Great things that happened today

1. My husband is talking to to me again even though I was very mean to him and started his day off on the wrong foot.

2. My inlaws finally have high speed internet and can read this blog!

3. Madison went to play at the neighbor's house WITHOUT Nathan. He is starting to loose interest in playing with a 7 and 5 year old so this was a big step for her.

4. Nathan let me know that he needed items for his upcoming football season BEFORE I had to remind him on Sunday Night! By the way, he is now the same height as I am.

5. Both children asked what jobs to do today instead of having to be told.

6. House is clean.

7. Gracie hasn't had an accident inside in several weeks. I can't even remember when!

Sometimes I feel like nothing was accomplished in a day. Today was a day of thoughtfulness and thankfulness. I need to take time to do this more often.

Make it a great day!

Blessings,

Final Day of houseboating

Here is a picture of a tired girl! She obviously slept about the same as I did! We decided that it would be good to get back to Egan Marina by noon so that the 8 hour drive to Lapeer and 10 hour drive to Kalamazoo would be doable. So, we needed to pull off the dock by 9a.m. and that is exactly what we did!

In looking back, there were great highlights of the trip:
1. Madison and my mom planned a theme for everyday of the trip: Entertainment Day, Mystery Day, Farm Day, etc. It was fun to watch each of them unveil the activities for the day!
2. We had no phone, computer, or internet for 4 days. It was an adjustment but it was good to not have an option to escape into cyberworld.
3. Although the accommodations where less than great and those white plastic chairs where my arch enemy by the end of the trip, it was fabulous to have time to reconnect with the family.
4. Lots of fish were caught. Nate and Madison caught over 100 fish. We just threw them all back since none of the older folks wanted to cook or clean them! It was so much fun to watch the smiles on my children's faces as they reeled them in.

5. It has been 15 years since I was last on a houseboat; Stan and I were just married and he was a nervous wreck about grad school. Now we are established in our community, love our jobs, have two beautiful children. Not bad for 15 years of work! But, the houseboat thing could be another 15 years until I do it again. But it was totally worth it. And I am sure the memories will get better as time passes!!

Make it a great day!

Pictures of Houses on the lake

I took some pictures of some dream homes that we saw this week. I really don't want to live on a lake but I pretended and found some pretty houses!

Day Three of Houseboating

Day three was exactly like day two expect for this:


Notice the choppy waves which just increased in intensity as the night progressed. I found it hard to sleep with the constant sloshing and rocking. Stan though it was the best night of sleep ever!

Day Two of Houseboating

Just to reiterate my point of what boaters do each day, here is a pictorial feel for day two.

Mom enjoying the beginning of the day.


This is what I encountered on my way to the shower.


The next 4 hours of the day:

The Big Family Trip

Nathan got hooked on fishing last year with his Grandpa. He looked forward to spending the day on a boat but it didn't happen enough according to him. In order to solve this problem, he crafted a Christmas wish list that was foolproof....he thought. #1. Boat #2. Boat Lisence #3. Boat cover

I always try to get my children ONE of their top three gifts. He obviously had me all figured out! So, as December 25th approached, and I knew that I couldn't win, my parents called me up and said that they would like to give us all a Houseboat Trip in August but really pretend to give it to Nate for Christmas. My parents equaled my heroes. Christmas was saved once again!!

Last week, we went on the big trip. We were set to pull out of Omemee, Ontario, at 9:30a.m. on August 11th and come back on the morning of the 15th. Four days of boating bliss. How shall I begin to tell you the adventures....

Day one:
Our day one actually started the day before since the boat was a hefty 10 hour trip from Kazoo. We gave the dog away to a friend for the week, and loaded the family up along with bedding, snack/breakfast foods, drinking water, and lots of Caffeine Free Diet Coke. We (Mom and I) decided that it would be wise to cook no meals on the boat because firing up the propane grill or cook top sounded like too much work. It was a good choice. And we were on vacation! Who wants to cook!!

We spent the night in a lovely hotel outside of Toronto so we packed up and moved out by 8 a.m. that next day. I enjoyed my last fountain diet coke from McDonalds as I drove through some very pretty Canadian countryside. I couldn't get a picture of the scenery because I was driving, drinking diet Coke and trying not to fall off the narrow roads. SO, just imagine it looked like this:

We arrived at Egan Marina around 9:40. My parents actually passed us (they drove separately with my Uncle Jon) at an intersection and so we followed them down the ever narrowing winding dirt road. My dad jumped out of the car, looked at me, and said "Well, it's not exactly what we expected" and then moved towards the boat. It was at best, very well used. Some people would probably not like it too much. I am one of those people that tries to make the best out of most things....but this adventure was testing me!

We ran to town (population 1100), picked up a non resident fishing permit ($33.00!!), and got lunch to go at subway. Canada doesn't have the $5 sub special so I was very sad. Loaded with my meatball sub, 24 cans of diet coke, and a 5lb bag of M&M's, I knew I could handle anything that might come my way. The kids were extremely excited and seemed to overlook the "rustic" feel of the floating trailor. We pushed off around noon and the adventure began.

Let me take a moment to explain the typical day of a boater:
6:30 am (or whenever the sun came up) Rise and shine
6:32 am Decide whether you can make it to the marina bathroom or just go on the boat.
6:35 am Take a shower or jump in the lake
7:00 am Realize that you forgot to brush your teeth while you were in the real bathroom.
7:01 am Pour a little drinking water in a cup and swish and spit off the bow or the stern.
7:05 am Pray that someone says they are going to "go up to town" for breakfast
8:30 am Walk a half a mile back to the boat and get ready for the "trip of the day"
8:45 am Take this little poker thing and push off the dock (that was my only official job)
9:00-1pm Eat, walk around, sit on the decks, drink a DC (diet coke) eat more, walk around, lay in the sun on the top deck, get hot, come back down, drink a DC, time for lunch, make sandwiches for people, eat, sit on the deck, steer the boat while Dad stretches, sit on the couch, sit on the decks, etc.
1:15-2:00 Arrive at your destination: Decide whether you are going to stay on the boat till dinner, fish, swim, or check out the town.
5:00-start to walk to dinner destination.
5:15 Eat again and pay for it this time.
7:00 Take a shower or fish or read.
9:00 Mosquitoes come out so everyone dashes inside and makes up thier beds and then tries to fall asleep.

And there you have it...a typical day in the life of a boater.

For our first night we stayed at a lovely Marina (Gordon's Yacht Club) that had electricity and shower/bathroom areas. It was along the Trent Severn Canal...Bobcaygon was the town's name.
I hadn't found my camera yet, so I am not sure that I have any pictures of it.

We did not have any locks to go through the first day. I will explain that tomorrow when I get to day 2!!

The vacation is over.

In blogging time, the vacation is over. The unannounced, unplanned, unpredictable blogging vacation is over. It has lasted since May 12th and I think it is time to get back to writing. Sally, my sister, checks this blog everyday....sometimes twice a day. Let's see if she is still checking!! Post a comment Sal, I dare you!!

We are getting ready to depart for boating vacation on Monday. I am very excited and full of fear at the same time. There will be seven of us: Stan, my mom, my dad, my uncle, Nate, Maddie, and myself all on a 42 foot floating pontoon boat. Who, am I kidding.....it will be awesome. I can't wait.