Retreat Reflections 2011: Tuesday

On Tuesday, we awoke to pouring rain sometime in the night. Victor's Cottage did not have air conditioning so all of the windows in the house were open at the time. We couldn't close all the windows or the house would become too stuffy, but we did close the windows on the windward side. I love thunderstorms and find rainy days completely relaxing so I was not in anyway disappointed that day 2 of our retreat was "rained" out so to speak. It was a great excuse to lie in bed, laze around the cottage and just relax.

It was raining quite hard so I had to grab a couple shots of the downpour. Yes, those blurs you see are rain drops. They were huge! :)

The water quickly gathered into puddles and made a beautiful contrast against the green lawn. The rain fell so hard there were bubbles in the puddles!

The cottage came fully equipped with kid friendly activities: games, puzzles and other great pasttimes. Jeff and the boys quickly set up a game of Monopoly and spent the morning monopolizing one another.

Tirzah and Selah spent a couple hours making bead art with those little tiny plastic thingys that melt together. They used the landing on the stairs so they had a flat surface and were out of the reach of little fingers.

 The piano offered entertainment for all of our piano players and Gracia. She had a great time plunking on the keys and the kids enjoyed having her sit on their laps. She's not really a snuggler so any holding time they can get...they take.

 The rain subsided and the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center was waiting to be toured. Jeff and the kids went to see what could be seen and I ran to Walmart for supplies!

They found a really dead...not just playing dead....opossum.  A cocooning caterpillar.

And the sun came back out, so after they got home, they put on their suits and went down to the beach...again. So relaxing. So enjoyable. So peaceful. So much FUN!

The kids also spent time jumping on the trampoline, running around like wild banshees,

 and reading books in the hammock. This place had everything a large family would enjoy

...and we took advantage of those amenities.

 We had supper with the Vik family and enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship as the children enjoyed a great game of RISK! But I just had to steal away to Lake Superior located a couple of blocks from their home and take some sunset photos of the family. My kids graciously complied...sort of! :)

 And I remembered to get a picture of Jeff and myself. With growing children, comes budding photographers..some of whom capture much better photos than I!

Refreshing retreats as we live, love, and laugh,

Lori