Cottage - Summer 2015

Our annual trip to the cottage has come and gone signalling the end of summer and whispering that the beginning of fall is near. It's so hard to be sad about the end of summer when fall is there to give you a warm hug and a hot apple cider. What I will miss are the days filled with splashing in the tiny pool, evening strolls with the girls and bedtimes that happen when the sun goes down. I will miss the summertime cottage atmosphere. Looking at that beautiful water. Hearing the waves crash. Watching the girls explore familiar territory in a different way than the years past. While we were out there, it dawned on me,

we will never have another summer like this one again ever!

The girls will be older - different by the time next summer comes. They won't want to do the same things they wanted to this summer at the cottage. We don't get to repeat the way they are NOW ever again. Gosh...sometimes that sounds like music to my ears seeing as sitting down ever is pretty much out of the question and the phrase, "I DON'T WORK FOR YOU" comes out of my mouth at least 2x a day. But still...it makes me sad that these moments NOW will never be repeated. Yes, I would love to sit here and tell you I "enjoy every moment" but that would be a huge lie. Life is difficult, crazy and hectic with 2 very small children (who are pretty irrational at the end of the day).

I will say this though, there is not one single day that passes that I don't take a little minute to look at my girls straight in the eyes, wait for them to smile at me, go really close to them inhaling their sweet little scents and think about how much every fibre of me aches to have them stay just they way they are at that moment. I think of a time when I thought they were not possible. I can't even comprehend how I got to be so lucky? What did I do to deserve these 2 beauties - the most perfect children made just for us? So yeah, I do enjoy those moments. If I lived like that 24/7 nothing would ever get done. I would be a babbling, puddle of lovey mush on the verge of tears all the time. That doesn't sound productive. I think I'm going to stick to enjoying most of the moments but not "every" one. And when the girls grow older I will have an endless number of photos to bring me right back to all those good lovey minutes.

It's a wonder to me how the exact same spot can look so entirely different every time you look.

A quick stop to pick up some of our favourite local wines. Oxley and Crew wineries.

Exploring Kingsville. Jack's Gastro Pub and The Butcher of Kingsville. Both amazing and definitely worth a drive out.

I really made a conscious effort to leave my phone where it wouldn't distract me. It paid off. I read books. Yes, books - plural. 

No babies were harmed in the taking of these photos. 

Our annual family selfie. I am obsessed. We took one last summer and the summer Nola was still cooking in my belly. The progression of my sweet little family makes me so happy (like jumpy clap happy - and I am not a jumpy clapper). I couldn't decide which was my fave so have 'em all!!!! 

Sister love fest. I'm dead - actually DEAD.