing in the moments of peace, while I only have one little girl on my hands. How long do you think it will take for me to get them on the same nap schedule? HAHA!!! I can't even take that question seriously!

Anyways...

Our cottage vacation has come to an end again for the year. It has become something of a tradition for us to visit the cottage every August. We look forward to it every year and it always proves to be the most perfectly low maintenance, relaxing family vacation ever.

I am such a sucker for the water. Any water. The sea, beach, ocean, lakes...anything. Even puddles make me want to be a kid again and jump in. The sounds, the smells, the colours. I absolutely LOVE it in all shapes and sizes.

Hazel is a huge fan of the water as well. She loves the feel of the sand in her fingers and toes (and mouth....yuck! We don't get to spend as much time down at the beach as we would like on account of the little girl who once she starts, can't seem to stop).

The beach made a perfect place for lots of shadow play, which Hazel adores.

Almost every night the moon would hang just perfectly, casting a bright reflection on the water like a shiny blanket of warmth.

We had some visits from friends and family. Unfortunately, I don't have pics of all the visitors. I just captured a few...

A last minute visit from some of our NICU fwends...

Where this adorable situation...

quickly turned into this...and I mean quick. Good times!!!

Even Nico's fwend Molly came to play.

Some grown up games...

Ice cream treats...(a lot of ice cream treats)

And the absolute BEST part...all the mommy and daddy time. Truly being able to be 100% present and in the moment as a family. Putting aside the "to-do" lists, nesting projects, work, household chores for a whole week is a gift I don't ever take for granted. There is nothing better than having no agenda, time schedule, or expectations. Wake up and do what feels good at the time. Great times!

Last but certainly not least - THIS FACE - I kinda love her, just a bit...

Until next year...I will hold on to what memories we made with Hazel this year. I can't wait until she is old enough to remember these times and memories.

Let the nesting begin!