Vacation: Canada 2010!

This summer we all enjoyed another trip north to Cygnet Lake in Ontario, Canada. Leaving a few days after Grandma Rittgers funeral, we headed up north by RV on Thursday afternoon (July 22). Judah enjoyed sitting on the floor of the RV playing with his bucket of toys or sitting with mommy and daddy watching Baby Einstein videos from the library to pass the time. The others stopped at Cabelas to look around. We crossed the border right before midnight before settling down for some sleep. Waking up around seven the next morning with little sleep from Judah tossing in bed next to us, we stopped for some breakfast, then stopped again later at Sioux Narrows to shop, and finally arriving at camp in time to unpack and make lunch meat sandwiches.

As soon as we could unpack, find our fishing poles and sunscreen, we were ready to breath in that fresh Canadian air and do absolutely nothing. Most of our days were filled with much of the same - a big breakfast, fishing or playing, fish and sweetcorn for lunch, naps and swimming/skiing in the afternoon followed by more good food for dinner, campfires, and games. Add in some good reading and relaxing, a nice fishing tan, a three pound- 20 inch Walleye, tubing on pondom, blueberry picking, smores with Peanut Butter Cups, and Canadian fairy (or I like to refer to Grandma as a great babysitter) - and you have a good vacation. Now multiply that with activity from everyone else - Trunnells, Heubners, Papa and Gigi Rittgers, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Amy with cousin Jacob, and Harold Munson - and you also have some serious good times and fond memories.

The fishing was not as good as last year but everyone still had a good time. Muff seemed to catch a lot in the beginning of the week at Camel Back as the other boats skipped around to just catch one or two. On the last day though, everyone else finally had a good day especially as our boat (Larry, Harold, Tim, and I) brought in nine Walleye plus White's five. Mark did get a quite a few Northern and Perch from others as part of his quota for the trip. Tim even caught a Small-Mouth Bass. The best catch of the week was my three pound - 20 inch Walleye, Muff's 19 inch Walleye, and my other two and a half pound - 18 inch Walleye. Still everyday we managed to eat Walleye and sweetcorn for lunch. The highlights of fishing were Tim losing his fishing pole at Camel Back and the green boat almost surrendering its anchor at Seagull Island.

The weather was just perfect this year as the days were warm enough for washing your hair in the lake and the nights were cool enough for sitting around the campfire eating smores. A few storms brought hail and washed out the roads but we just stayed indoors and played games. The weather also permitted a successful berry picking year with little bugs. On nice days, Andrew got his boat out so Addie could learn to ski. Then Jacob and Judah went tubing.

Not sure what to expect from our toddler, Judah really enjoyed his vacation and did very well. He seemed to sleep better (started sleeping through the nights again), ate better (would sit for an hour in his seat at a time), and had plenty of activity to do. Judah tasted fish and sweetcorn for the first time and never grew tired of eating it, especially the clumps of cut corn. Inside the cabin, Judah would love being chased by Addie back and forth down the hall. She entertained him for hours while he seemed never to tire of the giggles and tickles. Other times, he would spread out his toys all over the cabin floor with Jacob or try to get Jacob to play "Duck, Duck, Goose (Jacob had no clue what why Judah kept hitting him on the head)." Then outside, Judah played with cousin Jacob in a corral we put up with a water table and toys, splashing around and having lots of fun. He also liked to walk around the campground picking up rocks and sticks (Tim?). Gigi even had an alligator pool with a sprinkler for the boys. Then the Canadian fairy brought toy cars and flashlights. Judah took a few trips out in the boat to help "Papa" fish (more like tangle up the poles) as his little fishing buddy. Finally, Judah got his first tube ride with daddy. With a life jacket and only going 15 mph, Judah laughed as he took his tube ride behind the boat.

Thankfully, Judah only got fussy on the way home as the 10 hour drive turned into a 9:00 in the morning to midnight long drive on Friday (a week later). He went between playtime in the RV to nap time in the Ford Yukon. Finally arriving at the farm after one, we all fell asleep. Then we enjoyed a leisurely day at the farm on Saturday before heading back to Des Moines on Sunday morning. Surprisingly Judah adjusted back into the routine and our toys at home were new again.

Here is our week in pictures (of course backwards from when they happened).