On Sunday morning we got up and ate breakfast, then headed out of Ottawa. The day before, we emailed the Gows to ask how the ice at the cottage was. The reply back was "perfect," so we knew that we had to stop on our way home.
Poppa and Daddy went to get the cars while the rest of us brought all of the luggage down to the lobby. Cameron and Leah played in the big lobby chairs while we waited for them to pull the cars up.
Cutie Leah!
I was trying to get them to sit in a chair together and look at me at the same time. This is the best I got - not very good. :-P
They were pretending to play checkers on the table.
We arrived to the Old Cottage to find about an inch of snow on the ice,
but a very nice oval of a rink plowed right in front of the cottage.
Mr. Gow has a little plow that he uses on the ice in front of their
house, so he plowed some of the ice off for us when he found out that
we'd be stopping by.
The Old Cottage, all closed up for the winter.
Looking around the bay at the Tullis' and the Smith's houses
Out towards Conlon Island
The rocks on the shore worked out well as seats to put skates on
Everyone getting skates on and heading out
Uncle Matt and Leah
Matt and Gina headed out to skate around Conlon Island
Cameron skates are on, and he is off!
He loved skating at the cottage, being able to go where ever he wanted
Uncle Matt showing off his ice spraying skills
The "rink" that Mr. Gow plowed
Cameron and Uncle Matt doing some skating (and Daddy flashing through the middle of the movie!)
Mrs. Gow came out on the ice to say hi, so we took advantage of it to take a great group picture
This is just about where the raft will be in about four months
Goofing around with Daddy
And a nice picture of Daddy and Cam
Family picture!
Hanging out on the rock wall across the bay
Leah got to ride around in the sled again
Nana took her for a spin
Then it was Cam's turn again
Daddy showing off his jumping abilities
A fun ride, courtesy of Poppa
Uncle Matt can jump too
Leah taking a break
Aunt Gina decides to join her
Poppa, Daddy, Uncle Matt and Cameron, on their way back from a skate around Conlon Island
Goofing around
A very nice picture of Nana and Poppa
Leah decided she wanted to try skating again. Her skates went on and up she went. First with just Poppa.
Then with Nana and Poppa... a little unsteady on her feet.
Once she got her balance, she was able to stand on her own. And is that, maybe, a hint of a smile??
Yep, she is realizing that maybe she CAN do this. At least the standing part.
Skating on her own to Daddy
She did it!
And then some more skating with Daddy and Nana
Here is a video of Leah skating. We always watch it without the sound on, so she doesn't hear herself saying "Nooo, Daddy" and crying. She actually skated first without crying and was super proud of herself, but we weren't taping it. This video was the result of us making her do it again, when she really didn't want to. Leah loves watching it now though (never with the sound on!) and talking about what a great skater she is!
Uncle Matt and Cameron were fooling around on the sled - Uncle Matt pulling Cam and flinging him all over the place. About two seconds after this picture was taken, the sled ran into the side of the rink and flipped over, and Cam got a face (helmet) full of snow. After that, he did not want to play with Uncle Matt in the sled anymore!
Nana tries out some figure skating moves
One final sled ride around the lake
And one last picture of most of us
The Gows invited us over to their house to use the bathroom and warm up a bit. Mrs. Gow also made muffins, so we got a fresh baked good snack, a warm house and a flushing toilet before we headed home - what more could we ask for??
It was great to stop at the cottage, probably one of the most fun things we did all weekend. It isn't often that the ice is so perfect either, which made it extra fun.
Another great Winterlude weekend!!!
