The Kids are Away Playing!

Yup, Baxter, Ridge, Elsie, and Kenya went up to the cottage this weekend to play in the lake, while I stayed here to get some writing done (I'm under book contract, and the manuscript is due at the end of this month).

How I wish I could be playing up there with them!

The picture above is of Ridge and Elsie in the lake returning with a floating kong Don threw for them. It's my favorite water picture of any of our gang, but it's two years old. :o(

Not to worry: Don took his REALLY GOOD camera (unlike my point-and-shoot) to capture the kids' water retrieving adventures digitally so I can share them with you.

Oh...and I when I talked to DH on the phone this morning and asked him about Kenya's response to the water (remember, this is Kenya's first adventure at the lake), he told me Kenya is not only a natural swimmer with smooth, powerful strokes, great eye for retrieving, and no fear of the water (don't puzzle over that comment; not all Labs swim well), she's a dock-jumper, too.

First time down to the water, Kenya spontaneously leaped from the dock--something none of the other three will do - or have never done so far in the years we've been taking them. Baxter, Elsie, and Ridge prefer to wade in and then swim.

Apparently not Kenya! Ahhh... the Little Bean. :o) That's my girl! Gotta love her bold, adventurous spirit.

FYI, here are just a few shots of the cottage and the lake taken last summer:

The photos below are, in order from top to bottom,

1) The cottage's back entrance;

2) the shoreline and our little fishing boat;

3) The dock, north side view;

4) The dock, south side view;

5) The cottage front (lake side)

6) The lake from the top of the bank above the dock (and yes, this is the dock the Kenya Bean is jumping off!)




































While waiting for the gang to return and me to post new photos of their water adventures, you can view Baxter, Elsie, and Ridge swimming at the lake in 2005 by visiting these archived articles:

Home from the Cottage

Photo of three swimming

Ridge in LilyPads

Baxter in LilyPads

Anticipating the Best or Worst?

Frantic or Focused?


Or you can view their 2006 water adventures in this archive:

We've Been Playing at the Cottage

That's what I'm doing while I swelter here in my not-yet-air-conditioned home (air conditioning will be installed in just TWO weeks!). I'm sitting here writing (or trying to write, anyway), wishing I was with DH and the canine kids romping at the cottage.

Oh well.

Speaking of wells, our well pump broke yesterday leaving us with no water here, but it was repaired in just a few hours. We just can't drink or use our water now until the chlorine they treated the well with after repair - apparently a new regulation - clears from the system. That'll be another day or so.

The cottage is looking more attractive all the time.

Well... I guess I need to get back to my book manuscript. Yuk.

'Til next time,
Joan