one with nature...

another long weekend is upon us (canada day on monday) and we're off to join dylan's aunt and uncle at their cabin about 3 or 4 hours away. dylan only texted me on wednesday evening asking if i wanted to go, so we were frantically running errands yesterday buying things here and there that we needed.  it's been years since dylan has been and i know he's really looking forward to it. i'm used to camping (on campgrounds, though) and going to cottages, but i've never been to anything this remote. once the car is parked, we have to take a 30 minute atv ride through the forest to get to the cabin. and apparently you see all types of animals and hear wolves howling at night. and the water? not a chance i'll be going in! the only downfall in my opinion, is the fact that there's no working toilet. i'm sorry, what?! there's an outhouse and a little potty inside for night time use. let's just say i have a very tiny bladder and i won't use outhouses. so this should be fun. i like campgrounds because, you know, washrooms!

making a packing list + a latte at a cafe yesterday morning. 

if we've left on time, we should be about half way there by now. i will be one with nature. i will be one with nature. i can do this...right?

camping is 'in-tents!'

get it? camping is intense? in tents?? yes? good. my friend has a shirt with that on it.

well, basically i have nothing new to say, and i certainly haven't done anything exciting lately. but, i've been thinking about camping. and how i can't wait to go again this year. so, lets look at some pictures from previous years, shall we?

cottage 2007. relaxing on the dock.

me and dyl camping trip, 2007

again, 2007. tree hugger.

 2009. sun kissed cheeks.

 now we're getting messy. 2009

queen of the campground. 2009

 care free, cottage 2010.

it's clear i like to make faces with my food. and eat things on sticks. mostly marshmallows and spider dogs. obvi.


hopefully we can find a time to go this summer!

and we named her ginger...

on our last day on the beach, dylan went to go try to start a bbq for some lunch. then all of a sudden i see this friendly looking dog trotting towards us 3 girls. then dylan comes back and he's like "look what i found" and we're all like, "umm WTF!?" but i totally fell in love immediately. i randomly started calling her Ginger, because that's what she reminded me of and it looked like it could be her name. she knew all dog commands and oddly enough she came when we called her Ginger, and not to any other name. maybe i was right? pretty sure she was a goldendoodle. she obviously belonged to someone because she was groomed, knew tricks, good teeth, fed well and so on..

meet "Ginger"-our dog for an hour!

 asking her some questions, "who are you?" "what's your name?" "wanna be my friend?" "can i take you home?"

 besties immediately

just chillin' with us..

i seriously miss this dog so much!! haha i now want a goldendoodle and i have such high expectations-to be all friendly, calm, smart, and PERFECT! lol her and chloe would have been great friends. after a while, she kind of wandered off to the one cottage on the beach; it must have been their dog.  
see ya next year Ginge!

i'm going on a picnik...

sunday morning, much like the previous morning, we got up early and headed the beach-wasaga beach this time! it was about a half hour drive from where we stayed. the last time i had been there was after high school graduation. there's volleyball tournaments, beer tents, shops, restaurants and a bunch of other things all along the strip.

the beach got very crowded very quickly! temperatures were reaching the 40s and the heat was pretty unbearable at times...

ahh, i'm topless! (not)

walking along the strip...

smores time!! i was waiting all weekend for this! 

so so so so damn good. i could have eaten a tonne, but i was well aware i would be in a bathing suit again the next morning haha

 monday morning-very upset it's our last few hours. we packed up the car and 4 of us went to the private beach, while the others went back to the public one.

ahh so relaxing

having some fun-not a single other sole was on the beach this day..it was grand

caught mid run..happy even though the sun kept going into hiding..

overall, it was such a good getaway! good friends, good food, good beaches, great weather, great times! however, the last day i forgot to wear sunscreen (even though i'm fair, i only wear Hawaiian tropic 4 and never burn). once we left the beach (i fell asleep by myself on the towel for a good 1/2 hour) and got in the car, the pain started. i thought i was just a little burned, but in quite a bit in pain. my back and tops of my thighs (where i missed the sunscreen the previous days) were almost on fire. when i got home and looked in the mirror-sheer horror-OMG i don't think i had ever been that red in my life! i took a cold shower and it looked like i was wearing a perma-white bikini haha i seriously couldn't even walk up stairs; actually i could barely walk in general. luckily, i kept my face covered with a hat, so that just tanned and didn't burn. and thankfully, 3 days later, the burn has turned into a nice tan, for the most part. **never forget sunscreen!!**

private beach awesome-ness

saturday morning started around 9am..we got up and had some mimosas..mmmm ;)

as the cork flew out, i got scared, therefore i jumped and a blurry pic was the result....

our awesome view (we stayed in collingwood, in the winter all those hills are used for snowboarding/skiing etc)

the cottage that we stayed with had a private  beach, mind you it was a 15 minute drive-which was a little odd to me..but it great. there were only a few other people on the 'beach' (i say that in quotes because there was no sand lol) and the water was so shallow, you could walk over a hundred feet and it would still only be at your knees.

actually, only 5 out of the 18 of us went to the private beach, the others went to the public beach..but i think ours was better ;)

clearly loving life at this moment

cheers!--home from the beach for dinner

corn is absolutely necessary when camping/cottaging

we also played another bocce ball tournament, but sadly, dylan and i didn't too far this time..boo to that. then we all hung around on the balcony and did cottage-y things until it was time to hit the bunks (yes, we all slept in double bunk beds haha)

all of the girls of the trip...notice lola sleeping on me..so cute! *i'm a blonde in a sea of brunettes*

cottage life

on friday, we headed our for some alcohol and groceries and then tried to pack 4 people and all their stuff and all our food and chairs, and coolers, and a bunch of other stuff, into a small car...but we did it! it was a long, stuffed 3 hour car ride, but so worth it.

we had a large divider between us on the way up haha

trying to squeeze us all in on a tight car ride..while driving on the highway

starting the day off right

we played a couple bocce ball tournaments-me and dyl made it to the finals and were in the lead, but then lost..there was $80 at stake!!

the cutest little puppy that stole everyone's hearts..5 month old Lola the yorkie-poo

we played some ping pong downstairs later on..

considering we only got there around 5pm, we did a lot the first day! the next day was spent on a private beach..more on that tomorrow ;)

COTTAGE TIME!!

we're leaving in about an 2 hours to do our groceries then we will be on the road!! woooo!!

*last years camping trip-notice the spill-age down my sweater*

hope everyone has a great weekend and has good weather-i know it's supposed to be about 30degrees for us this weekend! i hope i don't come back red with white sunglasses marks; that won't be very pretty.

♥