Spring Break--Now with More Snow!

We just returned from a lovely (if too short) trip to the cottage.  My kids' spring break didn't completely overlap with their cousin's this year, but we were able to meet at the cottage in Michigan and spend Easter together, along with my brother and our parents.

Picture of my Gram we keep at the cottage

Is it strange that coming on our second anniversary of buying my grandmother's cottage it still hasn't fully sunk in that it's ours?  (For me, anyway.  Ian's the one who sees the bills and pays the taxes and does annual toilet repairs, so I'm sure reality has set in for him by now.)  When I clean up at the end of a stay I make the beds the way my grandma liked and put things back as if she were visiting next.  Which is probably silly since she would have been the first to say that we should redo things to suit our own tastes, but aside from removing items that make my husband sneeze we've left everything pretty much the way it's always been.  It feels right, and that consistency is part of why we love it.

The cottage is a family place where we can relax and play and talk about our history while making more of it.  We brought along a 750 piece puzzle to do, the kids made up their own games in addition to playing favorites like Settlers of Catan and Set. We read, my mom cooked amazing food, and generally just enjoyed hanging out in a shared space.  The TV stayed off except for movie night when we watched Elf.  (Hey, it's a good holiday movie!  Does it matter what holiday?)

Despite the calendar suggesting it should be Spring, we had snow.  No buds on the trees yet, no flowers.  But no matter!  We were able to walk across the frozen lake and birds were easier to spot.  The interesting thing about the cold up north is that normally we can't see much past the porch for all the green, but with the trees all bare we could see straight across the lake.

We saw lots of wild turkeys and plenty of deer. 

The dog got to run wild on the trails which is always fun to watch.

Dog at a moment when he is not a running blur

We took advantage of the cold by lighting a fire in the fireplace.  Ian's good at that, and used the opportunity to pass along what he knew to Aden.  She helped him find wood to chop and then made her own pile of small kindling.  I loved watching her excitement at being able to keep a fire going!  She was suffering a bit of internet withdrawal so I wonder if the fireplace felt like an interactive glowing screen.

And of course we dyed eggs and hunted for baskets full of goodies.

Aden, Ellora, Mona, and Quinn bunnies.

There were also some fun games made more hilarious by my dad not ever seeming to grasp the rules from one turn to the next, but that really needs to be its own post.

The trip was shorter than we would have liked, but it's also nice to be home.  It's one of the few ways I'm confident that I'm doing something right as a parent that my kids feel that rush of relief and comfort to be back in our house.  They miss being up north, but they happily settled right into their regular routines at home.  I like just hanging out with my family regardless of which house it's in for Spring break.

Now if maybe we could just finally have a little bit of...Spring?