Summer Vacation Part 2: Lake Chemung

Part 2 of my vacation consisted of heading south to the good 'ol US of A to a place called Lake Chemung in Howell Michigan

(personalized embroidered shirts are optional when travelling there)

We rented a sweet cottage on the lake right by Grandma & Papa's place

The cottage had everything we wanted...

a dock, a beach, a nice grassy lawn...

a fire pit (complete with muskoka chairs)...

but the absolute BEST part of the cottage was...

THE COMPANY!!

Friends and family make a truly great cottage vacation - and we were lucky to have both!

Grandma, Papa John, Aunt Jody, Uncle Brad, Parker, Brookie, Aunt Leah, Uncle Darc & Lola were all able to visit or stay with us at the cottage - and I loved every minute of it!

What I learned during my vacation is that the sun rises and sets on my cousins Parker and Brooke... and whatever they are doing, I should be doing too!

Including this very competitive game of monkey in the middle (needless to say, mom and I were truly a `humbled team`after trying to compete against Parker and Brooke)

A lot of time was spent swimming in the sandy shores of lake Chemung.

Mom and Brookie were like fish!

But the award for swimming champ of the week was definitely Lola! Who refused to get out of the water even when her lips turned three shades of blue

There was SO much to do every day, it was hard to fit everything in.

Fishing was definitely a fan favourite. And while Brookie can lay claim to catching lots of fish (as seen above) I was the only one who managed to catch Papa!! A minor casting incident might have caused a hook to go into Papa`s ankle... sorry about that Papa!

A favourite pastime of the adults at the cottage was lounging and chatting in lawn chairs (I might have participated as well...)

Moreover, the adults favourite time of day was `11:30`!

This was the special hour of day when the Drink Tray would first arrive! Mom was normally first in line for the drink tray.... sweet orange whips!

Even Grandma had an orange whip or two!

One night I had a sleepover party with Lola. This is where the adults experimented with putting us in the same room overnight.

While it was not a overly successful endeavour, the adults were highly entertained by watching us interact on the video monitor. Especially the part when Lola was asking for her `mama`to which I replied `Lola - they`re not coming, go to bed`

At the cottage Papa has this sweet ride... I enjoyed cruising the lake and waving to the peeps

Because you are all faithful Beej bloggers, I will let you in on a little secret... the BEST part of renting a cottage in Michigan is NOT about the lake or boats or fishing or eating or sandy beaches or camp fires - it is really all about...

THE SHOPPING!!

Marshalls, TJ Max, Super Wal-Mart, Target, Meijers, Khol`s, Tangiers Outlet Mall - we hit èm all!

Nothing better than bargain hunting for Christmas, birthdays, back-to-school and...

CRAZY T-SHIRTS.

Uncle Darc, Mom, Dad, Grandma & Aunt Leah all participated in the crazy t-shirt shopping hunt. Mom didn`t take pics of all of them, but here are a few samples...

Mom thought she was a Wolverine fan before this trip, but soon learned that she was wrong... seeing as Dad bought out every store of Michigan State Spartan gear

Despite the adults`efforts to obtain the wittiest t-shirt, I still think Lola and I won best dressed with our matching `Chemung 2010`shirts


All in all an AMAZING vacation! Can`t wait to return next year!