A Month Away

We're back from a month spent on the water.  No internet access (unless we drive into town for breakfast and linger over coffee and the laptop) and somewhat sketchy phone signal makes for a very relaxing getaway!  I refrained, even, from packing any fabric or yarn - no projects. 
But books?  Of course, we brought books!  I am caught up for my August book club meetings and even got through three "just-for-fun" books; The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - all three truly wonderful stories!  We spent hours on the porch rocking chairs -- reading.
And, of course, fishing off the dock:

Playing football (who knew it was Rocco's favorite?!):

We spent one afternoon canoeing down the river.  Having packed a cooler with sandwiches, chips, cookies, and sodas, we decided to get halfway through the 4 hour trip, and past the rapids, before stopping to eat.  As we approached the rapids, however, a swarm of horse flies worthy of a truly frightening horror film descended on us, making it impossible to navigate (well, nearly impossible).  Mark paddled safely through and quickly deposited John into the water before he was devoured by the tyranical little pests.  Kate and I, however, were lodged upon a rock in the rapids.  Frantically swatting flies and paddling to nowhere must have slowed my thinking process as it took several minutes (and Mark yelling "get out!") for me to realize I needed to hop out of the canoe and push us off the boulders.
Then...it started to rain.  Just nice soft rain at first and then...real, straight down rain.  So, we paddled on...and on...and on, until we got home tired and hungry, but happy.  Well, most of us anyway.  Okay, half of us; the "adult" half.

Mornings were spent sipping coffee, listening to the loons (when we were on the lake) and watching the otters play along the shore (when on the river).  Favorite evenings were those spent on a sunset pontoon ride around the Big Island.