Cottage Log entry

The weekend shoots by and at the end, I realize that I have not yet made an entry to summarize the w.e. at Houghton Lake.

GMa, GPa, B, A and family arrived near the same time Fri night. They had dinner then came back to the cottage to ready it for a busy w.e. The weather for this last hurrah for the summer season was to be spectacular. Highs in the 80's and no sign of rain.

M, E, MHM and I had to journey north Sat. morning as I had to close down our facility for the w.e. I got home about 3am and got right to bed. I woke a bit after 8and was energized enough that we left the house after 10am. The traffic was medium but moving without difficulty. I was looking forward to a cookout I set up earlier in the week. The combination of good weather and grilled food is really nice.


When we arrived, we got settled in quickly. I made sure that M would be able to get out to some Garage sales which she did for about an hour and a half?? She came back with a couple treasures for the kids. Uncle B took E, L and GMa for a ride which was again a really big hit. E really loves it and makes the statement several times during a ride that "this makes me very happy". It makes me happy to see her smile and giggle like that!


Time lapse to 4:30; we got a call from D__ then D__&W__ so we knew for sure someone was coming. The burgers were seasoned, the dogs thawed and a bowl full of beans ready for a nukin. We're on! Every thing really turned out well for this. D___&J__ showed up right about 5 and we had plenty for a full blown feast. To cap off the meal, we had a Birthday Cake fir GPa who turned 81 on Fri. Everyone did a real nice job on their respective rolls. The kids loved it, and someone other than M or I was paying lots of attention to MHM. As the sun was setting early as it does at Labor Day, people started for home and now the w.e. was all our own for family.


Sunday morn was a rough one, both E and MHM had bad nights so I was happy to get up and get it started. I went to church with GMa and GPa which only lasted an hour so when I go home early, M was surprised but ready to make egg sandwiches... Yum! E was ready for fun but L and J were with A's family. We made sure to keep her interested with a coin walk and also 3 Geo caches. Two she was awake for and one she was not.

After a dinner of beans and rice, we played outside for a while then headed in for a mostly early night. I had snuck out earlier to get some ice cream so when E was abed, we broke it out and had a nice evening treat with left over cake.

Monday; Labor day started off nice but with promise of being busy. Right from the start, E was asking about going to the beach. We had a couple of plans but changed it to fit for her. E had also requested a ride in GPa's old car so GMa, E and I went down the lake shore. E really really loves this! When we got back, M had most everything ready so we piled in and went to the beach. E loved it as per usual, the sand and the water. We splashed for quite some time as M, MHM and GMa stayed on shore. MHM did some digging in the sand and seemed to have a good time. E loved building castles and scooping with the shovel a guy with a metal detector had given her. We went out to touch the "Buoy" of which she stated"Buoy's are to warn of danger under the water to keep you safe." Smarty!

Upon arriving back at the cottage, the cousins were back for a few hours so they had fun for quite some time chasing each other through and around the woods.

GPa and B did quite a bit of fall clean-up so to have the garage ready for the winter. The old car is now stowed along with the boat (which never got out this year) and other summery stuff. The cottage will get little use after October which is a bit sad...

The rest of the day was getting ready ourselves to go but at about 5pm, we did decide to do a couple more Geo-caches with GMa. while south of H.L. we saw a Hawk, Coyote and a young deer which ran directly in front of the car of course.

As we left after 8pm, I think that it was indeed a spectacular w.e. at the cottage. Thanks again cottage for a nice though short summer season.