Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

I'm back.

Here I am.

In "civilization".

I've been here for 4.5 hours.

It has rained already.

No one has suggested that we make supper and, more importantly, dessert.

No one has asked me to help them work on the puzzle.

*sulk*

Andrew had to drag me, kicking and screaming, away from the cottage. Here are the high points:

1. The lake was like bathwater all week. I swam so much, that I may actually be water-logged.

2. It only rained on two days and when it did, Mother Nature at least felt compelled to entertain us with a good lightning storm. We stayed up on Saturday night, all the adults and the kids, sitting in the cottage with all the lights out, OOOOOOhing and AAAAAAAhing over the lightning.

3. I got over my horse-fly bites (Benadryl = my personal saviour; my foot was comically swollen).

4. We had a couple of campfires. My youngest nephew, Ben, and I gathered the most firewood for the second fire. We would totally kick butt on Survivor, but he's only 6 and 3/4. We toasted marshmallows and made s'mores.

5. We picked blueberries yesterday and I brought a litre of them home.

6. I actually have a bit of a TAN (I'm usually pasty white).

7. Pippin (my four-legged "nephew") learned to swim AND HE LOVED IT. He started taking flying leaps off the dock about mid-week. We had to coax him OUT of the water whenever we decided we had had enough. The downside: Pippin drank too much lake water and had dreadful farts for a few nights. Gag.

8. Going for walks: The kids rode their bikes while their mom and I walked. My SIL and I walked almost every day.

9. My in-laws left my SIL and I alone at the cottage for 3 days. My SIL and I sat up at night doing what we love to do: reading. No beer, no wine, just books. Intoxication at its finest.

10. Two nights ago while preparing for supper, my SIL suggested our dessert BEFORE we even decided on what we were having for supper. I told her "Suzanne, Have I ever told you how much I like the way you think?"

11. I got to go water-skiing and being the show-off that I am (I need the niece and nephews to think their aunt is cool), I pulled out my old ski tricks: Skiing with the rope between my knees, slalom skiing and dropping one knee into the water. (I didn't do these things simultaneously, mind you). Yes, I am paying for the antics today with very sore muscles, but I was the super-star for a few moments.

12. My 10-year-old niece, Rachel, got up on the skiis for the first time - ON HER FIRST TRY! I sat with her in the water and held her in position until the boat pulled her up and although I would like to pretend it was my stellar coaching skills that got her up there, the kid is a natural. Yay Rachel!

13. My husband got away from the studio for a few days and we got to hang out! Yay!

14. We sat out on the deck and ate strawberries (that we picked) and cream almost every night while we watched the sun set.

15. We visited with our New Brunswick family members.

I have lots of photos of the trip, but they are all on film. I have these great ones of the kids trying to get at the pie we made (STRAWBERRY CREAM PIE - wipe that drool off your chin).

Now, if you'll all excuse me, I've got laundry and some serious planning to do. I've got to figure out how I can retire to Grand Lake before I'm 40.