The Cove

This is where we've been for the past week.

Stuart and Emilie's camp on the cove of Shadow Lake is a great place for a family with little kids. For one thing, it has shoreline on the side as well as in front, so there's plenty of room for hunting critters, fishing, and playing in the water.  For another thing, the water is surprisingly shallow throughout most of the cove.

On our first day, within 10 minutes of being there, Wayne, Cole, and Heather all had their bathing suits on and were in the water.

I love this sparkly picture.  It's like a dream. Wayne had been anticipating this week for a long, long time. Since last year, really.  He was so happy to finally be there.  It was a week of swimming...

...kayaking...

 

...playing...

 

...and admiring...

Cole taught Heather how to play checkers.  I'm pretty sure he bent the rules a bit, in his favor.

Wayne spent lots of time fishing.

Of course, there were roasted marshmallows...

...and s'mores.

Please note that Cole has marshmallow ALL OVER him, including his ear!

Another day of fishing for Wayne.  We went out in the canoe, still in the cove but on the other side where it's a bit deeper and we hit the jackpot. He caught 5 or 6 fish, and kept four - two yellow perch and two bass. There was a work crew building a new deck on the camp over that way and I think seeing Wayne catch all these fish was the highlight of their day.  Every time he reeled one in, they'd yell, "What'd ya get this time, young fella?" or "That's the record of the day,"  and I'd hear them exchange fishing stories. Wayne was very proud.  I don't think I've ever seen him so happy.

He had them for dinner that night and lunch the next day.

Wayne's friend Ben came over for an afternoon.

And another friend, Jericho.

There were lots of bike rides.  He went on a ride with Wes out on Daniel's Pond Road.

Wayne, Joanie, and I rode to the Old Salmon House.

There were many canoe rides.

 

Wes and Wayne mowed the lawn.

Here, Heather was playing in the canoe, singing "row,row,row your boat."

I just think this is sweet.

There were many loon sightings. There was a trio of them that we would often see.

As we were getting ready to leave on our last day, Wayne said, "This is the worst day of my life."

It may have been the worst day of his life, but someone was happy to have him home.  Spike turned 1-year-old while we were gone.  We'll have to make him a doggie cake and celebrate on the weekend.  Happy Birthday Spike.

After we'd been home a while, I over heard Wayne and Cole playing in their room.  Wayne said, "It was sad to leave camp, but it's good to be home.  Isn't it , Cole?"

Cole said simply, "No."

The Weekend in Review

We kicked off the weekend Friday night with a barbecue. Wes, as t-ball coach, invited the assistant coaches over to celegrate the end of the season.  Heather fell asleep in a chair about an hour before everyone got here.

Sylvia and Peter - Dante, Fintan, and Sophia's parents. Peter was one of the assistant coaches. They also have a 3-year-old son, Gavyn.  I think here Peter is saying something like, "Don't put this on the blog!"

Ravenous boys.

Wes, Bill (Spencer and Jaden's Dad) and Peter gather around the grill. It must the the meat, smoke, fire,  beer, and t-ball experiences that bonded them.

The pool saw a lot of action.

After dinner there was a wiffle ball game - kids against the Dad's . Cathy (Bill's wife, Spencer and Jaden's Mom), Sylvia and I watched from the porch and laughed.

Saturday: two graduation parties. Our first stop was Chelsea's party. I did a terrible job of taking pictures, mostly only got my own kids, but here's the woman of honor.

There was a football game - kids against Dads. I'm beginning to think Dads are just giant kids.

Heather thought this swing was great.

Then on to the next party at Alex's house.

Heather and Cole enjoyed the cupcakes.

Asa has grown so much since we saw him last summer.

Pool time.

Wayne's being goofy.

You can't see him, but Dan is behind Cole, motoring him along. 

 

Sunday: Cole and Heather slept a little late, but Wayne was up early. When he got up, he stood in front of me rubbing his eyes and the first words out of his mouth were, "I can't wait until tomorrow so we can go to Stuart and Emilie's camp." Then he went down to the basement to set up this electric train that Alexander had given them yesterday.  He decorated it for Father's Day.

Heather and Cole had each made one of these key holders at the library for Father's Day.  This is the one Heather made.

Wayne can't get his mind off going to the lake. He drew this picture of himself in the kayak.

Congratulations to Chelsea and Alex on their graduations. Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's. Now I've got to go finish packing.