Kopeka

Well, I am sad to say that tomorrow is my last official day of my week-long vacation (and I even get the stress of working on Sunday too!) With the hecticness (hectosity? Oooh, let's go with that)... With the hectosity of my job and the craziness of Rob's schedule, we haven't had much downtime, particularly straight in a row. But with this week, I decided to grasp some peace and we headed to our cottage, a place that Maddie has always called "Kopeka."

I've very quickly discovered that Maddie is an outdoor child. (Dear God, help me.) While we go to the park almost everyday and often twice, Maddie very rarely has the experience of a backyard. At Kopeka, Maddie would exclaim "Outside!" at least every five minutes. There was the beach, "Rocks!" Sitting on the backporch, "Seat!" The Gazebo in the park "Zeebo!" And even sitting in the grass painting, "Paint!"

I took just a few pictures:

I taught Maddie to paint last time we were at Kopeka, and surprise, surprise it was a hit. Maddie is quite the artist -- and thankfully these paints are washable.






























































































Maddie's favorite part of Kopeka is the beach. When we first got there, the lake was pretty muddy and there was a huge beach. The next day was terribly windy and rocky and we lost all that beach. Maddie loved to stand close to the water and watch the waves, but she still seems to have a little fear from that day long ago when we introduced her to the Lake. Thankfully, she's happy to throw the biggest rocks she can find. And Daddy spent lots of time helping her. She's very proud of herself.








































Maddie was fascinated by the "apples" on my Dad's Mountain Ash tree.



















Every vacation should have a breakfast made of Nutella. Don't try to stop her.






















If it rains, just bring your lawn chair inside while you read and watch Tinkerbell.






















One of our new discoveries was the gazebo in the park next door to our cottage. I tried to teach Maddie to sing "I am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen" but she didn't go for it. She would rather stare out at the water, dance around and throw herself down on the ground saying "I fell."