Catching a glimpse...

We spent this past weekend up at the new cottage.

I wonder at what point I will stop think of it as the "new" cottage and it will just be THE cottage.

Maybe it's closer to that point then I realize...

We have put so much effort into this place... so much time.

My father and the huz did most of work of building it from the ground up - I helped as I was able.... as did my mother, my brothers, my aunt and my uncle in turn. It was a group effort... but mostly those two.... and amazing that we did it all from ground up. From tramping through bush and surveying by boat to pick the lot with a GPS.... to clearing trees and brush, to laying the foundation blocks - right up to the shingles and siding! What a sense of accomplishment.


And I took responsibility for documenting the transformation of this patch of Canadian wilderness - this thick, dense bush bordered by a cut-line and a lake, into a "cottage" for our family.... and my brothers' families - when they reach the point of wanted to spend time here too! The pictures will make a fine scrap-book one day.... providing I get around to making it ;)

We've actually built a cottage! It's certainly not DONE, but it's built.... built enough to spend time in and built enough to enjoy.

Enjoy like we did this past weekend. Which was spectacular... and a bit of an epiphany when I caught a glimpse of what this is going to be like.

All this time we've been focused on the building, I've failed to notice that we're building more than a roof and four walls... and this past weekend really opened my eyes. We're actually building a home away from home, a place to step away from all the distractions and BE a family... join an extended community of like-minded souls and a cultivate a future for our family that's going to have a huge hand in shaping who our kids grow to be.

It's so SO awesome.

Maybe a little part in the back of mind has, all along, been nervous of a new place - a new cottage after so many years of only knowing our original family cottage. It's always hard to branch into the unknown, isn't it? I liked our old cottage.... I liked the familiar. I don't know that I ever thought this would compare.

But we dove in anyway.

And now that we're IN the new, I've come to realize that it's set up to be even better - and I'm thrilled with the "familiar" that this place is going to be for my children. "Adventuring" in the woods next door and along the shore, swimming and throwing stones along our stretch of pebble beach, family walks to the long sand beach down the road.... bikes rides to the store for ice cream on hot summer days.... and lots of other kids their age to play with.

I think I smiled most of the weekend. This is going to be the first of many awesome summers.